Background: News footage of the house where Joyce Austin and Valerie Howard were found dead (KCTV). Inset (left): Luke Howard (Johnson County Sheriff's Office). Inset (right): Valerie Howard and Joyce Austin (Everloved.com).
A Kansas man who fled to another state after fatally shooting his mother and aunt has pleaded guilty to the double murder.
Luke Howard, 35, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in connection with the deaths of his mother, 63-year-old Valerie Howard, and aunt, 71-year-old Joyce Austin. As Law&Crime previously reported, Luke Howard was arrested at a Walgreens in Missouri on Feb. 12, 2025, after he told an employee that he wanted to turn himself in to police.
According to court documents, Luke Howard's clothes were covered in blood, and he confessed to police when they arrived.
The Lenexa Police Department wrote at the time that on the morning of Feb. 12, 2025, officers responded to calls for a welfare check at the home where Valerie Howard and Austin, former sisters-in-law, lived. Both women were found shot to death inside.
Austin's son also called police asking about his mother, telling police that Luke Howard was in possession of firearms.
As the investigation into the double murder progressed, police said they had been called to the home two days earlier in response to a physical altercation between Luke Howard and his mother. Valerie Howard told police that she and Austin locked themselves in their rooms to protect themselves from Luke Howard, who had a history of violent behavior and bipolar disorder. Austin also called police on her nephew that day, saying that he threatened her because she wanted him out of the house.
Police said Austin issued Luke Howard a 30-day eviction notice, which appeared to be his motive for killing both women. Luke Howard cited the eviction notice when he called police himself the day before the murders, claiming that Austin threatened him with a gun, a statement he quickly recanted.
After the shooting, Luke Howard showed up at a Walgreens pharmacy in Liberty, Missouri, about 30 miles away from his mother's home in Lenexa, Kansas. Pharmacy staff saw blood on his clothes, and he told them he wanted to turn himself in to police.
Luke Howard was taken into custody by Liberty police and extradited to Johnson County in Kansas. He was initially charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
On Wednesday, Luke Howard pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder. His sentencing was scheduled for Aug. 24.
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