An influential Arkansas family was struck by tragedy two times. Martha McKay owned a luxurious 1919 family estate on Horseshoe Lake, Arkansas, known as Snowden House. The mansion, complete with 1,000 acres of lakefront property, was restored a decade ago. Martha reopened the home as an upscale bed-and-breakfast.
Martha was found dead in her oasis in late March of 2020. The 63-year-old Buddhist with a forgiving nature had been stabbed to death inside the home. Police responding to the scene discovered 39-year-old Travis Lewis, who worked on the property. He fled to escape the police, eventually coming to his own demise in the waters of the frigid lake.
The story would be tragic in its own right if the family hadn't suffered tragic losses 24 years prior. Martha's mother, Sally Snowden McKay, and Martha's cousin, Lee Baker, were killed in a home just doors down from Snowden House in 1996. Travis, then 16, confessed to the murders and was sentenced as an adult.
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The loved ones of Martha McKay have been left with more questions than answers after her gruesome death. Martha was the owner of Snowden House, a grand estate that had been in her family since the early 1900s. She owned the family estate since 2004. She returned there after living on the West Coast and restored the estate. She reopened it as a bed-and-breakfast about a decade ago.
Martha loved to entertain and celebrate on the 1,000 acres of lakefront property. She had grown up there, then spent her summers there when her family relocated to the West Coast.
"It was just wonderful. I felt like I was royalty, with the big house and servants. Everything was fresh from the garden, fresh eggs and all, and we even had a peach orchard," Martha recalled in a 2012 interview with Memphis Magazine.
"We got to swim every day, and it was just ideal. Both my grandparents just loved having a houseful of kids, and they showed it."
Just a few doors down from the home, a tragedy occurred that would change Martha's life forever. In 1996, Martha's mother, Sally Snowden McKay, and her cousin, Lee Baker, were shot and killed in what was believed to be a robbery gone wrong. Travis Lewis, the 16-year-old son of two employees of the estate, later confessed to the crime.
"Martha was devastated, like we all were," her sister, Katie Hutton, told People.
Travis was charged as an adult in connection with the 1996 murders. He was sentenced to 28.5 years in prison but served 23 before being paroled in 2018. Despite his role in her mother's death, Martha, a Buddhist with a deep belief in forgiveness, reached out to Travis and supported him when he was released.
She gave Travis a job at Snowden House alongside his mother, Gladys, a longtime housekeeper on the property. The arrangement worked well until Gladys confided in Martha that she was concerned about Travis. According to Katie, Gladys told Martha, "Just stay away from Travis, because he's going back to his old ways."
Martha would end up taking Gladys' advice after an incident inside Snowden House. Martha had sold a chandelier for $10,000. She stashed the money in the home, but it later vanished. Martha believed Travis, who had been one of the only people in Snowden House that day, was responsible. She fired him and banned him from the property.
On the evening of March 25, sheriff's deputies responded to a call at the home after an alarm was set off. They arrived to find the back door open. They searched for an intruder and spotted a man jump out a second-story window. The man ran to a nearby car and attempted to get away.
The car got stuck in the home's front yard, however. "The suspect then jumped from the car and ran and jumped into the lake," said Crittenden County Sheriff Mike Allen.
"He was observed going under the water and never came back up. The Arkansas Game and Fish and Crittenden County Search and Rescue were called, and Game and Fish used their sonar equipment and Search and Rescue was able to locate and recover the body of the suspect."
Police were shocked to discover the body belonged to Travis. An autopsy found the 39-year-old had cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana in his system. Crittenden County Chief Investigator Todd Grooms explains that as police went back inside the home to look for evidence, Martha's body was discovered wrapped in blankets at the top of the stairs.
Police also discovered a cloth bag on a nearby chair. It contained several valuables that had belonged to the home, as well as a bloody knife.
"It was determined that he intended to steal these items," the investigator explained. "However, it was not determined whether his intentions were to burglarize McKay’s home and she was killed in the process or if his intention was to murder McKay then opted to steal the items."
Martha's family is devastated at the loss, as well as the eerie ways it mirrors Sally's and Lee's deaths.
"It’s kind of like a bad dream or deja vu, like really, back to this again," Joe Baker, Lee's son, told WREG. "For me, it speaks to some of the issues with the parole system in Arkansas."
Joe also reflected on his cousin Martha's decision to allow Travis a second chance.
"I think that she really felt in her heart he deserved to be rehabilitated, which I think really speaks to her character after such a tragic event happened to such a close family member," he said. "I’m just beyond sad that it turned out this way for her."
For Katie, she's left wondering why her family had to be touched by such an inexplicable tragedy twice. "Martha didn’t deserve to be killed," Katie asserted. "She didn't deserve anything that happened to her."
It's unclear what will happen to Snowden House in the wake of the tragedy. Police sent both bodies to be autopsied in hopes of reaching a deeper understanding of what transpired between Martha and Travis in those final moments. The tragedy of Martha's death, as well as those of Sally and Lee, will always be a stark reminder of what can lie beneath the surface in a picture-perfect town.
