True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

Ky. Gas Station Employee Hit With Terror Charges Over Bomb Threat Prank

By HardBoiledNews Staff

DRAFFENVILLE, Kentucky — It was a bad call.

A woman who decided to play a prank on a coworker by sending her messages threatening to blow up the Kentucky gas station where they worked has been hit with terrorism charges.

The Marshall County Sheriff’s office says they received a report of a bomb threat at the FiveStar gas station in Draffenville, after an employee began getting threatening messages from an unknown number. 

The messages threatened to blow up the business. That triggered a call to the  Kentucky State Police bomb squad, which shut the business down.

No explosive device was found, but Sheriff Eddie McGuire said they took the threat seriously, especially in light of  the Christmas Day bombing in Nashville, about 125 miles away.

“You always worry about copycats anytime something like that gets media attention,” McGuire told WPSD-TV. “You always worry about  distressed individuals that want some type of attention for some type of cause.” 

Investigators soon linked the threatening messages to 21-year-old Amber Carr, of Paducah, who works at the gas station. She said she meant the messages as a prank, but was charged with making a terroristic threat, disorderly conduct, harassing communications and wanton endangerment.

Drunken Reveler Steals Horse and Nearly Rides Onto Track at Breeders’ Cup

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup narrowly avoided an extra horse in the race

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — And they’re off to jail!

A blustering drunk stumblebum was busted after he climbed onto a horse at Churchill Downs race track and nearly rode on to the track for the Breeders’ Cup.

Cops say Michael Wells-Rody, 24, managed to get into a restricted area on Saturday and rode it out of the tunnel towards the entrance to the track, the Louisville Courier Journal reported.

But before he could get out to the gate, officers spotted him and placed him under arrest

According to the arrest citation, Wells-Rody was “under the influence of alcohol” and was “loud and disorderly” to Churchill Downs staff.

He was charged with alcohol intoxication in a public place and disorderly conduct. He has since been released from Metro Corrections and is scheduled to be arraigned Monday morning.

Michael Wells-Rody

More than 112,000 people attended the Breeders’ Cup World Championships over the weekend, with around 70,000 showing up on Saturday.

Accelerate won the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Medieval Re-Enactor Killed in Freak Lance Mishap at Kentucky Fair

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Peter Barclay, also known as Master Terafan Greydragon, died after his lance flipped backwards and impaled him

WILLIAMSTOWN, Kentucky (Oct. 12, 2018) — An avid Medieval knight re-enactor was killed in a tragic mishap at a fair in which he impaled himself with his own lance, officials and relatives said.

Peter Barclay, 52, of Virginia, was killed while performing as “Master Terafan Greydragon” at a Society for Creative Anachronism event in Williamstown, Kentucky, on Saturday, according to WLWT-TV.

Barclay’s brother, John, said in a post on Facebook that the accident happened “when his metal-tipped lance, used for catching rings (not jousting), hit the ground and flipped.”

The lance then hit Barclay in the sternum and impaled him. He died while being airlifted to a nearby hospital. The death was considered an accident, authorities said.

Barclay was a retired lieutenant colonel in the army and left behind a wife and two kids, his brother said.

“He died doing what he loved, but will still be missed,” John Barclay said.

In a statement, the Society for Creative Anachronism, which organizes Medieval re-enactments said it was investigating what exactly happened to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“A brother in arms to many of us lost his life in the pursuit of our game.The Society’s Equestrian Marshal, Master Terafan Greydragon, died while competing in an equestrian game at an SCA event in Kentucky,” the statement said. “We have reached out to Terafan’s family to express our support for them at this moment of loss. We ask that Terafan and his family be held in your hearts.”

 

Woman Who Shot Beau to Give Him ‘Nose Job He Wanted’ Pleads Self Defense

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Shayna Hubers claims she shot her boyfriend six times because he was abusive

NEWPORT, Kentucky — A woman who told cops that her boyfriend got “the nose job he wanted” when  she allegedly shot him in the face in 2012, has testified that the shooting was self-defense.

Shayna Hubers, 27, was convicted of murder in  2015, and sentenced to 40 years in prison, but had her conviction thrown out the following year, when it turned out a juror in her trial had a prior felony conviction.

In court, Hubers testified that her relationship with lawyer Ryan Poston, was abusive from the start.

“I remember thinking that he had a strong personality. I feared him,” she said in her testimony, WXIX-TV reported. “I felt like I need to do what he was telling me to do.”

In one incident, Hubers said, Poston threw her out of a condominium onto the porch. When she tried to get back inside, Hubers said Poston repeatedly slammed the door on her body.

The two reportedly dated on and off for a year. But things took a turn a for the worse in the fall of 2012.

“He wanted me to be his incognito girlfriend and he wanted me to talk 25 percent less, he always said I talked too much. And he wanted me to get a hobby while I was at his condo and he wanted me to also to agree to have threesomes with other girls,” she said.

On Oct. 12, 2012, Hubers allegedly shot Poston six times at his Highland Heights condominium. That night, he was supposed to meet a former Miss Ohio 2012 beauty queen for a date, the Ohio court heard.

Prosecutors have argued that Hubers acted out of jealousy. She often bombarded Poston with text messages during their many breakups and would log onto his Facebook and block women, investigators testified.

After the first trial, Hubers was sentenced to 40 years in prison without early parole on the account of showing no remorse.

At the time, Campbell County Circuit Judge Fred Stine called the killing “as cold-blooded an act as I’ve seen.”

3 Hurt in Sale of Dead Explosive Hobbyist’s Home After Device Goes Off

By HardBoiledNews Staff

An improvised explosive device disguised to look like a cigarette lighter ruined the sale

LEXINGTON, Kentucky — And people worry about the real estate market overheating.

Three people were injured during an open house for a home for sale in Kentucky, when a visitor unknowingly triggered an improvised explosive device.

Lexington Police say the home’s owner — who recently died — was an explosives hobbyist and left the house littered with materials used in building bombs.

The people were injured on Friday morning when a 33-year-old man inadvertently set off the explosive that had been made to look like a cigarette lighter. The man suffered serious injuries to his hand and upper body. Another man suffered a deep laceration to his leg and a woman was treated for what cops described as “concussion-like injuries.”

Two nearby homes were evacuated as investigators from the FBI, ATF and various police agencies in Kentucky combed the house.

After identifying various other explosives compounds, authorities detonated the material in a containment vessel.

Police say they do not believe the homeowner intentionally left the devices with the purpose of hurting anyone and that no charges were likely to be filed.

 

Naked Car Thief Attempts to Get Away From Cops in Helicopter

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Travis Smiley thought climbing in helicopter was the perfect getaway

BOWLING GREEN, Kentucky — This getaway was never going to make it off of the ground.

A Kentucky man was taken away in cuffs after he drove a stolen car into a Bowling Green lake, then tried to escape from cops by stripping naked and hiding in a helicopter, police said.

Travis Smiley, 36, told cops he thought someone was trying to kill him and that he had been using methamphetamine for about a week when he drove off  a boat ramp into the lake, the Warren County Sheriff’s office said.

A witness dove in to help, but Smiley climbed out of the lake and made a beeline to a maintenance hanger at a nearby aviation park where a helicopter was being restored.

When cops arrived at the building, they found wet footprints and pile of wet clothes in the trash. And then they found Smiley hidden in the tail of the chopper and had to take him out by force.

When he was later taken to an area hospital for observation, Smiley attempted to get away by climbing through the ceiling tiles in a bathroom, only to have his plan foiled when a paper towel dispenser he climbed on, broke away from the wall.

Killer Pit Bulls Fatally Maul Neighbor, Injure Husband in Christmas Eve Attack

By HardBoiledNews Staff

ARJAY, Kentucky — A pair of vicious pit bulls savagely mauled a neighbor to death and seriously injured her husband in a Christmas Eve attack in Kentucky, police said.

The Bell County Sheriff’s office says Johnny Saylor got up Saturday morning and went to look for his wife who had already gotten up, when his neighbors two dogs attacked him on his porch.

Saylor’s brother heard the commotion and ran out yelling, managing to drive the dogs. Saylor then ran to get a gun and shot one of the dogs in the chest as it lunged at him, police said. The animal survived and ran off into the woods.

Saylor then went to look for his wife, Lorraine Brock Saylor, 66, and found her lying on the ground in front of their house. Ashe ran to her, the second dog began circling nearby, and Saylor shot the animal, killing it.

Lorraine Saylor was pronounced dead at the scene after suffering “severe and fatal injuries,” the sheriff’s office said.

Authorities put out a public warning to keep an eye out for the second dog that had gotten away and to avoid it if seen. The dog eventually returned to its owner’s house on Christmas Day and was put down by police.

Johnny Dale Lankford

The sheriff’s office says the dog’s owner, Johnny Dale Lankford, 42, who lived next door from the Saylor, had been arrested on Friday on a domestic violence charge and had been in jail while the attack occurred. He was additionally charged with harboring a dangerous animal.

Naked Man in Tree Says He Can’t Come Down Because ‘Witches Are After Me’

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Corey Edelen is afraid of witches

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — Stay off the drugs, son.

A Kentucky man found naked in a tree by cops investigating a series of home invasions insisted he couldn’t come down because “witches were after him,” police said.

Corey J. Edelen, 30, of Louisville, was was sweaty, bleeding and “appeared to be intoxicated on drugs,” in addition to having no clothes on, said the cops who found him, according to the Louisville Courier Journal.

Cops stumbled upon Edelen while investigating a call of a home invasion. As they arrived, the received a second call of a home invasion in which a woman reported waking up to see a man resembling Edelen “over top of her” in her bedroom.

Shortly afterwards, officers found Edelen naked in a tree outside the woman’s house.

He refused orders to come down, so officers restrained him and pulled him down by force. While be treated by paramedics, cops say Edelen spat blood at one worker.

As it turns out, Edelen had been under house arrest and had removed his ankle monitor and gone out, triggering an alarm with the city’s department of corrections.

He was charged with burglary, indecent exposure, public intoxication, third-degree assault, escape and tampering with a prisoner monitoring device.

‘Shake Ya Ass’ Rapper Mystikal Faces Sex Assault Charges in Louisiana

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Mystikal

SHREVEPORT, Louisiana — New Orleans rapper Mystikal turned himself in to police to face a rape charge from an incident last year, authorities said.

The 46-year-old rapper, whose real name is Michael Tyler, has been accused of assaulting a woman last October in Shreveport while he was in town for the “Legends of Southern Hip-Hop” concert, police said.

DNA evidence linked Tyler and another man, Averweone Holman, 26, to the alleged rape. Holman was arrested last week in Texas. Both men have been charged with first-degree raper and have been held on $2 million bond each.

As he turned himself into the Caddo Correctional Center, Tyler told KSLA-TV that he was there “to get this business reconciled, get this behind me, man.”

Police are still hunting for a third, suspect, Tenichia Wafford, 42, who is accused of trying to convince the victim not to press charges.

Mystikal is best known for his hits, “Shake Ya Ass,” and “Danger (Been So Long)” whihc both cracked the Top 20 in the year 2000.

Tyler had previously served six years after pleading guilty to sexual battery and extortion charges in 2003 for forcing a hairdresser to perform oral sex on him and two of his bodyguards.

Upon his release, he was required to register as a sex offender.

Creep Claims Groundhog Made Him Flash Kids In Kentucky Park

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Robert McCoy

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — A registered sex offender caught allegedly masturbating in a public park claimed he only dropped his pants because he’d been frightened by a groundhog.

Louisville Metro Police say Robert McCoy had been spotted jerking off in the bushes in Lannan Memorial Park in Thursday while following kids around and watching them play.

When cops approached McCoy, they say he sped off on a moped. They later caught up with him and he claimed he had simply been urinating in the bushes when a groundhog jumped out and startled him, causing him to drop his pants around his ankles and expose himself to the victim.

McCoy had previously been convicted of attempting to rape a 9-year-old and is a registered sex offender.

He has been charged with sexual abuse and violating his parole was held on $15,000 bond.

Lawyer in Biggest Social Security Scam in History May Have Fled to Mexico

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Eric Conn’s ads dotted the Kentucky landscape

LEXINGTON, Kentucky — A disability lawyer who went on the lam after being convicted of stealing over half a billion dollars in the biggest Social Security scam in history has been sentenced in absentia to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay back $170 million.

Authorities say Eric Conn, who was held under home detention in Kentucky after his conviction in March, in snipped off his electronic monitoring anklet on June 2 and went on the run.

The FBI says it has tracked Conn to New Mexico where he has been spotted buying gas and shopping at Walmart.  They say Conn fled using a truck owned by a friend who had registered it to a dummy corporation in Montana.

The truck has been recovered in New Mexico near the Mexico border, although officials say they have no evidence Conn had fled into Mexico.

“The negative impact of Conn’s presence in our community will be felt for generations,” said FBI agent Amy Hess. “His flight from prosecution has diminished any legitimacy and integrity he once held as an attorney and officer of the court.”

The FBI has tracked Eric Conn as far as New Mexico where he was spotted shopping in Walmart

Conn, 56, was a well known figure in Kentucky with ads appearing on TV nonstop and ambulance chasing billboards dotting the landscape. He earned millions by representing thousands of clients pressing for disability claims from Social Security. But it was all a fraud, prosecutors said. In all, they say he defrauded the government out of $550 million.

Con was also seen shopping in a New Mexico Walmart

Conn admitted he had routinely presented false evidence of disabilities, paid unscrupulous doctors to rubber stamp forms and even bribed a Social Security judge who approved thousands of claims for Conn’s clients in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A second judge has admitted retaliating against a whistleblower who tried to blow the lid off Conn’s sleazy dealings with the judge. Both judges are awaiting sentencing.

At his sentencing, Judge Danny Reeves gave Conn the maximum jail term allowed by law, but acknowledged that 12 years didn’t fit the crime.

“It did hurt the entire system and the reverberations are still occurring,” Reeves said, according to the Lexington Herald Leader.

Bullied Teen to Get 20 Years in Middle School Bomb Plot

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Trey Alexander Gwathney-Law had been severely bullied growing up and was looking to exact revenge

BOWLING GREEN, Kentucky — A man who had plotted to blow up the middle school where he had been brutally bullied growing up has pleaded guilty and now faces 20 years behind bars.

Federal prosecutors say 20-year-old Trey Alexander Gwathney-Law, of Franklin, Kentucky, admitted fashioning five Molotov cocktails back in 2015 that he intended to use to firebomb his local middle school.

Officials described one of the deadly devices as being similar in design to the type of improvised explosive devices seen in war zones like Iraq.

Authorities caught on to the plot after Gwathney-Law blabbed about his plans to a neighbor who called police.

“I know that he was being serious,” the neighbor, William Creek, told the Bowling Green Daily News following Gwathney-Law’s arrest. “He went not only as far as saying it but actually making the bombs”

Creek said Gwathney-Law had been severely bullied growing up and even passing the middle school triggered painful memories for hi,m

Prosecutors said as part of the plea deal, they had agreed to a sentence of 20 years followed by three years of supervised release.

Designer Drug Dealers Charged in U-4 Overdose of Two Kentucky Brothers

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Thomas Hardin (l) and Jevan Sheppard have been hit with federal charges for dealing U-4

PADUCAH, Kentucky — Two Kentucky men have been indicted on federal charges of selling an extremely powerful designer drug recently declared a controlled substance that left a man dead of an overdose and hospitalized his teenage brother.

Jevan Sheppard, 25, and Thomas Jared Hardin, 23, of Calvert City, are accused of selling the powerful synthetic opioid U-4770 — also known as U-4 or Pink — which led Taylor and Karson May to overdose.

The May brothers were found unresponsive in a Calvert City home in March after using U-4. Taylor, a 23-year-old construction worker, was declared dead at the scene. His brother Karson, an 18-year-old college student, was revived at a local hospital.

Investigators later determined that the May brothers had purchased the drugs from Hardin, who had acquired it from, Sheppard, who had allegedly imported it from a laboratory in China, prosecutors said. When Sheppard was arrested, police seized a stash of drugs that had been packaged for sale, a cache of weapons, including assault rifles, and $20,000 in cash from his home.

Taylor May

If convicted, Sheppard and Hardin face a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years with no parole. Hardin faces additional manslaughter charges in a Kentucky state court, where Sheppard also faces drug trafficking charges. Both have pleaded not guilty.

In late 2016, the Drug Enforcement Agency temporarily declared U-4 a schedule one controlled substance. Eight times more powerful than heroin, U-4770 was developed in the 1970s by pharma giant Upjohn as a less addictive morphine substitute, but was never tested on humans.

Despite the new classification, the drug continues to be manufactured in China and remains readily available online. Officials say the drug has been linked to multiple fatal overdoses around the country and was among the stash of drugs recovered from singer Prince’s home after he died of an overdose in April 2016.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kentucky Principal Admits Stealing Nude Pics From Student Phones to Trade Online

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Goodlett was fired as principal of LaRue County HS after being arrested on child porn charges

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — A Kentucky high school principal has admitted stealing nude photos off of cell phones confiscated from underage students and trading them online.

Stephen Kyle Goodlett, 36, of Elizabethtown, told authorities that he had an addiction to pornography and would hunt for racy images on the phones of students at LaRue County High School, according to a complaint filed in federal court.

Authorities began investigating when a 20-year-old former LaRue student,  said she had discovered nude pictures she’d taken for her boyfriend when she was 15, had surfaced on a Russian pornography trading website.

While the site is designed to keep submissions anonymous, investigators were able to track the IP address used to upload the woman’s photos back to Goodlett, the complaint said.

Investigators then executed a search warrant and found 60 images of child pornography on Goodlett’s computer, including several of girls who had attended his school.

In December, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children told the Kentucky state police that they were able to identify a known minor victim in several child pornography images  found in Goodlett’s Dropbox account.

Goodlett admitted to authorities that he transferred the images from phones confiscated from students to his personal thumb drive “without their consent or knowledge,” the complaint stated. He said he would then share them to the website “with the intent of trading for more images.”

He was fired after he was arrested in October. He pleaded not guilty last month. If convicted, he faces five years in prison for transporting child pornography and up to 20 years for possessing child pornography.

‘Weatherman’ Set Forest Fire for Facebook Likes

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Johnny Mullins was a bit too obsessed with Facebook likes

Johnny Mullins was a bit too obsessed with Facebook likes

JENKINS, Kentucky — A wannabe weatherman was busted for setting forest fires and filming them in order to attract attention to his amateur weather reports on Facebook.

Johnny Mullins, 21, had posted a number of selfie videos in front of fires or segment she called “Weather Outlook,” Jenkins Police Chief James Stephens told The Associated Press.

He posted his last video on Nov. 6, warning viewers in eastern Kentucky to be “extremely careful if you are out there. The clip drew 2,900 viewers.

Stephens says Mullins admitted starting the fires because “he enjoyed the attention he got from the Facebook stuff.”

“It’s really too bad because he’s not a bad kid — just misguided,” Stephens said. “He just didn’t realize how much danger he was putting other people in.”

The fires came amid a spate of dangerous wildfire throughout the region.

Mullins has been charged with second degree arson for a blaze in Letcher County that cops say burned out of control.

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