King of Prussia man sentenced to state prison for trying to kidnap, rape, and murder his ex-wife outside a Walmart

Geoffrey Kay-Conway wanted to punish his ex-wife. And, as a Montgomery County Court judge put it, he went to “bitter, venomous” lengths to do so: attacking her, stalking her, and ultimately attempting to kidnap, rape, and kill her outside a Walmart store in King of Prussia last year.

On Thursday, Judge Steven O’Neill sentenced Kay-Conway, 53, of King of Prussia, to 15 to 30 years in state prison after an emotional hearing at which his former wife said she would not let the physical and emotional scars he inflicted on her and their children define their lives.

“I refuse to let this experience extinguish my will to live or break my spirit,” she said as she addressed her ex-husband in court. “I will never, ever forgive you for this, and I don’t believe any amount of jail time or rehabilitation will cure you.”

The woman said she agreed to accept Kay-Conway’s decision to plead guilty to attempted rape, attempted murder, and attempted kidnapping only to spare her children from the trauma of a prolonged trial. The Inquirer is not identifying the woman because it does not name victims of sex crimes without their consent.

Kay-Conway did not look his former wife in the eye as she spoke in court, instead casting his gaze downward. Afterward, he apologized to her for the first time since their final, violent encounter.

“I’ve accepted the fact that they may never be able to forgive me, but it’s something I need to work out on my own,” he said. “But it doesn’t change the fact that I love my kids and my wife, and I don’t think that will ever change.”

On Nov. 19, 2023, the woman was getting into her Nissan SUV outside the Walmart Supercenter in King of Prussia when Kay-Conway approached her, armed with what appeared to be a gun and an ice pick. He then forced her into the front passenger side and began stabbing her legs with the pick, the police complaint said. The woman was able to flee from the car through its passenger door and screamed for help from bystanders.

Kay-Conway was taken into custody nearby as he hid behind his pickup truck. Police said he was carrying crystal methamphetamine and a pipe. When officers searched the vehicle, they found a black duffel bag stuffed with a black PepperBall gun — a nonlethal gun that shoots balls filled with pepper spray — and three handmade shivs, including a wooden one with the victim’s name on it.

The bag also contained court paperwork issued after Kay-Conway had violated a protection-from-abuse order filed by his estranged wife after he had attacked her in their bedroom, according to prosecutors. Kay-Conway had violated that order weeks after it was issued in October 2023, authorities said, by aggressively following his wife as she drove through Upper Merion Township and shouting expletives at her.

At the bottom of the court order, Kay-Conway had scrawled a note: “1.5 months to kill that [expletive],” along with a notation saying he could have “killed her 17 times if I wanted.”

Also in the bag was a note Kay-Conway had written — but never delivered — to his brother. In it, he described how he had stalked his ex-wife, sitting outside her house nearly daily to study her habits and movements. He ended the note with a scheduled date to rape and kill her.

Kay-Conway’s attorney, Karen Thek, said untreated drug addiction and mental-health issues drove him to commit the crimes. She said he is remorseful and still loves his family, and hopes someday they will forgive him.

“Mr. Kay-Conway cannot believe himself the depths his untreated issues manifested,” she said. “He cannot take it back. He cannot turn back the hands of time.”

Assistant District Attorney Lauren Marvel said after the hearing that the focus should be on the bravery of the woman who came forward, not the man who attacked her.

“It’s important for the community to hear that perpetrators of domestic violence often know the fear that they strike in the hearts of their victims,” she said. “They bank on them not going forward. They bank on them not having courage.

“And I think it’s important when a victim like her is able to have the courage to leave to begin with, to follow through with it, and to never back down.”