Inset, top to bottom: Michael Kegg III and Malisa Kegg (GoFundMe) and Michael Kegg Jr. (Gibson County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The house where the victims were killed in Francisco, Ind. (Google Maps).
A man from Indiana, aged 53, has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his ex-wife and son. The tragic event occurred just two weeks after he and his ex-wife attended a divorce hearing. The perpetrator executed the victims in their home and subsequently set the house ablaze.
Michael R. Kegg Jr. received the maximum sentence from Gibson County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey F. Meade. He will serve 126 years in a state prison for the 2025 killings of his 51-year-old ex-wife, Malisa Kegg, and their 34-year-old son, Michael Kegg III, as per court records.
Judge Meade sentenced Kegg to 64 years for the murder of his son and 62 years for the murder of his ex-wife. These sentences are to be served one after the other.
At the time of the murders, Michael Kegg was married to Amanda Kegg. She faces charges as a suspected accomplice, with two counts of murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder. Her trial is set for November.
On December 31, 2024, the Gibson County Sheriff’s Office and the Francisco Fire Department responded to a 911 call about a house fire on East State Road 64 in Francisco, located about 125 miles south of Indianapolis.
Once firefighters extinguished the blaze, investigators discovered a body inside the home. The deceased, later identified as Kegg’s son, was found in the kitchen near a can of accelerant, according to a probable cause affidavit reported by Law&Crime.
A second body was found in the living room and identified as Malisa Kegg. While both bodies were burned, the victims also suffered gunshot wounds to the chest. Autopsies subsequently confirmed that the mother and son’s causes of death were gunshot wounds suffered before the house fire.
Investigators recovered two spent shells from a .410-gauge shotgun near Malisa Kegg’s body and one next to her son’s body. A shotgun was also discovered in the home propped against wall and loaded with with an unfired shell.
Michael Kegg, who had appeared for a divorce hearing with Malisa Kegg just two weeks earlier, was quickly pegged as a prime suspect in the double murder. During that hearing, the judge ordered him to complete a laundry list of tasks in a short period of time, Town & Courier reported.
In an interview with detectives, Amanda Kegg initially said she and Michael Kegg had argued on the night of Dec. 30, 2024, and she had not seen him at all on Dec. 31. However, she later said that in the early morning hours of Dec. 31, Michael Kegg told her to leave her phone at home and drive him Francisco so he could “take care of something.” She noted that Michael Kegg also left his phone at the house.
Amanda Kegg claimed she dropped him off at a park and waited in the car for about two hours before leaving. It was later revealed that she actually went to Michael Kegg’s bank and withdrew $800 from the ATM, the maximum allowed per day.
Michael Kegg told investigators he went from the park to the victims’ home to do some work on a vehicle. He said he spoke to his ex-wife and son, who told him “he needed to leave.” He claimed he then left and both victims were still alive.
“Michael Kegg (Jr.) advised that he left the residence and walked through the field out of the back of the house, and toward Hopkins Park,” the affidavit states. “Michael Kegg (Jr.) advised that as he was walking away from the residence he heard and saw lights and sirens responding toward Francisco.”
Investigators said they believed Michael and Amanda Kegg “formulated a plan” to kill the victims and then lit the house on fire “to cover up the murders.”
One day before the fire, Michael Kegg went to Francisco town hall and demanded that the water be shut off in Malisa Kegg’s home, Town & Courier reported. He reportedly told officials he no longer wanted to pay her utility bills.
