Homicide

The bench Tina White sat sobbing on outside a Boyle County courtroom was still warm from where the mother of a man her son is accused of killing had been sitting and crying only moments before. Both mothers were in court Tuesday for their sons. White's son was in the courtroom wearing stripes and shackles, accused of killing Anna Begley's son who is buried in Richmond. “I am so sorry she lost her son,” White said. “But I lost mine, too.” She said she is afraid to talk to Begley directly because she doesn't think that how she grieves for them both will be understood.

Although it has been five months and at least one banner headline to the contrary, the mother of Brandy Simpson Ison said her daughter is still being put through the rumor mill that has her consuming alcohol and drugs on the day she and her unborn baby died. Ison had only a trace amount of marijuana in her system that day, according to a toxicology report released by the state medical examiner's office in March. That report refutes what the accused in the case, Carolyn Foley, has alleged since the fatal wreck happened - that she and Ison had consumed beer and the potent anti-anxiety drug Klonopin the day of the wreck that killed Ison and her unborn child and might have killed Foley, too, had not the Amish formed a bucket brigade to douse the burning pickup with water from a nearby creek, allowing Foley to escape the wreckage.

The man accused of shooting two men to death and seriously wounding another Monday in Danville pleaded not guilty to the charges Wednesday.  Appearing in Boyle District Court before Judge Jeff Dotson, Thomas Wayne Hager Jr. entered a plea of not guilty to two counts of murder and one count each of attempted murder and tampering with physical evidence. Hager will be held without bond at the Boyle County Detention Center until he appears in court again May 30 for a preliminary hearing.

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.

A Lincoln grand jury today indicted two more men in connection with the 2002 double murder of Bo Upton and Ryan Shangraw. Circuit Judge Jeffrey Burdette sealed one of the indictments at the request of commonwealth's Attorney Eddy Montgomery, because the suspect has not yet been arrested. But the indictment of Charles E. Smith, 26, Richmond, was not sealed. Smith was already was in custody on an unrelated charge out of Madison County. Smith was indicted on two counts of murder and other, lesser crimes associated with the six-year-old homicide, which is said to have been drug related.

A judge indicated she would likely grant shock probation for a Lexington man who killed his passenger in a crash 14 months ago.Richard Parsons, 51, is serving a two-year sentence after pleading guilty to reckless homicide in December for the death of his passenger, Dwayne Laliberte. "I can't tell you I'll make a bench decision today," Circuit Judge Julia Adams said during the hearing this morning. "I can tell you I'm probably inclined to grant the motion. " Parsons' attorney, Ernesto Scorsone, argued the court could exert more control over Parsons by imposing more conditions on his probation than the state could after releasing him. Parsons has already served approximately five months of his sentence and would be able to meet the parole board next month.

Last Friday, a Lincoln County grand jury indicted Rodney S. Alcorn, 43, of Stanford, on five felony counts, including wanton murder and fetal homicide stemming from an auto wreck that occurred on Oct. 24, 2010. The grand jury charged that Alcorn was under the influence of alcohol that night as he was driving on US 150 from Danville toward Stanford when he lost control of his vehicle, overcorrected and left the roadway before slamming into a rock wall and rolling over several times. Upon impact, both Alcorn and his passenger, Teresa Hoskins, were ejected from the vehicle; neither were wearing seatbelts.

HARRODSBURG - A Mercer County grand jury recently indicted Billy McClure, 27, of 673 Beaumont Ave., on a reckless homicide charge in the July 16 death of his infant son. The baby, Carl Eugene McClure, who was 3 weeks old, apparently suffocated while sleeping in bed with Billy McClure and his wife, Tiffany Finley McClure. The indictment alleges that Billy McClure recklessly caused the death of his son by compression asphyxia. McClure's bond was set at $5,000. Harrodsburg police Detective Garry Bradshaw testified before the grand jury.

Dear Editor, I saw the latest AP wire. It said there was another terrorist video. In that video, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda's No. 2 man, claims that, with all the homicide bombings, Al Qaeda has "broken the back" of the United States military in Iraq! Hmmm... Oh, you mean the Al Qaeda that has absolutely no connection with Iraq? Wow... Those guys are really talented to have no connection and yet still do all that damage. Melissa Thompson Liberty

Dear Editor, I read this in the newspaper today: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Al Qaeda in Iraq leader who led a brutal insurgency that included homicide bombings, kidnappings and beheadings, was killed in an airstrike on a building north of Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi officials announced Thursday. Wow! I am still stunned that this guy managed to commit all those crimes, especially since Al Qaeda has no connection to Iraq. Or maybe Americans supporting such an absurd proposition will finally get a clue.