March 10, 2022- 7:17 p.m.
The man accused of killing a former Kentucky lawmaker’s daughter after he broke into the family’s mansion confessed to the murder shortly after he was arrested, according to a Kentucky State Police detective.
Shannon Gilday confessed to killing 32-year-old Jordan Morgan in her family’s home.
Gilday appeared in court — wearing a bulletproof vest — for a preliminary hearing Wednesday morning, according to a report by LEX 18. During the hearing, KSP Detective Cameron Allen said Gilday admitted to shooting his way into the home, armed with an AR-15, and killing Jordan Morgan and shooting her father.
Gilday was on the run for nearly a week after police said he shot and killed Jordan Morgan in a home invasion at the Morgan family’s mansion on Feb. 22.
During the time between the shooting and his arrest, KSP said Gilday drove to Florida, then up north again. His car broke down in Georgia, but he eventually made it back to Madison County where he was located and arrested on Feb. 28.
According to investigators, a search of his recovered car revealed an AR-15 in the trunk, camo fatigues and a long nylon rope.
Detectives said Gilday told them he was trying to gain access to the bunker no matter what.
“He stated he had prepared himself to force his way into the residence by any means necessary,” Allen said. “He had done surveillance multiple times and had tried to access the bunker through a tunnel but was unable to do so.”
“He told me he was willing to kill everyone inside the residence, if necessary, in order to access the bunker.”
Gilday’s family has mentioned how distraught Gilday was over the chance of nuclear war and obsessed with finding a bunker. He kept notes on the Morgan family and their home which has a bunker beneath it.
Court documents reveal that Gilday is accused of climbing scaffolding to enter the Morgan residence through a window on the second floor, exchanging gunfire and then escaping.
Sheriff Mike Coyle said Gilday was returning to the home of former state lawmaker C. Wesley Morgan when deputies found him.
“Once he left Madison County and came back to carry out his means that he wanted to get back at that location — no telling what would have happened if he hadn’t been apprehended at that point in time,” Coyle said.
