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Murder/Arson suspect waives case to grand jury

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The Elizabethtown man charged with Murder and Arson following a late October fire appeared in Hardin District Court Wednesday afternoon.

Dustin Caudill appeared before Judge Kimberly Schumate for a preliminary hearing. Caudill’s attorney, public defender Erin Hartman, said the hearing would not be necessary as Caudill was waiving his case to the Hardin County Grand Jury.

Judge Schumate said Caudill’s case will be reviewed by the grand jury, and should they choose to indict him on any of the felony charges he faces, his case will be moved to the Hardin Circuit Court. The judge said further decisions on bond will be made after the grand jury proceedings.

The Elizabethtown Police Department said Caudill confessed to shooting 41-year-old Blake France of Greenville and 43-year-old Anthony Garrett of Elizabethtown and then setting fire to the Henon Lane residence they were in on October 30. Caudill remains incarcerated at the Hardin County Detention Center on a $1 million bond.

Hunters that help KFW test for CWD can win prizes

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As Kentucky Fish and Wildlife continues to monitor for chronic wasting disease, the agency is offering an incentive to hunters to help with their efforts.

Kentucky hunters that harvest a deer between now and January 20 are invited to submit it to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife for sampling, which will enter them in the Shoot for Samples regional giveaway.

KFW says the giveaways will take place across five regions: Bluegrass, Northeast, Southeast, Green River, and Purchase. Hunters will be automatically entered in the contest when they drop off deer heads at CWD sample drop-off sites or send a sample in with a CWD mail-in kit. One winner will be selected from each region with multiple prizes available including gift cards valued between $500 and $1,000.

Submitted samples must come from deer harvested in Kentucky, and regular bag limits and deer hunting regulations apply. Testing for CWD is free.

KFW has ramped up its monitoring for chronic wasting disease after a deer at a farm in Breckinridge County tested positive, prompting the creation of a CWD surveillance zone in Breckinridge, Hardin, and Meade counties. KFW will host a public informational meeting on the surveillance zone and related restrictions at Breckinridge County High School (2019 East Highway 60, Harned) Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Tickets on sale for Elizabethtown Christmas activities

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Tickets are now on sale for the multiple Christmas activities offered by the City of Elizabethtown this holiday season.

“The City of Elizabethtown prides itself in offering events for our residents,” said Elizabethtown Events Manager Beth Pyles. “We have a lot to offer here. You don’t have to go to a big city. I think the festivities that we have here are fantastic, and we just hope that everyone enjoys the magic of the holiday season that we hope to bring to Elizabethtown.”

The city will host their annual Breakfast with Santa on December 7 at the State Theater.

“Tickets include breakfast, which is delicious, a visit with Santa, a professional photograph, Christmas crafts, and a ticket to the showing of Polar Express, the movie that day,” Pyles said.

The Polar Express is the kickoff to the State Theater’s Christmas movie series. Pyles says tickets will go fast for these holiday classics.

“Tickets are $3 each and the box office opens one hour before showtime,” Pyles said. “You can find the full list of movies on our site, thestate270.org. The titles include The Polar Express, It’s a Wonderful Life, Elf, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, The Grinch, and White Christmas.”

Find more information on all of the city’s holiday offerings at etownevents.com.

HCS to host drug overdose presentation Thursday

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Hardin County Schools will be partnering with several area agencies to present an assembly on the dangers of drug overdoses.

“It’ll be an opportunity for our community, our parents, our families to see that obviously drug use and the abuse of it is not the proper thing to do,” said HCS Community Relations Specialist John Wright. “It can impact so many lives when things go wrong, and so this will really give people a firsthand look.”

The assembly will be Thursday at 6 p.m. at the HCS Performing Arts Center.

“The simulation is very powerful,” Wright said. “That is why we are saying that only those who are 18 years of age or older can attend. There will be a school version of this that students can see. The one that we are going to show on Thursday evening is a little bit more in your face, and so we are asking folks to be 18 or over to attend that.”

The event is free, however attendees are asked to reserve a ticket at thepac.net.

Separate trial ordered for Steven Lawson; trials for Brooks Houck and Joseph Lawson consolidated

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The judge in the cases of the Crystal Rogers investigation suspects has ordered for a separate trial for one of the defendants. 

Nelson Circuit Judge Charles Simms III ordered Tuesday that Steven Lawson will be tried separately while the trials for Brooks Houck and Joseph Lawson shall be consolidated.

Simms said in the order that while the prosecution intends to introduce Steven Lawson’s grand jury testimony and redact Joseph Lawson and Brooks Houck’s names, attorneys for Joseph Lawson and Houck intend to introduce Steven Lawson’s interviews with investigators that the prosecution has stipulated are inadmissible against him in order to show inconsistencies in Lawson’s testimony. The court found that in a joint trial, the jury would never hear of the inconsistencies between Steven Lawson’s police interviews and his grand jury testimony without hearing both, which would cause undue prejudice against Houck and Joseph Lawson.

Attorneys for Houck argued that if he is tried with Joseph Lawson he will not be able to use two police interviews Lawson had with police, but the court found that because Joseph Lawson’s interviews did not result in any admissible evidence being presented to a grand jury, the interviews are irrelevant at trial. In responding to arguments submitted by Joseph Lawson’s attorneys, the court found that because the trials will be moved to Warren County, because there is no evidence of “spillover evidence”, and because Houck has not implicated Joseph Lawson of any wrongdoing, their cases can be consolidated.

The trial for Steven Lawson is scheduled for February 10, although his attorneys have indicated they are not sure they will be ready in time for that date. Houck and Joseph Lawson will appear in court on December 5 to discuss a new trial date.