The man charged in two shooting deaths in Danville last month has a new public defender assigned to his case, which appears headed for the Boyle County grand jury.
According to the Boyle County Public Defender’s office, Thomas Hager now is being represented by Aaron Currin of the Capital Trials Branch of the Public Defender’s Office in Lexington. Suzsanne McCollough, who had been defending Hager, referred the case because she currently is working on two other capital cases.
Hager, 39, of Danville, is charged with killing Mark Snyder, 21, of Waynesburg and Ted Sparks, 54, of Danville, and attempting to kill Philip White, 37, of Lancaster, on May 21 at Sparks’ residence at 477 High St. White survived being shot multiple times after apparently walking into the home and seeing Hager holding Snyder and Sparks at gunpoint.
The case was waived to the grand jury during a May 30 preliminary hearing, but Commonwealth Attorney Richie Bottoms had discussed the possibility of filing an information in the case, which is similar to an indictment and often is filed when an indictment is likely. The document includes the charges and law enforcement statements in a case and can be submitted to the court in lieu of presenting the case to the grand jury.
