The case of a man charged in a gruesome triple homicide has been moved back to Warren County for trial. Shawn Kavanagh, 25, of Bellflower, previously was granted a change of venue to Montgomery …
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The case of a man charged in a gruesome triple homicide has been moved back to Warren County for trial.Shawn Kavanagh, 25, of Bellflower, previously was granted a change of venue to Montgomery County but during a hearing in July, both sides in the case agreed that his jury trial will be held in Warren County, according to online court records.Last Thursday, Sept. 15, the case was returned to Warren County Circuit Court. The next event will be a case review scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 4.Also in July, it was agreed that the prosecutor would file an order with the Missouri Supreme Court to select a jury panel from Cape Girardeau County to hear Kavanagh’s case. The jurors will be sequestered here during the trial.Two weeks have been set aside for the trial which is scheduled to begin Jan. 9, 2017.Kavanagh remains jailed in Warren County on multiple charges in the stabbing deaths of three people during a brutal Valentine’s Day attack Feb. 14, 2014, at a home south of Jonesburg. A fourth person was critically injured in the attack.Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Kavanagh. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.The man faces nine felony charges, including three counts of first-degree murder, four counts of armed criminal action, first-degree domestic assault and first-degree burglary for the murders of Tara Lynn Fifer, 22, of Montgomery City, and Lexy Vandiver, 29, and her son, Mason Vandiver, 7, both of Jonesburg.He also is charged with critically injuring his estranged wife Jescie Powell Kavanagh.Police said Shawn Kavanagh went to the home in the 26000 block of Humber Road, located off Highway Y, at approximately 7:45 p.m. on Feb. 14, 2014. Jescie Kavanagh was staying there with Lexy Vandiver, a co-worker at New Florence Care Center, and her two children.After being asked to leave, Shawn Kavanagh went to his car and returned with a knife and began attacking the women and the boy, police allege.Fifer, another co-worker, had stopped by the home to check on Kavanagh shortly before the attack occurred, family members said.Shawn Kavanagh placed a 911 call at 7:51 p.m. and told the dispatcher that he had just stabbed his wife and killed several people. Lexy Vandiver and Fifer were found stabbed to death. Jescie Kavanagh was airlifted to a Columbia hospital. Mason Vandiver, who suffered multiple stab wounds, died four days later at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in St. Louis.Vandiver’s 18-month-old daughter was found unharmed inside the home.Shawn Kavanagh was charged with misdemeanor domestic assault a month prior to the deadly attack.The couple was married for 10 months before separating three weeks prior to the Valentine’s Day attack, family members said.Shawn Kavanagh