How poem was key clue to catching lovers killing couple after CD & tank top row

As they forced open the front door, police officers took in the gruesome and bloody crime scene inside the ‘slaughterhouse’.

Two badly injured, lifeless female bodies – including one with a gruesome gunshot wound through the left eye – lay sprawled across the living room floor.

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Blood splatter covered the carpet and couch, and in the words of local news reporter Christen Drew, “The scene was a slaughterhouse.”

There were multiple gunshot wounds to the head and torso of both the women, who police would discover were couple Kandis Majors, 28, and Terri Seibeck, 32.

Speaking about the case, Phillip Butler, a former attorney who worked on the investigation, went so far as to say, “I’ve worked on several murder cases, but Kandis and Terri’s injuries are the worst I’ve ever seen.”

It wasn’t just the injuries that proved shocking in the case, and it was a handwritten poem that helped bring killers Afton Ferris and Michael Schallert to justice after an argument over some missing CDs and a tank top…

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‘A beautiful smile that lit up the room’

It was clear to friends and family that Kandis and Terri were meant for each other.

The couple had both met single mothers through mutual friends before falling for each other, and planned to get married someday.

Despite both having drug addiction issues in the past that left them without custody of their children, they were both in a good place.

Terri had gotten a job as a painter and Kandis was training to become a radiologist.

In the Hayu documentary Snapped: Killer Couples, Kandis Majors’ mother Cindy Marlow says: “Kandis was a ball of life.

‘She was a very smart, intelligent girl. She had a beautiful smile that lit up the room.

“She had so many positive things going for her, but she got really into meth for a while… [and would] binge eating for three or four days.

“Together they could make each other stronger.”

Kandis and Terri’s girlfriend Jessi Hurley says, “I think they needed each other just because they had issues with drug addiction and past trauma.

“They both wanted to walk on a better path and do right by their children and get back the love they lost.”

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‘Blood on the door’

Just before their untimely deaths, the couple lived happily at Terri’s aunt’s home in West Frankfort, Illinois.

However, she became concerned when she could not reach her niece on October 19, 2009.

As she approached the house, she noticed there was blood on the storm door.”

Police Chief Jeff Tharp

West Frankfort Police Chief Jeff Tharp says, “Terri’s aunt called to report that she had spoken to Kerri on the evening of the 18th and was unable to contact her on the 19th.

‘She had been informed by Terri’s employer that she did not show up for work that day.

“As she approached the house, she noticed there was blood on the storm door.”

The police chief describes the scene that happened to him: “When I pushed the door open about six or six inches, my toes were under the door and you could see the blood on them.

“I was able to push the door open a little further… I saw a full body lying perpendicular to the front door.”

The scene was a slaughterhouse

With no weapon on the premises, police quickly ruled out the possibility of suicide.

Although the car and credit cards were missing – suggesting theft may have been a motivation – the house was not ransacked and a pile of cash and expensive jewelry remained untouched.

There were also no signs of forced entry, leading investigators to believe they likely knew the killer.

Many assumed that perhaps it was their past catching up with them.

The couple’s friend, Jessi Hurley, said: “Maybe someone was getting revenge for something that happened a long time ago… and it finally came back to them.

“Unfortunately that was the first thing I thought had happened.”

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‘A kind and caring person’

However, police soon discovered that a couple was living with them, identified by friends as the couple, 19-year-old Afton Ferris and 29-year-old Michael Schallert.

Michael met Afton, who had grown up in foster care, a year earlier, and the couple quickly fell in love, and when they moved to the area, Terri and Kandis welcomed them into their home.

However, at the time of the murder, their belongings were missing after they left the house following an argument over some missing items.

However, it turned out that Michael had been friends with Terri for years, and no one thought for a second that he was capable of violence.

Michael’s sister Shauna Schallert said: “Michael has always been a kind and caring person. He’s always been the type to give the shirt off his back for someone else.”

Reporter Christen says: “His friends describe him as kind-hearted and compassionate and a good guy – who happens to fall in love very easily.”

The couple was eventually tracked down in Colorado and bloodied clothing was found, along with credit cards and identification cards, and a semi-automatic pistol.

Christen says: “In the car they apparently found a handwritten poem by Afton [describing] crime and their lives on the run as criminals.”

‘We had no other choice’

Two handwritten letters that appeared to appear to be suicide notes were also found, which read: “One wish I want to fulfill is to be buried with Michael…

“God knows how much we truly love each other and will let us live after death.”

After being arrested, Afton immediately broke down and revealed everything, telling police that the couple had asked them to leave.

On the night of the murders, they had gone to a friend’s house, drank and played cards, before grabbing the gun and ammunition and leaving, planning to rob the women and then flee.

“We had no other choice,” she told the officers. “It’s the only option we had.”

“We asked if we could come in and apologize… They told us how we stole their stuff and how they went through our room.

“Michael went into the room… to see if there was anything else… and he came back out and Kandis was whining and he said, ‘You know what m********* *r? And he shot her.’

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‘Give me the gun’

West Frankfort Police Chief Jeff Tharp said, “Afton stated she noticed Kandis standing at the door and using her cell phone to call the sheriff’s department.

“Afton says she grabbed Candice and dragged her back into the home and Michael shot her again.”

In a police interview she said: “Terri, she was moaning and groaning. I said ‘give me the gun’ and then shot her in the left eye.

“The reason why I did this is because my life is ruined. There is nothing for me to live [for]. I don’t have a goddamn family. I have nothing to live for, you know.”

“I just pulled the trigger.”

Tragically, it seems like the entire horrific scenario could have been avoided, as the straw that broke the camel’s back was an argument over some missing CDs and a tank top.

Speaking to police, Michael explained: “We just walked in and she started blaming Afton for stealing some CDs and me for stealing a tank top, and I just couldn’t take it anymore and I had that gun .

“I just pulled the trigger. I don’t even know how many times. It got stuck and Afton asked me to reload it. I reloaded it and she fired a few times.

“We just didn’t want to lose each other, so we did what was necessary.”

‘Like seeing something on TV’

The pair were both charged with two counts of first-degree murder, and initially both pleaded not guilty, hoping that a trial would save them from a possible death sentence.

However, in 2011, just before their trial, the death penalty became illegal, so Michael changed his guilty plea and was sentenced to life in prison.

Michael’s sister Shauna says: “It was surreal. It’s something you see on TV. You don’t think this would ever happen in real life.”

In July 2011, a jury found Afton guilty of both murders, home invasions and home invasions, and she was also sentenced to life in prison.

Kandis Majors’ mother, Cindy Marlow, added: “I was relieved, but I was sad because the lives of these two young people were essentially thrown away for what?

‘Nothing. Four people actually died that day.”

Episodes of Snapped: Killer Couples can be streamed on Hayu in the UK.

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