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An autopsy, which was performed Tuesday on the body of a man found in the charred remains of a Williamsburg home Monday morning, has led investigators to suspect foul play. “At this point I don’t feel we can give a good reasoning for why he died,” said Whitley County Coroner Andy Croley concerning the death of 73-year-old Johnny Jones. Croley declined to get into specifics but said there were injuries inconsistent with an individual who died as a result of a house fire. “It is very, very early in the investigation,” Croley said. Croley said he was called to Jones’ residence on Maiden Bend Spur Road off of Ky. 92 in the Patterson...

A Williamsburg man is facing a DUI and murder charge after he allegedly hit and killed a man, who was walking his dog along a sidewalk in Williamsburg Wednesday evening. Richard E. Perkins, 53, was walking his dog on a sidewalk adjacent to US25W about 6 p.m. when Adam David Childress, 31, allegedly left the roadway for an unknown reason and struck Perkins with his vehicle before leaving the scene of the accident, according to Williamsburg police. Whitley County Coroner Andy Croley pronounced Perkins dead at the scene. Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird said that the accident happened about 50 feet south of the entrance to Locklin Drive along Town Hill. A witness,...

A Corbin woman, who is the wife of a well-known Whitley County public defender, and an Oak Ridge man died early Saturday morning during a hot tub accident while on a couples' retreat in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Police were called to the Gatlinburg Falls Resort about 8 a.m. where they found Myra Smith-Findell, 62, of Corbin and Jon Levin, 63, of Oak Ridge, dead in the hot tub of the cabin. Foul play is not suspected. Findell is the wife of long-time public defender Ron Findell, who was the person that discovered the two dead Saturday. "I am devastated," Findell said Tuesday morning. "She was my best friend, my soul mate, just everything...

Williamsburg police arrested an Indianapolis man Monday afternoon for allegedly raping a Nashville woman early Sunday morning. About 3:23 p.m., Williamsburg Police Detective Bobby Freeman charged Christian Devi Black Jr., 21, with first-degree rape. According to the arrest warrant, which was sworn out by the victim, the attack allegedly took place on Sunday when Black engaged in sexual intercourse by forcible compulsion. "Christian Black entered the room I was sleeping in, followed me to my bed and he pulled my shorts down and began having sex," the victim alleged in the warrant. The victim then allegedly told Black, "Stop. It hurts," the warrant stated. Black allegedly didn't stop and asked the victim if she...

A Woodbine man, who says he has been suffering from suspected second-degree and third-degree burns for almost a week, was flown by an emergency medical helicopter to the University of Tennessee Medical Center late Tuesday afternoon. Whitley County Sheriff Colan Harrell said authorities don’t know the man’s name yet, and that he won’t tell authorities how he got the burns. The man’s girlfriend apparently called 911 about 4:46 p.m. Tuesday to request an ambulance, officials said. Whitley County EMS, the sheriff’s department and Woodbine Volunteer Fire Department responded to the man’s residence on Harmon Road. Whitley County EMS treated the man at his residence while Woodbine firefighters set up an emergency landing zone...

Silence fell among the crowded district courtroom as 15 or more radios went off at once. Firemen from every volunteer fire department in the county listened carefully to see if they must call their meeting short and respond to a call. Thankfully, there was not an emergency, but that is not always the case. Talk of a countywide fire department subscription fee brought firemen, county residents and county leaders together on April 8. Bill Oxendine, Knox County PVA and Chief of Little Poplar Creek Fire Department, led the public forum discussing details of the subscription fee. Over two weeks ago, Oxendine asked the Knox County Fiscal Court to entertain the idea...

A Gray man is facing multiple charges after he allegedly attempted to outrun the police when they clocked him riding his motorcycle at speeds in excess of 125 mph on US 25E Sunday afternoon. Kentucky State Police arrested 38-year-old Jason McGuire following the 26-mile pursuit that began in Barbourville and ended in Laurel County. According to Trooper Chad Gregory, he was initially travelling south on U.S. 25E in Barbourville about 4:35 p.m. when the black Suzuki street bike passed him travelling north. Gregory said his radar indicated McGuire was travelling at 126 mph. “I was contacted by Trooper (Russell) Maynard who observed same motorcycle travelling 121 mph approximately two miles up the highway...

A Lily man accused of raping, sodomizing and sexually abusing two child relatives, has already served the majority of his prison term set out in a plea agreement that came down in lieu of a trial Wednesday in Laurel Circuit Court, but he will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Under the terms of the plea agreement, 57-year-old Condy O. Irvin pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree sexual abuse. One count of first-degree rape was amended to first-degree sexual abuse. Additional charges of first-degree sodomy and incest were dismissed. In return for Irvin’s guilty plea, prosecutors recommended a prison sentence...

Update: Laurel County Sheriff's Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, the department's public affairs officer, said Thursday that Anthony Johnson was struck multiple times in the top of the head with a hammer. "The autopsy found numerous wounds in the top of his head," Acciardo said, adding that it remains undetermined whether the wounds were caused by the flat end or the claw end of the hammer. It was Antonio Johnson who made the 911 call concerning his brother's death. "He told the dispatchers he found his brother and in the back bedroom and thinks he is dead," Acciardo said of the 911 call. "He said he thinks Anthony used a hammer to kill himself." "There was...

While local leaders in Corbin and Laurel County have monitored with interest attempts in the Kentucky General Assembly to pass legislative amendments that would change the laws on annexation, it’s a measure that has not been filed yet that could have the biggest impact of all. An amendment Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers (R-Manchester) successfully pushed through in both 2012 and 2014 that has prevented the city of Corbin from collecting any occupational tax revenue from it’s Knox County side is set to expire on July 15. Stivers said Tuesday that he’s doubtful he can do anything to intervene this time around. “This can’t be a permanent fix to that,” Stivers said...