Joseph L. Cunningham, the man accused in the March 2016 shooting death of a Paducah man eventually discovered in Possum Trot, changed his plea to guilty Thursday in Marshall County Circuit Court.
Cunningham, 40, of Benton, pleaded guilty to one count of murder, felony tampering with evidence and felony possession of a firearm by a convicted felon after negotiating a plea agreement with Commonwealth Attorney Mark Blankenship’s office. The state dropped a charge of first-degree robbery as part of the agreement and withdrew its intent to seek the death penalty in the case provided Cunningham made full allocution and agreed to serve a total of 50 years in prison, according to court documents.
Cunningham also faces arson, burglary, theft by unlawful taking or disposition and cruelty to animal charges in McCracken County. He is scheduled to appear at 9:30 a.m. Feb. 9 in McCracken County Circuit Court.
Cunningham on Thursday admitted to shooting and killing 47-year-old Gary Lambert of Paducah. According to initial Marshall County Sheriff’s Office reports, Cunningham, along with his girlfriend Kristy Keener, 42, of Paducah, March 25, 2016, in Jefferson County, Ill., after employees at an area Five Star suspected Cunningham had shoplifted items from the store. An employee on staff claimed to see a firearm protruding from Cunningham’s pocket and noted he appeared to be cleaning blood from the exterior and interior of the vehicle he was driving. Jefferson County, Ill., deputies located and arrested Cunningham and Keener.
During the course of interrogation, Cunningham reportedly confessed to shooting and killing Lambert with a 20-gauge shotgun. Cunningham initially told police he’d acted in self defense after Lambert allegedly brandished a pistol as the two negotiated the sale of firearms Cunningham stole in a previous burglary. Cunningham told police he believed Lambert was going to rob him. He shot Lambert in his white Dodge Durango, then pushed him from the vehicle and left him in the grass beside the driveway of an abandoned home where Cunningham had reportedly stashed the stolen weapons, police reports say.
Cunningham then took Lambert’s Durango and fled the state with Keener. MCSO detectives located Lambert’s body after Cunningham’s statement, according to police reports.
Cunningham is scheduled to be sentenced at 10 a.m. Feb. 15 in Marshall County Circuit Court.