Parole Board

One of the two men convicted in a 1989 Clark County murder is back in jail after allegedly trying to abduct a girl in Laurel County last week. Carl Wayne Miller, 42, is incarcerated in the Laurel County Detention Center on a charge of attempted abduction of a minor, according to the Laurel County Sheriff's Office. Miller was one of two men convicted in the July 1989 murder of Thomas Bennett during a robbery at Bennett's Grocery. According to LCSO Public Affairs Officer Gilbert Acciardo, a 15-year-old girl was walking to a friend's home Friday afternoon near Corbin when she noticed a van following her. She returned to her home, and the man in the van knocked on her door.

A Georgetown man will continue serving his 12-month sentence after a judge denied his motion for shock probation Thursday. Christopher Chandler, 25, was sentenced in August to serve 12 months in jail for hindering prosecution in the death of his infant son in March 2009. The child's mother, 24-year-old Amanda Tolson of Winchester, was sentenced to five years for reckless homicide two weeks ago. Chandler's attorney Ira Kilburn made the motion Thursday afternoon, which drew quick objections from prosecutors.

Convicted murderer James D. Hunter will spend the rest of his life in prison after losing his final chance at parole earlier this week. Hunter, now 37, was convicted in the June 25, 1990, killing of Debra Sue Stratton in a home on South Bloomfield Avenue and was sentenced to life in prison. Earlier this week, the state parole board denied his request for parole and gave him a serve-out, according to the justice cabinet. "A serve-out on a life sentence means that person will die in prison," Justice Cabinet Communications Director Jennifer Brislin said.

Though their sentence was a year, a Winchester couple charged with tying an elderly man to a recliner could be free in a matter of weeks. Mary Jane and Jeffrey Bull, both 41 of 159 Mimosa Drive, pleaded guilty in July to wanton endangerment charges. Thursday, they were each sentenced to one year in prison. With credit for 163 days already served, they are already eligible to meet the parole board. Jeffrey Bull's attorney, Scott West, said his client is approximately two months away from completing his sentence anyway.

A Winchester couple may be sentenced to life in prison this afternoon for killing their daughter 18 months ago. Patrick and Joy Watkins will be sentenced in Clark Circuit Court a month after they were convicted of murder for the death of 10-year-old Michaela Watkins in March 2007. She had been beaten and scalded between March 10 and 11, 2007 and received no medical treatment other than her parents buying a tube of burn cream and gauze. The autopsy report detailed 35 cuts and abrasions to her head, a crushed chest, a broken vertabra and second- and third-degree burns down the back of her legs.

Ten months after Kimberly Hooten died on Meadow Street, Anthony Brown was sentenced to 15 years in prison for her death. Brown, 32 of 1018 W. Lexington Ave., pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and tampering with physical evidence last month for Hooten's death on Sept. 10, 2008. Hooten died from multiple stab wounds, police said. Brown said nothing Thursday afternoon as Clark Circuit Judge William Clouse sentenced him to 10 years for first-degree manslaughter and five years for tampering with physical evidence.

Dear Editor, I was glad to read in The Advocate-Messenger last week that Northpoint will rebuilt. I hope they use all available inmate labor within the system. There are some skilled laborers in prison, and they need to work for the system and help out the taxpayers. It helps them as well to do something worthwhile and constructive. After all, they will return to society one day and hopefully be productive, law-abiding citizens. A good laborer is worthy of his hire ? yes, even within a correctional system ?

A noticeably thinner Jessilyn Robinson tried to hold herself together before the judge Thursday afternoon, before she received her 10-year sentence. Sniffles could be heard as Clark Circuit Judge William Clouse sentenced her to 10 years for killing her 4-year-old daughter 18 months ago. Robinson was charged last summer with murder, but she pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in September. Her attorney, Scott West, made a plea for probation Thursday, citing her remorse and weight loss in jail, but Clouse said Robinson received enough of a break with the plea agreement.

A month after being convicted of fatally beating and burning their daughter, Patrick and Joy Watkins began serving their life sentences Thursday afternoon. The Winchester couple, the father and stepmother of 10-year-old Michaela Watkins, will have to serve at least 20 years before being eligible to meet the parole board. Senior Judge Gary D. Payne did not deviate from the jury's recommended sentence. "There's a lot of questions I can't answer and they can't be answered except by those who were there," Payne said before imposing the sentence.

Genne Burgess said she learned her lesson after her 3-week-old son was seriously abused by the father in January. She said she realized her mistake, wanted to reconnect with her son and pleaded for probation. The judge wasn't swayed, sentencing Burgess to five years in prison for second-degree criminal abuse, and the father, 28-year-old Jesse Patrick, to 10 years for first-degree assault Thursday afternoon in Clark Circuit Court. "I should've took the chance I had," Burgess told Judge Julia Hylton Adams.

One of the two men convicted in a 1989 Clark County murder is back in jail after allegedly trying to abduct a girl in Laurel County last week. Carl Wayne Miller, 42, is incarcerated in the Laurel County Detention Center on a charge of attempted abduction of a minor, according to the Laurel County Sheriff's Office. Miller was one of two men convicted in the July 1989 murder of Thomas Bennett during a robbery at Bennett's Grocery. According to LCSO Public Affairs Officer Gilbert Acciardo, a 15-year-old girl was walking to a friend's home Friday afternoon near Corbin when she noticed a van following her. She returned to her home, and the man in the van knocked on her door.

“She knew I wanted a family …so it turned into, you know, the kid, the car, the white picket fence and all that.” The American Dream, right. … the white picket fence and all that? Maybe it started out that way in Paul Estes' imagination, but it turned into an American Nightmare. “We had been smoking crack all night, run through $200 or $300, and we were tapped out … She said we need to get some money … and then she just started talking about killing her mom pretty much, and she kept it up for probably a good hour and then finally, you know, she talked me into doing it. I went upstairs and she went with me …” It was about 3 a.m. the day of May 19, 2009.

We are entering the home stretch of the 2012 General Assembly with the attendant rush of bills as legislators feel the urgency of the dwindling days. The Senate had a very full week with legislation and committee meetings, and we received the budget proposal from the House as well as the state's road plan. Visits from groups ranging from the AARP to 4-H also came to the Capitol to see their legislators and press for their causes.  Let's look at the legislation. Senate Bill 158, the Religious Freedom Act, is a constitutional amendment that would protect religious freedom from an overbearing government.

A Georgetown man will continue serving his 12-month sentence after a judge denied his motion for shock probation Thursday. Christopher Chandler, 25, was sentenced in August to serve 12 months in jail for hindering prosecution in the death of his infant son in March 2009. The child's mother, 24-year-old Amanda Tolson of Winchester, was sentenced to five years for reckless homicide two weeks ago. Chandler's attorney Ira Kilburn made the motion Thursday afternoon, which drew quick objections from prosecutors.

A noticeably thinner Jessilyn Robinson tried to hold herself together before the judge Thursday afternoon, before she received her 10-year sentence. Sniffles could be heard as Clark Circuit Judge William Clouse sentenced her to 10 years for killing her 4-year-old daughter 18 months ago. Robinson was charged last summer with murder, but she pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in September. Her attorney, Scott West, made a plea for probation Thursday, citing her remorse and weight loss in jail, but Clouse said Robinson received enough of a break with the plea agreement.

Dear Editor, I was glad to read in The Advocate-Messenger last week that Northpoint will rebuilt. I hope they use all available inmate labor within the system. There are some skilled laborers in prison, and they need to work for the system and help out the taxpayers. It helps them as well to do something worthwhile and constructive. After all, they will return to society one day and hopefully be productive, law-abiding citizens. A good laborer is worthy of his hire ? yes, even within a correctional system ?

Though their sentence was a year, a Winchester couple charged with tying an elderly man to a recliner could be free in a matter of weeks. Mary Jane and Jeffrey Bull, both 41 of 159 Mimosa Drive, pleaded guilty in July to wanton endangerment charges. Thursday, they were each sentenced to one year in prison. With credit for 163 days already served, they are already eligible to meet the parole board. Jeffrey Bull's attorney, Scott West, said his client is approximately two months away from completing his sentence anyway.

Ten months after Kimberly Hooten died on Meadow Street, Anthony Brown was sentenced to 15 years in prison for her death. Brown, 32 of 1018 W. Lexington Ave., pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and tampering with physical evidence last month for Hooten's death on Sept. 10, 2008. Hooten died from multiple stab wounds, police said. Brown said nothing Thursday afternoon as Clark Circuit Judge William Clouse sentenced him to 10 years for first-degree manslaughter and five years for tampering with physical evidence.

Garret Callahan held his tongue throughout his rape and sodomy trial, but couldn't hold it any longer after being sentenced to 30 years in prison. "It's obvious that I have been lied upon several times in front of God and everybody," Callahan said in Clark Circuit Court Thursday afternoon. "I did not force her to do anything. I am not a rapist. I never will be. That is not who my mother raised. " As he was led from court, he glared at his 24-year-old victim and said "You will have to live with that," implying she was to blame for his conviction.

Garret Callahan will likely spend the next 25 and a half years behind prison bars after a jury convicted him Tuesday of raping and sodomizing his next-door neighbor. The man who told police he had no regrets for what he called "straight sex" then started to lose control of his tongue. "You tell my mom she don't have a son no more, that she'll never have grandchildren," he said while glaring in the direction of the 24-year-old victim in Clark Circuit Court before being quieted by his attorney and bailiffs.