Post by CCADP on Aug 15, 2005 6:33:22 GMT -5
Ky. man faces death penalty
Authorities say John David Anderson took a man's life and for that, he
could lose his own.
A Lawrence County grand jury has returned an 8-count indictment against
Anderson, the man arrested in connection with the death of Arthur Boyer
last month.
That indictment includes 2 aggravated murder charges, both of which carry
death penalty specifications.
Both murder charges are in connection with Boyer's death but are different
on technicalities. One stipulates that the murder was the result of a
robbery or attempted robbery and the other that the murder was the result
of a burglary or attempted burglary.
This makes Anderson the 2nd person facing the death penalty in Lawrence
County right now, and the 3rd person with a murder charge pending.
"We've certainly had our fair share of really bad crimes lately," Lawrence
County Prosecutor J.B. Collier Jr., said. "This was a very straightforward
case and now we get ready for the trial."
The grand jury also chose to indict Anderson charges of 1st-degree
aggravated robbery, 1st-degree aggravated burglary, 2nd-degree aggravated
arson, 4th-degree grand theft, 3rd-degree tampering with evidence and
5th-degree abuse of a corpse. The robbery and burglary charges also carry
firearms charges.
Anderson is likely to be arraigned in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court
early next week, Collier said. Anderson was recently returned from
Kentucky and is lodged in the Lawrence County Jail.
Anderson was arrested late on the evening of July 21 in Carter County,
Ky., hours after the body of the elderly Boyer was found in his burned out
residence in Deering. What started as a fire call escalated into a
fatality, and authorities soon began investigating the incident as an
arson that was used to cover up a murder.
It is perhaps unprecedented that two men face death row in Lawrence County
at the same time. Lawrence County Common Pleas Judge Frank McCown, who
practiced law for many years before taking the bench, said he could not
remember a time when the county had two death penalty cases pending at the
same time.
"Certainly not in the time that I have been around the court," McCown
said. "The death penalty has come and gone and now it is back again. It's
possible that we had more than one death penalty case as an outcome of the
jail break here in the 1960s, when the police chief of Ironton, Gene
Markel, was killed."
(source: The Ironton Tribune)
Authorities say John David Anderson took a man's life and for that, he
could lose his own.
A Lawrence County grand jury has returned an 8-count indictment against
Anderson, the man arrested in connection with the death of Arthur Boyer
last month.
That indictment includes 2 aggravated murder charges, both of which carry
death penalty specifications.
Both murder charges are in connection with Boyer's death but are different
on technicalities. One stipulates that the murder was the result of a
robbery or attempted robbery and the other that the murder was the result
of a burglary or attempted burglary.
This makes Anderson the 2nd person facing the death penalty in Lawrence
County right now, and the 3rd person with a murder charge pending.
"We've certainly had our fair share of really bad crimes lately," Lawrence
County Prosecutor J.B. Collier Jr., said. "This was a very straightforward
case and now we get ready for the trial."
The grand jury also chose to indict Anderson charges of 1st-degree
aggravated robbery, 1st-degree aggravated burglary, 2nd-degree aggravated
arson, 4th-degree grand theft, 3rd-degree tampering with evidence and
5th-degree abuse of a corpse. The robbery and burglary charges also carry
firearms charges.
Anderson is likely to be arraigned in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court
early next week, Collier said. Anderson was recently returned from
Kentucky and is lodged in the Lawrence County Jail.
Anderson was arrested late on the evening of July 21 in Carter County,
Ky., hours after the body of the elderly Boyer was found in his burned out
residence in Deering. What started as a fire call escalated into a
fatality, and authorities soon began investigating the incident as an
arson that was used to cover up a murder.
It is perhaps unprecedented that two men face death row in Lawrence County
at the same time. Lawrence County Common Pleas Judge Frank McCown, who
practiced law for many years before taking the bench, said he could not
remember a time when the county had two death penalty cases pending at the
same time.
"Certainly not in the time that I have been around the court," McCown
said. "The death penalty has come and gone and now it is back again. It's
possible that we had more than one death penalty case as an outcome of the
jail break here in the 1960s, when the police chief of Ironton, Gene
Markel, was killed."
(source: The Ironton Tribune)