LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Bond was set at $1 million for a Kentucky man charged with the murders of a Morehead woman and her 13-year-old daughter.
Fox 56 reported Kayla Blake, 37, and her daughter, Kennedi McWhorter, were discovered Sept. 18 in their home on Spring Street after the Rowan County sheriff went to the home on a wellness check.
Court documents show Joshua Cottrell, 44, was arrested in Paducah where law enforcement "observed blood on his clothes." He's charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence. Cottrell is being held in the McCracken County Jail.
The arrest warrant includes disturbing details. It said Blake was found in a bedroom of the home and appeared to have been "stabbed/bludgeoned." Her daughter was found across the hall. Police said "the juvenile appeared to have had her throat lacerated."
An arrest citation showed Cottrell's home address as the same location where the victims were found. Neighbors told police they saw Cottrell at the house on the day of the bodies were discovered.
Cottrell convicted in 2003 murder
Court documents note Cottrell has been convicted of homicide before.
Richie Phillips of Rineyville, Ky. (left) was killed in an Elizabethtown motel room in 2003. Joshua Cottrell (right) was convicted in his death. (WDRB Images)
WDRB covered Cottrell's high-profile arrest in October 2003, when he was charged with killing Richie Phillips of Rineyville, stuffing the body in a suitcase and throwing it into Rough River Lake. The body was discovered by a fisherman in Breckenridge County in June 2003.
Prosecutors said Cottrell killed Phillips in an Elizabethtown motel room likely because he was a homosexual. At trial, Cottrell admitted to killing Phillip but said it was self-defense. He feared being raped.
State records show Cottrell was convicted in March 2005 on a lesser charge of manslaughter in Hardin County. He served just over two years of a 20-year sentence before being released with credit for time served before the trial.
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