Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of multiple murders. Reader discretion is advised.
Final Moments on Oxygen looks at the September 2013 Danville pawn shop murders committed by Kenneth Allen Keith. The all-new episode titled “The Pawn Shop Murders” will air on Sunday, January 28, 2024, at 7 p.m. ET.
An official synopsis for the upcoming episode reads, “When pawn shop owners Mike and Angie Hockensmith and customer Dan Smith are murdered, the only eyewitness is the owners’ 9-year-old son, Andrew; to solve the case, police must look into the lives of preachers and their personal grudges.”
On September 20, 2013, a shooter gunned down pawn shop owners Michael and Angela Hockensmith and a customer, Daniel Smith. According to USA Today, the couple’s nine-year-old son was also inside the store but was uninjured. In October of that year, authorities arrested Kenneth Allen Keith, a church pastor, in connection with the murders.
After a long delay and shortly before his August 2017 trial, Keith pleaded guilty to murder and other charges. He is now serving a life sentence without parole in prison, as per records.
What was Kenneth Allen Keith charged with?
USA Today reported that on September 20, 2013, Kenneth Allen Keith walked into ABC Gold, Games and More pawn shop in Danville and fatally shot the owners—Michael Hockensmith, 34, and Angela Hockensmith, 38. During the incident, the shooter also gunned down a customer Daniel P. Smith, 60.
According to Reuters, Michael and Angela Hockensmith’s two children—a nine-year-old son and a 14-month-old daughter—were also inside the store. Both remained uninjured. The slain couple’s son reportedly dialed 911. Additionally, they were hosting a Taiwanese foreign exchange student that year.
The outlet reported that in October, a few weeks after the shooting, police arrested 48-year-old Kenneth Allen Keith, a Baptist pastor who also owned a gold-buying shop. They charged him with three counts of murder and one count each of robbery and burglary. The arrest was made after police searched the Main Street Baptist Church, where Keith was the pastor. They also searched the church parsonage where he lives and his Somerset jewelry store, Gold Rush Buyers.
WDRB reported that Danville’s Police Chief told the outlet that shell casings recovered from the crime scene matched a shell casing found in Keith’s Gold Rush Buyers. Lab results further proved that all casings were fired from the same weapon. At the time, police had not yet recovered the murder weapon.
Where is Kenneth Allen Keith now?
Reuters reported that Kenneth Allen Keith had once owned the pawnshop where the shootings occurred. Back then, Michael Hockensmith, who was a youth pastor at another Baptist church, used to manage the store for him. However, the Hockensmiths eventually became part owners of the shop with another man.
According to The Advocate-Messenger, Keith later offered his lawyers a confession, which centered around the motive of the Hockensmiths “taking his business.” Maj. Kevin Peel said that he learned about Keith’s confession via his defense team’s investigation. Keith reportedly met with his attorney and wife, and “he’d given a full confession and admitted everything.”
After a long delay, the accused was set to stand trial in August 2017. However, a few months before that, he accepted a plea deal and received life in prison without the possibility of parole for murder. Additional terms included 20 years each on the robbery and burglary counts. According to the Kentucky Department of Corrections, Kenneth Allen Keith is currently serving his sentence at the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex.
Final Moments on Oxygen will air an episode on the Danville pawn shop murders this January 28, 2024.
