Woodbine, GA – On April 2, 2025, a Camden County jury convicted 56-year-old Frank Patrick Kennedy and 29-year-old Anthony Scott Mistretta of Malice Murder, Felony Murder, Kidnapping, and multiple other felony charges in the brutal, torture and murder of 29-year-old John Andrew Mamph in a remote area of St. Marys off of Highway 40, which is locally known as “Gilligan’s Island.”
On July 5, 2023, the defendants beat and hog-tied Mamph near his homeless encampment at “Gilligan’s Island.” The defendants then transported Mamph to a nearby boat ramp where they put him in a boat and took him out on a lake. While Mamph was still tied up, the defendants then weighed him down with multiple weights and dumped him into the lake so he would drown.
Mamph’s body was discovered during the noon hour on the following day, July 6, by a local citizen who was jet-skiing with his family. The citizen observed the submerged body of Mr. Mamph in the clear water, returned to shore, and called 911. St. Marys police immediately responded to the scene and recovered the body and launched an investigation with the assistance of the Camden County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations dive team and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. That very night, law enforcement began making arrests based on eyewitness statements of the horrific crimes.
On behalf of the District Attorney’s Office for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit, Deputy Chief ADA Hal Moroz prosecuted the case by presenting 15 witnesses and dozens of evidentiary exhibits. Moroz called the successful prosecution, “the culmination of an outstanding team effort, involving superior community policing by the St. Marys Police Department, skilled assets from the Camden County Sheriff’s Office, and dogged determination and expert investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.”
Immediately following the jury verdict, Superior Court Judge Anthony Harrison sentenced Defendants Kennedy and Mistretta to life in prison without the possibility of parole. As a result of this conviction and sentence, the two defendants will spend the rest of their natural lives in prison.
Before trial commenced, other defendants also charged in the case pled guilty to a multitude of felony charges. Debra Leane Dougherty, 38, pled guilty to Felony Murder and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Dougherty will spend 30 years in prison before she is eligible for parole. Defendant Bernice Rose McGuire, 27, pled guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Assault, and has yet to be sentenced. Another Defendant, Megan Leigh Robison, 34, who initially lied to law enforcement about her knowledge of the events on July 5, 2023, pled guilty to Making a False Statement and was sentenced to 5 years probation.
