Just two weeks after a bitter divorce hearing, a father's rage turned deadly — ending the lives of his ex-wife and son before he tried to wipe it all away in flames.

In the final hours of 31 December 2024, firefighters were called toa house firein the quiet town of Francisco, Indiana. By the time they arrived, the blaze had already consumed much of the property. Smoke poured into the winter sky. What looked, at first glance, like a tragic accident quickly began to feel like something else.

Inside the charred remains of the home, two bodies were found.

Early reports carried a grim uncertainty — a fire, two fatalities, a family address. But when post-mortem examinations were completed, the truth shifted the ground beneath the case.Malisa Kegg, 51, and her 34-year-old son, Michael KeggIII, had not died from smoke inhalation or burns. They had been shot.

What now stands in place of their home is not just a blackened shell, but the aftermath of a domestic breakdown that escalated into lethal violence.

Court records show that Michael Kegg Jr., Malisa's former husband and the father of her son, had been in court just two weeks earlier for a divorce hearing. By New Year's Eve, prosecutors say, whatever bitterness lingered had hardened into something far darker.

Investigators concluded that both victims were killed with a shotgun inside the house. Shell casings were recovered from the scene. Forensic teams later determined that an accelerant had been used to start the fire deliberately — a final act, they allege, meant to destroy evidence and obscure what had taken place inside those walls.

It is the sequence that unsettles most: gunshots first, then flames.

According to court proceedings, tensions between the former couple had centred on finances and responsibilities following the divorce. On the day before the killings, Kegg had reportedly contacted local utility services about the property. Prosecutors suggested the call reflected mounting frustration over money and control.

In February 2026, a jury found him guilty on two counts of murder. He was sentenced to 126 years in prison, the terms to be served one after the other. The legal outcome was decisive. The emotional unraveling behind it is harder to measure.

Source: International Business Times UK