Brothers convicted of1986 murders up for parole

By Lilly Adkins

BSN Associate Editor

LOUISA – Two brothers convicted of brutally killing an elderly Lawrence County man and his daughter in May 1986 are coming up for parole in May.

Donald Levoughn Gussler is currently incarcerated at the Little Sandy Correctional Complex, where he is serving a life sentence for the death of Roosevelt Murray, 79 and his daughter, Myrtle Evans, 57. Evans was the mother of nine children.

Gussler’s younger brother, Montie, entered a plea agreement in which he agreed to serve a life sentence with no possibility of parole and is currently at Lee Adjustment Center.

Donald and Montie Gussler, were 20 and 17, respectively, when the crimes occurred, have parole hearings scheduled for March.

According to records on file, in May 1986, Donald and Montie Gussler asked Evans to use the phone and was granted permission. After using the phone, they left but returned less than five minutes later to use it again, Donald Gussler told police at the time.

When the Gussler brothers entered the second time, Donald Gussler picked up “a handgun and a bunch of long guns,” which included Murray’s .22 rifle, and that was when Murray, who had been ill, started fighting him, the confession said.

Donald Gussler told authorities that he hadn’t pointed the gun at Murray but that they “started wrestling around,” then pushed Murray to the ground where he hit his head on the wall in the kitchen, then tied him to a chair using curtains and a telephone cord, that had been jerked out of the kitchen wall by Montie Gussler.

Evans was escorted outside the home. Moments later, Montie Gussler beat Murray in the back of the head with a claw hammer, Donald Gussler said in his confession.

Donald Gussler said that he attempted to burn Murray’s body and his home by setting a mattress in one of the bedrooms on fire. Days later and before the bodies were discovered, he went back and set a second fire.

In the process, the brothers robbed Murray of about “5 or 6 guns and 25 pennies,” Donald Gussler said in a court transcript of his confession.

The brothers then kidnapped Evans and forced her to drive to various locations in Lawrence County, records said.

To escape them, Evans told the two she had to use the restroom. They had her stop the vehicle on Brushy Hill, court records show.

“I walked behind the car and she was in front of the car,” Donald Gussler said in his confession. He also said that he “heard a sound like someone was running and everything went black. I went and grabbed a gun and started shooting.”

Gussler told authorities that he fired four or five shots.

Evans was shot twice in the right arm and twice in the chest, autopsy reports show. Murray’s and Evan’s bodies were not located by family members until about nine days later.

Donald Gussler was also a suspect in several break-ins in the Lawrence County community during the time period in which the murders occurred, police indicated in their reports.

Since being incarcerated, Donald Gussler has continued getting in trouble. In 1989, he was disciplined for fighting another inmate. In 2010, he was also punished for getting caught with marijuana, Department of Corrections staff has said.

Donald Gussler faced the parole board May 2011, during which family members asked that he be denied parole and encouraged citizens to sign a petition to keep him incarcerated.