Double Murder

The double murder of two young Lincoln County men that remained unsolved for six years broke wide open as five men were arrested in the case in rapid succession. The five were charged with the murder of Harold "Bo" Upton III, 18, and Ryan Keith Shangraw, 20, who were found shot to death at about 10:30 p.m. on Feb. 1, 2002, in Shangraw's mobile home on Hubble Road. The story that haunted the conscience of the community for six years began to unravel when the first of five alleged co-conspirators, Jamarkos Campbell, 23, turned himself in to the Kentucky State Police on April 20. Matthew Tolson, 23, Deonte Simmons, 25, Charles E. Smith, 26, and Neccolus L. Mundy, 26, were subsequently arrested and charged with the murder.

One of the suspects in the 2002 double murder of Ryan Shangraw and Bo Upton, hooded and protected by body armor, was transferred today from the Lincoln County Regional Jail to the Lincoln County Judicial Center, where he was scheduled to appear before a juvenile judge. Although he's an adult now, the suspect was 16 when the crimes occurred and is, at present, considered a juvenile under Kentucky law and protected by the juvenile justice code. Authorities haven't identified the suspect, and the hearing was closed to the public and the media.

Matthew Tolson, a suspect in the double murder of Bo Upton and Ryan Shangraw, was the target of an elaborate kidnapping and robbery plot in Manchester, N.H., in 2006 . Originally from Richmond, Tolson was living in Tennessee with his wife and 1-year-old child when he was arrested June 29 and extradited to Kentucky as a suspect in the 2002 murders that occurred in the Hubble community. What was Tolson doing in New Hampshire? Why was he abducted and robbed? Is there a Kentucky connection?

STANFORD ? One of the men identified as a gunman in the 2002 murders of Bo Upton and Ryan Shangraw denies firing a weapon and is now asking to withdraw his guilty plea and take his case to trial. If the motion is granted and Simmons goes to trial, the death penalty could be on the table. In a handwritten affidavit filed Tuesday, Deonte Simmons said he did not fire any shots when Shangraw and Upton were gunned down over drugs inside Shangraw's trailer near Hubble. "I did not have a firearm when I went into the trailer.

Although he's 22 years old, one of the suspects in a six-year-old double murder was arraigned Tuesday in juvenile court, where proceedings are secret and the identities of the accused are withheld. The suspect was 16 when Ryan Shangraw and Bo Upton were shot to death in Shangraw's rented mobile home in the Hubble community on Feb. 1, 2002. He was arrested Sunday when he turned himself in to Kentucky State Police in Richmond after learning of a warrant for his arrest. More arrests are expected, say state police, who are seeking DNA from at least one other suspect.

When Matthew Tolson went to Manchester, N.H., in March 2006, he ran into trouble. Tolson, a suspect in the 2002 murders of Bo Upton and Ryan Shangraw, was lured to a nightclub, forced at gunpoint into a Mercedes-Benz, ordered to disrobe, robbed of cash, a cell phone and four gold teeth, and was shot at as he ran away. In a story that is sometimes stranger than fiction, police found Tolson when they responded to a call of a naked man pounding on doors in a residential area and calling for help.

Double murder suspect Lillie Stanton told police she decided to kill her daughter and granddaughter rather than face the possibility of the child's father gaining more visitation time. Stanton, 48, of 233 Vaught Road, said she was worried about the situation between her daughter and the child's father, according to her arrest citation. In the citation, she told police that she thought about taking 23-year-old Danel Korrey Stanton and 22-month-old Kaydence Ray Miers out of state, but did not have the money.

STANFORD - One of the suspects in the 2002 double murder of Ryan Shangraw and Bo Upton, hooded and protected by body armor, was transferred Tuesday from the Lincoln County Regional Jail to the Lincoln County Judicial Center, where he was scheduled to appear before a juvenile judge. Although he's an adult now, the suspect was 16 when the crimes occurred and is currently considered a juvenile under Kentucky law and protected by the juvenile justice code. Authorities haven't identified the suspect, and the hearing was closed to the public and the media.

Welcome to the Food for Thought Network. Thank you for tuning in. Today we're going to prepare a media favorite - a Recipe for Disaster. First, let's lay out all of our ingredients: 1. Several family members of double-murder suspect Jamarkos Campbell 2. Deonte Simmons (whose capital murder trial could hinge on Tolson's testimony) 3. The wife, infant daughter and brother of double-murder suspect Matthew Tolson (who later in the day would agree to testify against Campbell and suspect Deonte Simmons)

Double murder suspect Lillie Stanton was released from the hospital this afternoon and lodged in the Clark County Detention Center, three days after she allegedly stabbed her daughter and granddaughter to death. Stanton, 48 of 233 Vaught Road, still had bandages on both arms and her neck from her own self-inflicted wounds following the deaths of Danel Korrey Stanton, 23, and 22-month-old Kaydence Ray Miers Sunday afternoon. Winchester Police Capt. James Hall said Lillie Stanton was released from the University of Kentucky Medical Center around 2:30 p.m. today.

Double murder suspect Lillie Stanton has not returned from her 30-day commitment for mental treatment, and court officials were forced to postpone her preliminary hearing Wednesday. Stanton, 48, of 233 Vaught Road, was sent to Kentucky Correction Psychiatric Center¿June 11 for a court-ordered stay after social workers interviewed her at the jail and documented that she planned to harm herself while incarcerated. The preliminary hearing was rescheduled for Aug. 1. She is facing two counts of murder for allegedly killing her 23-year-old daughter Danel Korrey Stanton and her 22-month-old granddaughter Kaydence Ray Miers on May 20. In court documents, Lillie Stanton told police she was afraid that Miers' father would gain more visitation time through an upcoming hearing.

A Clark District Court judge Wednesday set a $500,000 bond for a Winchester woman accused of killing her daughter and granddaughter. Lillie Stanton, 48, was arraigned via a video link on two counts of murder in the May 20 deaths of Danel Korrey Stanton, 23, and 22-month-old Kaydence Ray Miers. Judge Brandy Oliver Brown scheduled a June 13 preliminary hearing for Lillie Stanton. A not guilty plea was entered automatically on Lillie Stanton's behalf. According to Winchester Police, Lillie Stanton told officers she was concerned about a May 23 Clark County Family Court custody hearing between her daughter and Jonathon Miers.

Kentucky State Police are asking for help finding a missing local man who was last seen with the suspect in a double murder committed Monday in Danville. Trooper Frank Thornberry said the mother of Clint Disken, 31, formerly of Harrodsburg, contacted Danville police after hearing about Thomas Wayne Hager Jr.'s arrest. Hager, 39, of Danville, is charged with killing Mark Snyder, 21, of Waynesburg and Ted Sparks, 54, of Danville and attempting to kill Phillip White, age unavailable, of Lancaster on Monday at Sparks' residence at 477 High St. Disken's mother, Patricia Devine, said she last saw her son March 3 when he and Hager came to her Harrodsburg home.

Double murder suspect Lillie Stanton told police she decided to kill her daughter and granddaughter rather than face the possibility of the child's father gaining more visitation time. Stanton, 48, of 233 Vaught Road, said she was worried about the situation between her daughter and the child's father, according to her arrest citation. In the citation, she told police that she thought about taking 23-year-old Danel Korrey Stanton and 22-month-old Kaydence Ray Miers out of state, but did not have the money.

Details continue to emerge about the victims and the alleged shooter in a double murder Monday in Danville, but information about what led to the killings remains sketchy. Police say Phillip White of Lancaster entered 477 High St. after 4 p.m. and found Thomas W. Hager Jr. holding Mark Snyder, 21, of Waynesburg and Ted Sparks, who lived at the house, at gunpoint. The men were apparently on their knees with their hands behind their backs. Sparks was the father of Snyder's girlfriend.

Double murder suspect Lillie Stanton was released from the hospital this afternoon and lodged in the Clark County Detention Center, three days after she allegedly stabbed her daughter and granddaughter to death. Stanton, 48 of 233 Vaught Road, still had bandages on both arms and her neck from her own self-inflicted wounds following the deaths of Danel Korrey Stanton, 23, and 22-month-old Kaydence Ray Miers Sunday afternoon. Winchester Police Capt. James Hall said Lillie Stanton was released from the University of Kentucky Medical Center around 2:30 p.m. today.

STANFORD ? One of the men identified as a gunman in the 2002 murders of Bo Upton and Ryan Shangraw denies firing a weapon and is now asking to withdraw his guilty plea and take his case to trial. If the motion is granted and Simmons goes to trial, the death penalty could be on the table. In a handwritten affidavit filed Tuesday, Deonte Simmons said he did not fire any shots when Shangraw and Upton were gunned down over drugs inside Shangraw's trailer near Hubble. "I did not have a firearm when I went into the trailer.

STANFORD - Lincoln Circuit Judge Jeffrey refused Monday to remove the death penalty as an option for the upcoming trial of three men charged in the 2002 murders of Bo Upton and Ryan Shangraw. Burdette put off decisions, however, on whether the men should be tried together or separately; if their trials should be delayed from the scheduled July 20 start; and if the trials need to be moved out of Lincoln County because of extensive media coverage. Monday's hearing was at times confusing and contentious, as defendants Deonte Simmons, Nick Mundy and Charles Smith each had at least two attorneys representing them and several motions for Burdette to consider.

STANFORD - Testimony in Jamarkos Campbell's murder trial started with a bang Wednesday as prosecutors led off their case by calling their three eyewitnesses to the 2002 shootings of Ryan Shangraw and Bo Upton to the stand. Tabitha Wilder and Tara Strunk were 15-year-old sophomores at Lincoln County High School when they visited Shangraw's trailer in Hubble with Upton that night. They had disappeared from public view after the shootings but reappeared Wednesday to give similar accounts in their nervous testimony.