Left to right: Frank Kennedy and Anthony Mistretta (St. Mary’s Police Department).
Two men from Georgia have been sentenced to life in prison for the brutal killing of a homeless man who was discovered beaten, hog-tied, and submerged in a lake, as per officials who made the announcement recently.
In July of 2023, John Andrew Mamph, at the age of 29, resided in a makeshift camp in St. Mary’s, a small town just north of the Florida border, where he was assaulted in a desolate area known locally as “Gilligan’s Island.”
During the attack, a large group of at least three and as many as four people took part in the beating, Peach State authorities allege.
According to a statement from the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney, “The perpetrators then moved Mamph to a nearby boat launch, placed him in a boat, and transported him onto a lake. Subsequently, while Mamph was still bound, they used various weights to sink him in the lake with the intention of causing his death by drowning.”
Earlier this month, Frank Kennedy, 56, and Anthony Mistretta, 29, were convicted by a jury over their roles in Mamph’s murder.
In sum, the defendants were each convicted of one count of malice murder, felony murder, false imprisonment, kidnapping, and battery over the brutal slaying. Kennedy was also convicted of aggravated assault.
The pair were immediately sentenced after being convicted.
Mamph’s body was found sometime after noon the day following his murder by a local citizen who was jet-skiing with his family.
“The citizen observed the submerged body of Mr. Mamph in the clear water, returned to shore, and called 911,” prosecutors said.
The find was grim.
In a sense, the man’s body was not hidden, but rather, paraded.
Mamph was found tied to a cinder block at the bottom of the lake near an “aluminum roof flashing and also a black bag full of rocks tied together,” according to a police report obtained by Jacksonville, Florida-based NBC affiliate WTLV and Orange Park, Florida-based ABC affiliate WJXX, who collectively broadcast as First Coast News.
In comments to police, the man who found the body said he could “smell death” as he approached the victim, First Coast News reported.
That same night, a task force of local, county, and state law enforcement made their first arrests “based on eyewitness statements of the horrific crimes,” prosecutors said.
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Before Kennedy and Mistretta went to trial, all the other defendants pleaded guilty.
Debra Leane Dougherty, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of felony murder and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after serving at least 30 years.
Bernice Rose McGuire, 27, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and is awaiting sentencing.
The least culpable of the quintet, Megan Leigh Robison, 34, initially lied to law enforcement about what she knew after the fact about Mamph’s murder; she eventually pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement and was sentenced to five years of probation.
