Louisville, Kentucky – A woman from Jefferson County has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in the gruesome killings of two men in 2021, one of whom was decapitated in a crime that shocked the community.
Sara McQuilling, 44, entered an Alford plea late last week, admitting guilt to charges of complicity to murder, complicity to manslaughter in the second degree, theft, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with physical evidence. Under this plea, she maintains her innocence while acknowledging that the state had enough evidence to secure a conviction.
The case involves the deaths of Douglas Brooks, 39, and Jerry Cardin, 64, whose bodies were found just days apart in September 2021 under horrifying circumstances. Both men were discovered in the crawl spaces of their respective homes.
Brooks’ case was particularly disturbing: he was stabbed to death and decapitated, with investigators revealing that his head has never been found. According to court documents, McQuilling “either alone or with the help of another person, then decapitated Mr. Brooks and placed his body in a crawl space in the cellar of his house.”
Cardin, on the other hand, was shot to death and hidden in the crawl space of his Roosevelt Avenue home in the West Buechel neighborhood. He was believed to have been killed three days before officers discovered his body on September 23, 2021, during a welfare check.
Just four days later, on September 27, 2021, McQuilling was caught driving Cardin’s stolen truck. Inside the vehicle, authorities recovered key evidence linking her to the murders, including stolen objects and surveillance footage showing her removing items from Cardin’s home. Police also found a revolver in a purse along with her healthcare identification cards.
During her initial arrest, McQuilling allegedly confessed to shooting Cardin and hiding his body. The same day, officers discovered Brooks’ remains in his home on Woodbourne Avenue in the Highlands Douglass neighborhood.
Prosecutors stated that no additional suspects are expected to be charged, and a motive for the killings remains unknown. Jefferson County court administrator McKay Chauvin confirmed that the case was mediated, with the victims’ families present during the plea agreement.
“The case was mediated,” Chauvin told Louisville-based NBC affiliate WAVE. “She pled guilty in exchange for a sentence of 20 years. She waived a separate sentencing hearing and should be on her way to the penitentiary to begin service of that sentence. My understanding from the mediator is that the victims’ families were present, and everyone was satisfied with the disposition.”
McQuilling will be eligible for parole after serving 85% of her sentence.
McQuilling, a married mother of six, has a troubling past. In June 2021, she was reported missing for a week before being found safe. In December 2016, she was accused of stealing a police cruiser.
Her landlord expressed disbelief over her crimes, saying, “It shows you never truly know about an individual, no matter how much you like them, no matter what they seem like. You got to be careful, man, anymore.”
