North Texas man who killed wife and daughter and hid their bodies is sentenced to life
A Wise County man who killed his wife and 11-year-old daughter and hid their bodies in a garage for months was sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday, March 25, authorities said.
Robert Morairity, 47, pleaded guilty to capital murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Wise County District Attorney James Stainton told the Star-Telegram.
The victims’ family and law enforcement including the Texas Rangers and Wise County Sheriff’s Office were involved in the investigation and gave statements in court, Stainton said.
“Everyone is very happy with the outcome and the family will get closure,” Stainton said. “The family can start healing now.”
The investigation started in June 2023, when law enforcement officials responded to a call from a man who said his sister-in-law, 42-year-old Kimberly Kellam, and her 11-year-old daughter Rachel Morairity had not been seen for several months. The caller told investigators Kellam was living with her husband off County Road 4371 near Decatur and had three children with Morairity, the Sheriff’s Office said at that time.
The home had been abandoned when sheriff’s deputies reported to the address. Wise County deputies found Robert Morairity at a motel in Dallas. A 10-year-old child and a 3-year-old child were with him during this visit, officials said.
Morairity told authorities he hadn’t seen his wife or oldest daughter in six months. He later told police that his wife and their 11-year-old daughter were dead and that their bodies were in a garage at the County Road 4371 address, officials said.
Investigators determined that Kellam was stabbed around November 2022, and her badly decomposed body was found in a large plastic container. Rachel Morairity died from asphyxiation around February of 2023, and her body was found wrapped in a tarp underneath a pile of items in the garage, the Wise County Messenger reported.
The father and husband was charged with capital murder and tampering with a corpse.