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Gina Tron

Fri, March 4, 2022, 4:18 PM

A Kentucky man accused of breaking into the mansion of a prominent former state politician and fatally shooting the lawmaker’s lawyer daughter allegedly studied the family’s sleep schedules before the attack.

Shannon V. Gilday, 23, of Taylor Mill, is accused of forcing his way into former state lawmaker C. Wesley Morgan’s Richmond mansion in the middle of the night last month armed with a rifle. Once inside, he allegedly shot Morgan’s 32-year-old daughter, Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Jordan Morgan, “while she was in bed,” according to a press release from the Kentucky State Police.

Gunshots were also exchanged between C. Wesley Morgan and Gilday, resulting in non-life-threatening injuries for C. Wesley Morgan. Gilday was arrested days later after he was found walking along a road in the middle of the night.

A warrant filed by the Taylor Mill Police Department, obtained by WXIX, alleges that Gilday had staked out the mansion and the family inside it. They claim that he had been researching homes with bunkers. The $6.5 million home, which is currently listed as for-sale, apparently has “a $3 Million, 2,000 sq. ft. Nuclear/Biological/Chemical Fallout Shelter,” according to Garrettsrealty.com. State police investigators previously said they were looking into whether or not a bunker on the site of the $6.5 million dollar estate was a motive for the invasion, KCRG reported.

The recent warrant alleges that the Morgan mansion was one of several Gilday had researched due to its fallout shelter. Notes detailing his study of the homes, as well as the sleeping patterns of the Morgan family were allegedly found in his apartment by a friend one day after the murder, according to WXIX.

Following the shooting, a woman claiming to be Gilday’s mother posted a statement to Facebook claiming that her son “has not been of sound mind the last couple of weeks, distraught with the certainty a nuclear war is imminent. He spoke of building a bunker and the CIA following him. I tried to get him psychiatric help but to no avail.”

Gilday was dishonorably discharged from the U.S. Army in 2019, WXIX reports. It’s not clear if he has a lawyer. He has been charged with murder, two counts of attempted murder, burglary in the first-degree, criminal mischief in the first degree and assault in the first degree.