Shannon Gilday says ‘voices’ told him to enter bunker before fatal Kentucky home invasion
At the first day of testimony against a man on trial for the murder of a former lawmaker’s daughter, his attorney said if his client could take the deadly 2022 home invasion back, he would.
Opening statements began Tuesday in the trial against Shannon Gilday, 27, who is charged with invading a mansion in Richmond before shooting and killing lawyer Jordan Morgan. The home belonged to Morgan’s father, C. Wesley Morgan, a businessman and former lawmaker, and it featured a massive survival bunker underneath.
Gilday’s attorney, Tom Griffiths, admitted that the defense would not dispute the facts that Shannon Gilday shot 32-year-old Morgan dead in her bed.
Instead, Gilday’s team is asking the jury to consider why Gilday felt compelled to kill Morgan. They claim it was due to mental illness, which caused Gilday to hear voices that told him to break into the home.
“This event, this death, makes no sense,” Griffiths told jurors Tuesday morning. “It shouldn’t have happened, and wouldn’t have happened, if it weren’t for mental illness.”
In fact, Griffiths said a neutral mental health professional will testify why Gilday is a “textbook case” of being “not guilty by reason of insanity.”
Prosecutors disagree and believe Gilday should be convicted. They say Gilday meticulously planned his attack on the Morgan home — surveying it eight times before his attack — and should be found guilty of murder.
“Mental illness alone is not an excuse,” said special prosecutor Todd Willard.
Gilday faces charges of murder, assault, three counts of attempted murder, burglary and criminal mischief for the deadly 2022 home invasion.
‘Messages from music’ told Gilday to get to the bunker
Griffiths told jurors that leading up to and before the shooting, Gilday began experiencing schizoaffective disorder, a mental health diagnosis that includes schizophrenia and a mood disorder.
Gilday began to hear voices, from music and his phone, that told him a nuclear holocaust was coming, Griffiths said. Gilday’s fears were exacerbated by the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
The voices, Griffiths said, told Gilday he was on a mission to “stay alive” and would be part of the “rebuilding process” after the war was over. Gilday believed these messages were coming from the government, such as the CIA or FBI.
Griffiths told jurors that Gilday had previously experienced the 2018 “false missile alert” while living in Hawaii, where the government falsely reported to locals a ballastic missile was going to strike.
Experts are expected to testify that the missile event was “burned into Gilday’s mind.”
Gilday said messages continued to come through music and his phone that aggressively told him to “find a place to survive,” Griffiths said.
Gilday tried to build his own bunker, but was unsuccessful. That is when he went online and found the home of C. Wesley Morgan.
Prosecutors said Gilday made plans to enter the home to try and access the fully-furnished $2 million bunker inside the Richmond mansion.
Prior to the night of the shooting, Gilday told police he went to the home at least eight times. He purchased a “grinder” in efforts to cut through a gate leading to the escape tunnel from the bunker.
Gilday also had topgraphical maps, geographical maps, aerial photos and directions to the home.
Victim was awake at the time of shooting
In the early morning hours of Feb. 22, 2022, Gilday approached the residence, where the Morgan family was asleep.
Donned in a hoodie, face mask, and assault rifle, Gilday went around the home and sat on construction scaffolding for a while before he rang the home’s doorbell around 3 a.m.
Around 3:37 a.m., Gilday left the property in his white Corolla, video surveillance showed. But 25 minutes later, Gilday returned.
At 4:10 a.m., Gilday climbed up the scaffolding and shot through a door that led to the bedroom of Jordan Morgan, prosecutors said.
Jordan Morgan awoke and quickly begged, “Please don’t,” prosecutors said. This was the first time it has been alleged that Jordan Morgan ever woke up during the attack.
Gilday shot Jordan Morgan more than 11 times, prosecutors said during opening statements.
Gilday and Wesley Morgan exchanged gunfire in the master bedroom before Wesley Morgan was able to call 911. The call was played for the jury. Three gunshots can be heard, and Wesley Morgan can be heard sobbing as he asks for emergency crews to come to his home.
Gilday then fled on foot and was not apprehended for six more days, as he traveled to Florida and back to Kentucky to try again to get back inside the bunker.
He was apprehended by police in Richmond and told them he was on his mission to try and secure the bunker in fear of a nuclear war.
Gilday’s trial could last up to a month, and is expected to continue with additional testimony Tuesday.
