Two decades after Martha McKay’s mother, Sally Snowden McKay, and their cousin, Joseph “Lee” Baker, were murdered at her family’s bed and breakfast, Martha experienced the same tragic fate at the hands of the same killer.
In 2005, Martha opened her family’s home in Horseshoe Lake in Hughes, Arkansas as a luxury bed and breakfast. Martha ran the B&B for many years before she was found stabbed to death at the top of the stairs of the home on March 25, 2020. She was 63 at the time of her murder.
Following her killing, the man who fatally attacked her jumped from a second story window once police arrived at the scene. He then ran down the lawn and into a nearby lake, where he drowned.
Police set out to find his body, and they soon came to suspect that Martha’s former neighbor Travis Lewis killed her. Lewis had a complicated history with the McKays, and he was convicted for the 1996 murders of McKay’s mother and cousin when he was just 17 years old.
According to People, Lewis pleaded guilty to the murders and received a sentence of more than 28 years. However, he never confessed to the killings and told police that another man was responsible for Sally and Baker’s deaths.
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Despite being convicted of the 1996 murders, Martha befriended Lewis and even showed support for him when he was released early from prison in 2018.
Crittenden County Sheriff Mike Allen even said that Martha felt bad because Lewis was just a teenager when the crimes took place, per the outlet. The sheriff added that she believed his claims that someone else was responsible for her mom and cousin’s death.
Once Lewis was released on parole, Martha hired him to do work on the B&B’s property. However, their relationship hit a breaking point about a year and a half later when $10,000 in cash was stolen from the home that she earned after selling a chandelier.
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According to Martha’s sister, Katie Hutton, the B&B owner knew that Lewis had been at the house the day the money vanished and she fired him.
“We are all just in disbelief,” Hutton previously told People about her sister being killed by the same man who killed other family members 23 years earlier.
Hutton also shared insight about who Martha was as a person, telling the outlet that “she lived life to the fullest.” Hutton added, “She loved her life.”
