Staff Report
The trial for the four individuals allegedly involved in the 2008 murder of an elderly Frakes man has been postponed. Jeremiah Charles Evans, Deborah L. Partin, Candy Nicole Maiden and Brian W. Hatfield were scheduled to began their trial today, but lawyer issues caused the trial to be postponed.
Barbara Carnes, who was representing Hatfield, realized that she had a conflict of interest in representing her client and asked to be removed from the case. Hatfield’s new lawyer, Brent Flowers from Hazard, just recently became involved in the case and needed more time to prepare for the trial. The trial has been postponed until Sept. 25.
Evans, Partin, Maiden and Hatfield were arrested by Kentucky State Police in 2010 and charged with murder, following an investigation by Trooper Tyson Lawson and Trooper Mitch Williams (prior to his retirement).
A Bell County Grand Jury indicted the four around the same time.
The victim, William Jacob Taylor, who was 91 at the time of his death, was severely beaten during the robbery of his home on Jan. 15, 2008.
The man initially survived the brutal attack, and walked nearly 100 yards to seek help from his nearest neighbor. He was treated at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, where he died a week later.
And how about a full-time deputy for the Frakes area? We can afford a deputy JE - a REAL deputy should be no problem. And they already have a fire department. How about it, Sheriff JE? Don't you have plenty of money just sitting in the bank you could use to fund law enforcement? Who's the magistrate for that district?