Carol Kennedy Case: Investigation, Trial, and Appeal

The Carol Kennedy murder case ended with her ex-husband, Steven DeMocker, convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to natural life in prison without the possibility of parole. Kennedy, a 53-year-old educator, counselor, and artist in Prescott, Arizona, was beaten to death outside her home on July 2, 2008. DeMocker, a UBS Financial Services stockbroker, was arrested three months later. It took more than five years, a mistrial, a judge’s death, and the withdrawal of DeMocker’s own defense team before a jury reached a verdict in October 2013.

Who Carol Kennedy Was

Virginia Carol Kennedy was a mother of two daughters, Katie and Charlotte, and worked as an educator, psychotherapist, counselor, and mentor. She lived on Williamson Valley Road near Bridle Path in Prescott.¹

Her marriage to Steven DeMocker had ended in divorce shortly before her death. The relationship had deteriorated over DeMocker’s infidelity, and Kennedy claimed he had seventeen mistresses. The couple had been fighting over finances.² Under the divorce settlement, DeMocker owed $6,000 per month in alimony.³

What Happened The Night Of The Murder

On the evening of July 2, 2008, Kennedy’s mother, Ruth Kennedy, was on the phone with her daughter when Carol suddenly cried out “Oh, no!” and the line went dead. Police responding to Ruth’s alert found Kennedy outside her home in a pool of blood. She had been struck at least seven times over the head with a blunt object, shattering her skull.³ The scene had been staged to look as though Kennedy had fallen from a reading ladder and hit her head on a desk.¹

An autopsy determined the fractures were consistent with a golf club. Investigators later found a bag of golf clubs at DeMocker’s home missing a “Big Bertha 7-wood,” and a head cover for that model turned up at his residence before disappearing and later being handed over to his attorney.⁴ The murder weapon itself was never recovered.

Why Investigators Focused On DeMocker

DeMocker told police he had been on a bicycle ride about a mile and a half from Kennedy’s home at the time of the killing and blamed thorn bushes on the trail for the scratches on his legs.⁵ His cell phone had been turned off for roughly five hours during the evening of the murder. His girlfriend, Renee Girard, described the blackout as completely out of character for a man who was meticulous about keeping his phone charged.⁴

Physical evidence added weight. An FBI expert identified shoe impressions behind Kennedy’s home as matching a La Sportiva shoe DeMocker had purchased in 2006; the shoes were missing when police searched his home. A criminalist from the Arizona Department of Public Safety testified that bike tire tracks at the scene matched the tread of DeMocker’s bicycle.⁴ A forensic examination of DeMocker’s computer turned up searches for “how to kill someone and make it look like a suicide.”⁵ Girard later led detectives to a hidden “go-bag” near the eighth hole of the Capital Canyon Golf Course containing a burner phone and clothing, which she said DeMocker had packed in case he needed to flee.¹

DeMocker was arrested in October 2008 while working at UBS Financial Services. Prosecutors alleged two financial motives: avoiding the $6,000 monthly alimony and collecting on two life insurance policies totaling roughly $750,000 that named him as beneficiary.⁶ DeMocker filed to collect the insurance money after the murder but was denied because he was a suspect. Most of the funds were eventually consumed by legal fees for his first trial.⁷

The Evidence Gaps And The Alternative Suspect

Investigators found no DNA, blood, or fingerprints belonging to DeMocker at the crime scene.³ DNA discovered under Kennedy’s fingernails initially looked like a breakthrough, but it was traced to Ronald Birman, a man whose autopsy had been performed on the same table roughly ninety minutes before Kennedy’s. The contamination was attributed to unsterilized nail clippers.⁴

The defense pointed to an alternative suspect: Jim Knapp, a friend of Kennedy’s living in the guest house on her property. Knapp was the first person to arrive at the crime scene, and there were rumors he was romantically interested in Kennedy. He did not get along with DeMocker.⁴ Authorities did not consider Knapp a primary suspect. He had an alibi: he was babysitting his son at his former wife’s house. Five months after Kennedy’s death, in January 2009, Knapp was found dead in his bedroom from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was unemployed, suffering from cancer, and depressed.⁸ During DeMocker’s second trial, jurors reviewed Knapp’s timeline and concluded he did not kill Kennedy.

Why The Case Took Five Years

The first trial began in 2010 before Yavapai County Superior Court Judge Thomas Lindberg. Two weeks into the prosecution’s case, Judge Lindberg collapsed in his chambers on June 17, 2010, after suffering seizures caused by a brain tumor.⁹ He died on April 2, 2011, at 58.¹⁰

Before the trial could resume, another crisis emerged. While in jail, DeMocker coerced his daughter Charlotte and his girlfriend Renee Girard into sending an anonymous email to both the defense and the prosecution claiming that gang members had murdered Kennedy in a dispute targeting Jim Knapp over a drug ring. DeMocker also fabricated a story about hearing a “voice in the vent” of his jail cell naming two men from Phoenix as the killers.⁶ When the scheme was uncovered, it triggered a mistrial on November 12, 2010.⁴

Because DeMocker had used his lawyers’ services in perpetrating the fraud (the anonymous email had been sent to defense attorney John Sears), the Arizona Supreme Court ruled on October 26, 2010, that Sears, Larry Hammond, and Anne Chapman could withdraw due to a “nonwaivable conflict of interest.”¹¹ Prosecutors added new charges related to the email scheme, including fraudulent schemes, conspiracy, tampering with physical evidence, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The original murder and burglary charges were dismissed, and a grand jury re-indicted DeMocker on consolidated charges.¹² Assigning new defense counsel and empaneling a new judge took years. Girard’s decision to cooperate with the prosecution added further delay.⁵

The 2013 Trial And Conviction

The second trial began in June 2013 before retired Judge Gary Donahoe in Yavapai County Superior Court. The prosecution, led by the office of Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, built its case almost entirely on circumstantial evidence.¹ Prosecutors argued DeMocker knew Kennedy’s routine, ambushed her outside the home, beat her with the missing golf club, and staged the scene. They pointed to the shoe prints, tire tracks, the five-hour communication blackout, the internet searches, the go-bag, and the financial motive.⁶

The defense hammered the absence of direct physical evidence. No DNA, blood, fingerprints, or hair connected DeMocker to the scene. The murder weapon was never found. No eyewitness placed him at the home. Defense attorneys argued the crime scene had been poorly preserved and that Knapp had not been properly investigated, adding that DeMocker had no history of violence and that the divorce had been amicable.⁶

On October 4, 2013, the jury found DeMocker guilty of first-degree murder and six additional charges, including first-degree burglary, fraudulent schemes and artifices, conspiracy, tampering with physical evidence, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.¹² His motion for a new trial was denied.

Sentence And Appeal

On January 24, 2014, Judge Donahoe sentenced DeMocker to natural life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder, plus more than twenty additional years for the remaining counts. The judge ordered that none of the sentences run concurrently and imposed $700,000 in restitution to Kennedy’s testamentary trust.¹² Kennedy’s mother, Ruth, submitted a letter calling DeMocker’s actions “selfish and violent” and requesting the maximum punishment. Judge Donahoe called the killing a “brutal, gruesome crime” and said, “This was premeditated murder, a brutal murder, and by all appearances, the motive was money.”¹³

DeMocker appealed to the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One. On October 11, 2016, the court affirmed the convictions and sentences in full.¹²

Where DeMocker Is Now

DeMocker remains incarcerated in the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry. As of 2026, he is held at the Douglas Complex, Douglas Mohave Unit, classified at medium/lowest custody. He continues to maintain his innocence.¹⁴

1
Signals AZ. Murder in Prescott: The Case of the Left-Handed 7-Wood
2
CBS News. Twists and Turns in Murder Case Against Arizona Stockbroker
3
Legal News. DeMocker Found Guilty of First-Degree Murder
4
CBS News. End of the Trail
5
Paramount Press Express. 48 Hours: Carol Kennedy Murder Case
6
CBS News. End of the Trail
7
The Sydney Morning Herald. The 7-Wood That Was Never Found
8
The Daily Courier. Tenant at Carol Kennedy House at Time of Murder Found Dead
9
The Daily Courier. Judge Lindberg Conscious at Phoenix Hospital, Awaits MRI for Brain Tumor
10
Arizona Capitol Times. Yavapai County Judge Dies
11
The Daily Courier. DeMocker’s Lawyers Quit Trial
12
Justia. State v. DeMocker, 1 CA-CR 14-0137
13
Twin Cities Pioneer Press. Arizona Man Gets Life Sentence in Killing of Ex-Wife
14
Arizona Department of Corrections. Inmate Datasearch: Steven C. DeMocker