Willis Michael Cassidy Jr., 75, was found dead after a violent attack at his home on Pine Bark Lane in Saucier, Mississippi, in April 2017. What was first thought to be a gunshot death was later ruled blunt-force trauma to the head, neck, and back; the coroner and investigators concluded he had been beaten, and evidence suggested a revolver was used as the blunt instrument. Deputies reported drag marks from the master bedroom, blood spatter on a wall, blood-soaked blankets, more blood in the master bathroom, and a dead dog at the scene. Cassidy’s nude body was located in a wooded area in Jackson County after his live-in caregiver, Gabriel Benjamin Curtis, returned in Cassidy’s car and led deputies to the body, then admitted involvement.

Curtis, 39 at the time, was arrested and charged with murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm. At trial he testified he acted in self-defense, saying Cassidy pulled a gun during an argument, and he hit and strangled Cassidy; the prosecution described the assault as deliberate and prolonged. In October 2018 a Harrison County jury convicted Curtis of first-degree murder and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. He was sentenced to life in prison for the murder and ten years concurrently for the firearm charge; the Mississippi Court of Appeals later affirmed the conviction.

Did anyone in Saucier or Jackson County hear about conflicts between Cassidy and his caregiver before April 2017?