The brutal murder of Genore Guillory

All Hell Broke Loose

Detective Don McKey

Less than an hour after Genore's friends made that call, Detective Don McKey was investigating her murder.

The side door to the house stood open. It had been open when Deputy Johnson first arrived. A snarling black-and-tan chow was tied to the wooden steps just outside the door. There was no sign of forced entry.

Just across the threshold, McKey found blood on the hardwood floor. Blood was also splattered on the inside handle of the front door and on a set of keys hanging from the deadbolt.

In the kitchen, a utensil drawer had been pulled open. Some of the knives inside had blood on them.

It looked to McKey like someone had attacked Genore at the side door, then pursued her to the front door, where she'd tried to escape, then into the kitchen, where she attempted to arm herself with a knife, then finally into the bedroom.

"That's where all hell broke loose," McKey said.

Genore Guillory's house

The detective found Genore's mangled body crumpled on the floor beside her bed. Her skull had been caved in. Small-caliber bullets and a knife had left jagged holes in her skin. The insides of her thighs were smeared with blood.

The bedroom was a wreck. A bullet had shattered a windowpane beside the four-poster bed. Another had punched a hole through the headboard. A third bullet was buried in the wall. A heavy ceramic lamp lay broken in pieces beside Genore's head. A table stood upended nearby. Someone had left a bloody shoeprint on one of the pillowcases.

"You could see the blood smears on the wall," McKey said.