ANCHORAGE, Ky. — A young couple’s crime spree across Kentucky — two days of robbery, stolen vehicles and murder — climaxed Tuesday evening in a shootout with police in an affluent suburb of Louisville, Kentucky. As officers closed in, the man shot and killed his wife and then killed himself.
On Friday, law enforcement officers from three counties were still struggling to understand exactly what motivated Bradley Sheets, 25, and Destiny Moneyhun, 18, and how they died in such a dramatic and senseless way.
“I really have no idea at this point,” Anchorage Police Department Chief Dean Hayes said. “We’re trying to follow up, but we can’t locate any friends or relatives in the area.”
The violent end to the couple’s love story was already sparking comparisons to “Bonnie and Clyde.” Packed with romance, crime and drama, the case has drawn wide attention. No one knows why Moneyhun and Sheets — neither of whom apparently had a history of violent crime — began the spree. With both dead, the answers may never be known.
The case started in Glasgow, Kentucky, a two-hour drive south of Anchorage. Resident Kenneth Frazier called the Glasgow Police Department on Monday around noon to report his 1999 red Toyota Tacoma pickup truck and his .38 Taurus revolver had been stolen.
Tammy Britt, the department’s public information officer, said Frazier suspected Moneyhun and Sheets because they had been staying with him and suddenly vanished.
The Glasgow police sent out a statewide alert on the stolen truck. Soon after, the couple stopped in Elizabethtown at the home of 74-year-old Lewis Hoskinson and stole his white Nissan, and left the stolen truck in Elizabethtown. The next evening, when the Hardin County sheriff’s deputies checked Hoskinson’s house, they found him stabbed to death.
In Anchorage, the police department received a call from a resident who wanted to report a strange vehicle parked on his property. Lt. Mark Hoskins and Officer Bryan Taylor were dispatched to investigate.
The officers found the stolen Nissan in an overgrown field on the 1500 block of Ridge Court at the dead end of a secluded street.
As Hoskins and Taylor approached, they saw Moneyhun and Sheets hiding in the brush near the car. According to the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department, Sheets then pointed a revolver at the two officers. Much of what happened next was captured on Taylor’s body camera, shown in footage later released by the police.
“He’s got a gun!” shouted Taylor. “He’s got a gun, Mark!”
“Put it down!” shouted Hoskins. “Put the gun down!”
Hoskins then shot Sheets, which caused him to drop the revolver and fall to the ground. Police said Moneyhun picked up the gun and pointed it at the officers.
Hoskins fired again, this time striking the young woman.At that point, the couple was wounded but still alive, police said. Sheets picked up the revolver again, shot Moneyhun in the head and then shot himself.
“Shots fired!” Taylor radioed back to the station. “Looks like a male and female down.”
The LMPD is investigating the couple’s spree. Many questions remain. One of the biggest is why Moneyhun and Sheets stopped in the overgrown field in the middle of Anchorage. Hayes said his officers have not found anyone in town who even knew the couple.
The police are looking into whether the two officers involved followed policy in the shooting — the first shooting involving police in Anchorage’s history — and the first murder in the town in more than 20 years. For the moment, the officers have been placed on paid administrative leave. With only eight other officers on the force, the police chief is eager to get Hoskins and Taylor back on duty.
In early February, Moneyhun was released from rehab for using marijuana and a synthetic version of it called spice. The Louisville Courier-Journal reported she and Sheets may have gotten married not long after, on Valentine’s Day.
