Chad Allan Reed: Michigan landlord sentenced to life in prison for killing a tenant couple 2 years ago

BATTLE, CREEK, MICHIGAN: A Michigan man is going to spend the rest of his life behind bars for claiming the life of a couple who rented an apartment from him two years ago by shooting the 34-year-old man dead and then he beat and strangled the 31-year-old woman.

On Friday, December 8, Battle Creek Circuit Court Judge Sarah S Lincoln ordered Chad Allan Reed, 56, to serve a sentence of life in a state correctional institution without the possibility of parole for the slayings of Joseph Soule and Jaclyn Lepird.

Chad Allan Reed was sentenced to life without parole

A jury found Reed guilty of second-degree murder in October in Soule’s death and first-degree murder in connection with Lepird’s death. The judge sentenced Reed to life without parole on the first-degree murder charge and 125 years, life with the chance for parole on the second-degree murder charge.

What did Jaclyn Lepird's sister say?

“We were very pleased with the decision. I mean, you can’t beat two life sentences. We’re very thankful that he will never be out to hurt another person again,” Lepird’s sister, Trinity McAllister, said in a statement to reporters after the sentencing hearing. “We’ll never have to see him again. We’ll never have to hear about him," she added.

When did the victims' families contact authorities?

Friends and family of the victims started to have concerns after not hearing from Soule or Lepird for about five days and contacted the Battle Creek Police Department. Reed called into a police tip line just days after police checked on the home where prosecutors say he first admitted to the murders.

Why did Chad Allan Reed kill the tenant couple?

The landlord told police that Soule had pulled a knife on him, so he drew a gun in self-defense and shot Soule dead. Prosecutors say Reed also admitted to chasing Lepird down after she saw him shoot her boyfriend. When she fled, Reed gave chase, shooting at her at least once before capturing her. As Lepird got cornered in the backyard, Reed beat her and then strangled her.

What did Chad Allan Reed do after the murders?

Prosecutors said Reed next took both of the bodies, wrapped them in clear plastic, and moved the bodies into his truck. He then threw a tarp and debris over them, followed by a series of large boards. Reed, then, parked the truck at a vacant garage roughly a block from his house.

Police said someone had tried to burn down the residence-turned-crime scene no less than five times before Reed was arrested. 

What did Chad Allan Reed's attorney say?

In court, his public defender, Susan Mladenoff, argued Reed only acted in self-defense after Soule pulled a knife on him. But prosecutors at trial emphasized that it was Reed who attacked Lepird as she tried to flee from the scene because Reed did not want to leave any witnesses to his killing of Soule.

“He not only shot her, he chased her down. He hit her with a metal object,” Calhoun County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Tamara L Towns told jurors, according to a report from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Fox affiliate WXMI. “He tried to slit her throat. He then strangled her until a life went out of her.”

According to court records, Reed was convicted of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2003 and felony assault with a dangerous weapon in 2005.