True Crime Chronicles: The Kennedy Brothers Murder-The 1972 robbery-klling of Ted Haggard in Sequoyah County

On the evening of December 4, 1972, in rural Sequoyah County a quiet service station owner named Ted Haggard was robbed at gunpoint, taken hostage, beaten, shot in the head at close range with a 12-gauge shotgun, and dumped down an abandoned water well.

The brutal crime was carried out by two local brothers, Olen Kennedy and Lloyd Kennedy. What began as an armed robbery ended in a calculated murder that shocked the small communities around Sallisaw.

Ted Haggard was a longtime resident and business owner who operated a service station near Sallisaw. He was known locally as a hardworking family man who routinely hid cash in various spots around his business. On the day of the murder, he was working alone at the station. His son Rex and daughter-in-law Brenda later testified about the personal items recovered at the scene -- his pocket knife, tire gauge, eyeglasses, and cap -- confirming his identity and the violence of the attack.

Olen Kennedy and his brother Lloyd Kennedy were local men from the Vian/Sallisaw area. They lived nearby and were familiar with the rural backroads. On the afternoon and evening of December 4, they were driving a distinctive white-over-green Chevrolet pickup truck. Both were arrested shortly after the crime. Olen was known to own a 12-gauge shotgun that was later tied directly to the murder through ballistics evidence.

Around 6:00–6:30 p.m., the Kennedy brothers robbed Ted Haggard’s service station. They took the cash from the register and hidden spots, leaving blood on the counter and oil boxes. They forced Haggard into their pickup truck at gunpoint. While driving on a remote county road about 12½ miles north of Sallisaw, they were spotted by eyewitnesses Ernest William Kellog, his wife Shirley Deen Kellog, and a friend.

The couple saw Haggard — bloody and desperate -- run in front of their vehicle begging for help, yelling, “They are going to kill me, please help!” Olen held a shotgun on him while Lloyd beat Haggard and broke his thumb to pry him away from the Kellogs’ truck.

The brothers then dragged Haggard to a ditch beside the road and shot him in the head at close range, scattering blood, brain tissue, skull fragments, and shotgun pellets across the scene. They attempted to dispose of the body by dumping it into an abandoned water well at a burned-out homesite roughly two miles away, covering it with rocks and dirt.

Eyewitnesses quickly alerted law enforcement. Deputies and Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers responded, finding the gruesome scene with personal items belonging to Haggard. They stopped the Kennedy brothers’ truck near the area that same evening.

A loaded 12-gauge shotgun matching the murder weapon was found inside. Blood was observed in the truck’s cab and bed. The brothers were arrested that night and the following morning. Physical evidence -- shotgun pellets, bloodstains, tire tracks, and victim’s belongings -- linked them directly to the crime.

In 1973, Olen and Lloyd Kennedy were tried together in Sequoyah County District Court for first-degree murder. Key evidence included eyewitness testimony from the Kellogs who saw the brothers assault and abduct Haggard, ballistics matching the shotgun and pellets to the murder, medical examiner testimony about the massive head wound, and physical items recovered at the scene and in the well.

The jury convicted both brothers of murder. On or about September 13, 1973, they were each sentenced to life imprisonment. Their convictions and sentences were affirmed on appeal by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals in 1974.

Olen Kennedy died in prison on April 13, 2008, at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Lloyd W. Kennedy, born March 13, 1941, served 42 years and was discharged from custody on April 15, 2016. He is no longer incarcerated.