MORGANTOWN — A Butler County woman was convicted Thursday in the killing of a man whose body was found in his shower concealed under several items.

A jury of seven women and five men found Samantha Stewart, 47, of Morgantown, guilty of murder, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, theft by unlawful taking and first-degree possession of a controlled substance.

Stewart was accused of causing the death of Michael J. “Beeker” Embry, 57, of Morgantown, by strangulation on May 8 or 9, 2021.

Embry’s body was found on May 12, 2021, and Stewart was located and arrested the following day by Kentucky State Police.

The trial lasted three days, and jurors deliberated for about 1 1/2 hours before returning a guilty verdict on all counts.

During the penalty phase late Thursday afternoon, the jury recommended a 50-year prison sentence for Stewart, who did not appear to show any emotion as Butler Circuit Judge Tim Coleman announced the guilty verdict.

Law enforcement developed evidence that Embry and Stewart had been in a relationship.

Embry was reported by relatives as missing on May 11, 2021, the day before his body was found, and a number of law enforcement witnesses testified at the three-day trial about searching the woods near his home and a nearby creek where he was known to fish before his body was found in his home on Caneyville Road.

The body was found in the shower, stuffed into a garbage bag with a blanket and quilt wrapped around it, covered by a shower curtain and miscellaneous other items.

Embry’s hands were bound at the wrists with three belts, another belt was found wrapped around his neck and multiple stab wounds were also documented, though an autopsy determined strangulation to be the cause of death.

KSP Trooper Graham Rutherford testified that the home appeared disheveled when he entered it, noting that there was only one clear path leading in from the front door.

Butler County Commonwealth’s Attorney Blake Chambers advanced the theory that Stewart was motivated to kill Embry for his money.

Multiple prosecution witnesses testified that Embry did not bank, keeping cash on hand instead.

He had received a financial settlement after being disabled when he was hit by a truck, had sold a pickup truck for more than $21,000 a few months prior to his death and had recently received a COVID-era federal stimulus check, witnesses said.

Embry, who was known to enjoy fishing and whittling, was last seen alive May 8, 2021, by a neighbor.

Two days later, before Embry was reported missing but after he was believed to have been killed, multiple neighbors and relatives knocked on Embry’s door, but there was no answer and the windows to the home were covered.

Chambers told jurors that Stewart was likely inside the house during that time.

“(Stewart) was going through every item in his house trying to find his money,” Chambers said.

When KSP located Stewart and took her to KSP Post 3 headquarters in Bowling Green for an interview, detectives found $2,141 in cash and a small amount of methamphetamine in her possession.

Detectives recovered a duffel bag from a treeline near a Butler County church where Stewart reported spending a night after leaving Embry’s home; Embry’s wallet and driver’s license were found inside the bag.

Jurors were played portions of a three-hour interview of Stewart conducted by KSP detectives Shae Foley and Joshua Amos.

Stewart, who at the time had not been charged with a crime, gave a general timeline of her actions in the days before and after Embry’s death.

She made no admissions, however, regarding how Embry died.

“I know Michael was killed in his house, I know you were there, I want to know why,” Amos said during the interview, which Stewart met with silence. “You can’t bottle it up, you’ve gotta tell somebody and we’re here to hear it.”

Police charged Stewart with murder after that interview, and Chambers argued that her conduct during that interview aroused suspicion.

“When (Stewart) is interviewed, she has zero problem remembering certain things, but when the questions get tough because they implicate her, she freezes and asks to hear the question again,” Chambers said Thursday during his closing argument.

After she was arrested and booked into Butler County Jail, Stewart contacted KSP and asked to give a statement.

Foley, the lead investigator, and Detective Jonathon Carlock went to the jail to interview Stewart, who claimed that she stabbed and choked Embry after waking up to him sexually assaulting her.

During that interview, Stewart claimed the slaying happened about a day after the alleged assault and that the two had talked about building a life together.

Asked by the detectives if Embry was killed because of the sexual assault, Stewart said it was not directly because of that.

Stewart testified at trial, where she maintained that she had been assaulted and told jurors that she was bound by her ankles, but had removed those belts and used them on Embry, who she claimed had tried to attack her with a knife almost immediately after the alleged assault.

Stewart’s defense team of attorneys Eric Clark, Alyson McDavitt and David Graf of the Department of Public Advocacy, advanced the argument that Stewart acted in self-defense, but Chambers argued that Stewart’s testimony was inconsistent with her police interview about the incident and called the whole account of a sexual assault into question.

“I don’t believe a sexual assault occurred, because the story makes no sense, it’s not corroborated by the evidence and she contradicts herself in her timeline,” Chambers said during his closing argument.

The investigation turned up at least six people who came into contact with Stewart between the last time Embry was seen alive and her arrest five days later, and Chambers pointed out that none of them recounted being told by Stewart about an alleged assault.

Stewart will be formally sentenced May 13.