Suspect in what Missouri police call a 'gruesome' murder is Lemoore High School grad

According to Emery’s Facebook page, he is a 1990 Lemoore High School graduate.

The mother of the two children, Kate Kasten, 39, who police say was his girlfriend, was also in the house. She was fatally wounded and died later at a hospital, reported the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

 Prosecutors were calling the carnage a “gruesome” scene.  

The Post-Dispatch reported that police received a 911 call late Friday night, Dec. 28. Police dispatchers heard gunshots in the background, while on the line, Jane M. Moeckel, 61, the grandmother, had barricaded herself in a downstairs room with her two grandchildren, Zoe J. Kasten, 8, and Jonathan D. Kasten, 10.

The Post-Dispatch reported that police, after an all-night search, finally caught up with Emery, 46. Police charged him with 15 crimes, including first-degree murder, armed criminal action, assault in the first degree and attempted robbery in the first degree.

Each of the charges carries a sentence of 30 years to life, but prosecutors said the death penalty could apply as well.

Police told the Post-Dispatch that Emery, a 1990 Lemoore High School graduate, did not appear to have a criminal record. Police apprehended the suspect following a seven-hour chase. At one point the suspect tried to carjack a woman on a residential street, stabbing her at least seven times. The woman was reported in critical condition but was expected to survive.

Police finally caught up with Emery in a QuikTrip bathroom suffering from gunshot wounds in his neck and hip. Police say they believe Emery lived in the home and was Kate Kasten’s boyfriend.

His Facebook page includes several photos of Emery with his girlfriend and children. It also lists Lemoore High School as his alma mater and has several LHS grads as Facebook friends, including the school’s Foundation for Educational Excellence.

One of those Facebook friends is a local attorney and LHS grad Bill Parry, who says he knew the suspect well in high school but hasn’t seen him at all since his 1990 graduation. “He was really nice in high school,” remembered Parry. “My recollections were that he was a very nice guy, and I was shocked and saddened by what I read.”

Parry admits that he doesn’t remember much but does recall that he attended junior high and high school in Lemoore.