Snapped is investigating the murder of Bill Reynolds, who was shot dead by Kerry Heald in the drive of his home in Scott County, Indiana. Heald had been hired to kill Reynolds by the victim’s stepdaughter, Johnetta Hall.
On September 27, 2015, Sheriff’s deputies discovered 69-year-old Bill lying dead in front of his house. He had been shot in the head.
Bill had been going through a particularly acrimonious divorce with his wife, Dalene Cates. The pair both had restraining orders against each other.
A judge had recently awarded Bill temporary use of their old home and had ordered Cates to move out. He was about to spend his first night in the house without her when he was shot.
The murder was organized by Cates’s daughter, Johnetta Hall. She approached Heald, who was the on/off boyfriend of her daughter Amaris Bunyard and asked him to kill Bill. Initially, Heald refused.
Bill was a collector of NASCAR memorabilia, but after he had temporarily moved out of his house, Hall and Bunyard had moved the items into a storage unit. Hall estimated the memorabilia was worth about $600,000.
Johnetta Hall convinced Kerry Heald to kill Bill Reynolds
Hall offered Heald between $50,000 and $100,000 worth of NASCAR memorabilia, Bill’s Nissan 300Z, and a third of Bill’s $300,000 life insurance policy. All Heald had to do was kill her stepfather; he finally agreed after Hall told him Bill had abused his wife and child.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelHall provided Heald with a firearm, and the gunman enlisted the help of his friend, Jacob Mathis, to drive to Bill’s house. When the killer confronted Bill, he first asked him to confirm his identity and then told him he had “ten seconds to get right with God” before killing him.
Bill was a decorated Vietnam War veteran and had only recently been released from a hospital following successful cancer treatment.
The police eventually gathered enough evidence to arrest Hall, Heald, Mathis, and Bunyard. The investigators found incriminating texts between Hall and Heald from the day of the murder.
Johnetta Hall and accomplices received lengthy sentences for Bill Reynolds murder
Heald, Mathis, and Bunyard all testified against Hall. Hall was subsequently found guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Kerry Heald, Jacob Mathis, and Amaris Bunyard all pleaded guilty to their roles in the murder. Heald was sentenced to 55 years, Mathis got 32 years, and Bunyard was given 30 years with the last 10 years suspended.
After Hall was convicted, Scott County Prosecutor Chris Owens said, “After five long years of fighting to see that justice was served for Bill Reynolds and his family, this matter has finally come to a close.”
Owens added, “Four people have now been convicted for their involvement in the plotting, planning, and killing of Mr. Reynolds, and many, many years of incarceration will deservedly be served by these individuals.”
Snapped airs Sundays on Oxygen.