Child molester William Carl Davis fled from Indiana to Fargo,
North Dakota, to avoid prosecution, but he did not go far enough to
escape the reach of
Oprah.
Davis was living in Fargo under an assumed
identity when Oprah featured him on her
TV show
and offered a
$100,000 reward for his apprehension. Viewers in Fargo saw his photo
on Oprah, and soon the FBI had him in custody.
On April 20, 2006, Davis, 33, was convicted of five counts of child molestation
by a Vanderburgh Superior Court Jury. Because of pretrial publicity in
Vanderburgh County,
the jurors were selected from residents of Clark County, Indiana.
Davis was convicted of sex acts with a boy with a learning
disability. Davis had befriended the boy's mother, whom he had met while working
on a crisis telephone line in Evansville. The boy, who was twelve when Davis molested
him in 2004, testified at trial that Davis molested him. Also introduced
at trial was evidence that a mixture of the boy's DNA and Davis's DNA was
found on the boy's shirt. The jury also learned that Davis had fled to Fargo,
assumed another identity, and told FBI agents, "My life is over." when arrested.
After he was convicted, Davis admitted to a charge that he is a repeat sexual
offender. Davis was sentenced to 58 years in prison by Vanderburgh County Superior Court Judge
Wayne S. Trockman on June 14, 2006. The sentence was ordered to be served consecutively to the 52-year sentence Davis received in Posey County, Indiana, for molesting two boys in Posy County in 2004.
The State of Indiana was represented by Vanderbugh County Prosecutor Stanley M.
Levco and Deputy Prosecutor Donita Farr with the assistance of Clark County
Prosecutor Steven D. Stewart. Davis was represented by Evansville Attorneys Cole G.
Banks and Sonny Reisz.
back to top
Child molester convicted
On Januay 24, 2006, after a two-day trial, Randall V. "Skip" McKinney was
convicted of two counts of child molesting by a Vanderbugh County jury.
McKinney was convicted of one act of performing oral sex on a
nine-year-old girl and
of another act of fondling her while babysitting her in 2004 at two different
locations in Evansville.
After the jury returned the guilty verdicts, McKinney pled guilty to being
an habitual criminal.
On February 16, 2006, McKinney was sentenced to seventy years in prison.
The State of Indiana was represented by Deputy Prosecutors Donita Farr and
Anna Clutter. McKinney was represented by Dennis Vowels.
back to top
Robber gets twenty years
Alonzo W. Sansbury was convicted on June 21, 2005, of robbery and being an habitual offender by a Vanderburgh County Circuit Court jury.
On January 3, 2005, Sansbury grabbed a woman's purse from her arm as she was wallking to the entrance of Schnuck's supermarket on First Avenue in Evansville. Another woman, who witnessed the robbery, pursued Sansbury in her car and attempted to pin him against the side wall of Schnuck's. Sansbury evaded her and fled to a nearby apartment complex where he abandoned the victim's purse along with a sweatshirt and hat he was wearing. A resident of the apartment complex saw Sansbury attempt to climb a chain-link fence and then attempt to hide in an apartment building. The resident apprehended Sansbury and walked him to a police officer who had arrived at the scene.
Both the victim and the witness who pursued Sansbury in her car identified Sansbury at the scene and in court as the man who grabbed the purse. The hat which he abandoned as he fled was sent to the Indiana State Police lab where DNA consistent with Sansbury's DNA was found on the hat.
The State of Indiana was represented by Deputy Prosecutor James Ethridge. Sansbury was represented by attorney Conor O'Daniel. On July 21, 2005, Circuit Court Judge Carl Heldt sentenced Sansbury to twenty years in prison.
back to top
Habitual criminal convicted of jail arson
Derek D. Fingers was convicted by a Vanderburgh County Circuit Court jury on August 19, 2004, of arson for setting a fire in the Vanderburgh County Jail. After the jury verdict was announced, Fingers admitted to two prior felony convictions and was found by the court to be an habitual offender.
Fingers was an inmate in the jail when he boasted to cellmates that he was going to burn it down. On June 8, 2004, Fingers followed through on his threat. He gathered mattresses, sheets, towels, books, and other inflammable objects and placed them in two piles in the cell where he was housed with twenty-seven other inmates. He then coerced another inmate, William Hester III, to “pop a socket” to spark a fire.
Hester pulled a plug part way out of an electrical outlet. He then touched aluminum foil to the two prongs of the plug, creating an arc of electricity which he used to ignite some toilet paper. Fingers set fire to rolled-up newspaper with the burning toilet paper and torched the piles of inflammable materials.
Smoke from the fire quickly spread throughout the floor of the jail where the fire was started. All of the inmates of the jail were evacuated as well as employees of public offices and members of the public in the Civic Center Complex of governmental buildings, where the jail is located. The fire caused extensive smoke damage to one of the jail’s two floors and shut down that floor for about two weeks for cleanup and repair, forcing the county to contract with surrounding county jails to temporarily house inmates.
The State of Indiana was represented by Prosecutor Stanley Levco and Deputy Prosecutor Jonathan Parkhurst. Fingers was represented by attorney Chad Groves. On Ausgust 30, 2004, Magistrate David Kiely sentenced Fingers to forty years in prison.
back to top
Drunken man tries to shoot sheriff's deputies
Raymond M. Kissel, 46, of Vanderburgh County was convicted by a Vanderburgh County Circuit Court jury on August 12, 2004, of three counts of attempted murder for shooting at officers of the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Department with a shotgun during an early morning standoff at his residence on Hillview Drive on the far-west side of Vanderburgh County on February 23, 2003.
On that morning, Kissel was living with his girlfriend in a makeshift structure which was described in a police report as a “shack with a tarp for a roof.” Kissel had been drinking heavily before he fired off several shots from a shotgun shortly after midnight. A neighbor called the police after hearing the shots and informed the responding officer, Deputy Chad Ferguson, that he thought the shots came from the location of Kissel’s residence.
Deputy Ferguson went to the residence and called for the occupants to come outside. No one responded at first. After telling the deputy that he would not come outside because it was cold, Kissel said that he had an automatic shotgun and that he was going to kill the deputy. Finally a woman emerged from the structure followed by Kissel. Kissel raised and pointed a shotgun at the deputy. The deputy fired a shot at Kissel and missed and then retreated to his patrol car as Kissel ran toward the tent. As Deputy Ferguson drove away, Kissel fired his shotgun and hit the front, passenger-side door of the patrol car.
Other sheriff’s deputies along with Evansville Police officers arrived and set up a perimeter. For about forty-five minutes the officers attempted to convince Kissel to come out of the structure by calling to him on a bullhorn and shooting pepper balls against the side of the structure. Kissel finally came out of the tent and fired two or three shots towards the officers hitting the police cars they were taking cover behind. Kissel was then shot in the arm by one of the deputies and was taken to a hospital for treatment. At the hospital, his blood alcohol level tested almost three times the legal limit for operating a vehicle.
At trial, Kissel raised the defenses that he did not intend to kill the deputies, self-defense, and insanity. Two court-appointed psychiatrists testified that they could not form an opinion as to whether or not he was legally insane at the time of the shootings. They testified that Kissel recounted to them what could be paranoid delusions of people conspiring against him, but they could not say if he was really delusional or was malingering, or faking it. Several of Kissel’s siblings testified that he acted bizarrely on occasions and thought people were after him. They also testified that he drank excessively on a regular basis.
The State of Indiana was represented by Deputy Prosecutor Robert Zoss. Kissel was represented by Evansville attorney Glenn Grampp. On September 7, 2004, Circuit Court Judge Carl A. Heldt sentenced Kissel to fifty years in prison on each of the three counts and ordered that the sentences run concurrently.
back to top
Son convicted of murdering father
William Buchannan III, was convicted by a Vanderburgh Circuit Court jury on May 27, 2004, of murder in the shotgun slaying of his father, William Buchannan, Jr.
On the morning of July 19, 2003, William III shot his father twice with a 20-gauge shotgun in the basement of his father’s home on Washington Avenue in Evansville. One shot blew off the tip of one of his father’s fingers, and the other shot tore through his abdomen and lower aorta causing blood loss and death.
Evidence at trial showed that the defendant, William III, had been living in the basement of his father’s house for a few weeks prior to the shooting. On the morning of the slaying, the defendant was in the basement cussing and causing a disturbance. When his father went to the basement to tell him to stop, he was shot.
The father’s wife, Shari Buchannan, heard the shots and went to the basement where she saw her husband on the floor and the defendant with the shotgun. The defendant left the house and Shari called 911.
The defendant was apprehended by Evansville Police Officer Phelps within a few minutes walking down a street about four blocks from the scene of the crime. The defendant was patted down, and the officer found he was carrying an unloaded .25 caliber handgun.
The defendant told investigators several different stories about what happened. He said he didn’t do anything and didn’t know what was going on. He said his father pulled the shotgun and started firing. He said he went to buy a cigar and when he returned his father was shot and Shari Buchannan must have shot him or had her eleven-year-old daughter shoot him. He finally said that he had shot his father and then put the shotgun under the mattress in his father’s room upstairs. He said his father had pulled the shotgun on him, and he kicked the shotgun and it backfired on his father.
During his closing argument, the defendant’s attorney, John Brinson, told the jury that Shari Buchannan shot her husband. He described Shari as a smart and ruthless woman who knew how to manipulate the system. He said she had a long history of being abused by her husband. (There was evidence to support an abusive relationship presented at trial.) Brinson also claimed she was motivated to kill her husband because she wanted a $10,000 life insurance benefit and an annuity worth less than $30,000. He explained his client’s statement that he had shot his father as a “fantasy” his client had spun after being tricked into saying he shot his father in self-defense by Evansville Police Detective Rick Reed.
Deputy Prosecutor Bob Zoss, in his rebuttal argument, pointed out that the defendant knew where the shotgun was hidden: a fact only the killer would know.
The jury deliberated less than three hours on what was truth and what was fantasy before finding the defendant guilty as charged.
On July 9, 2004, the defendant was sentenced to fifty-five years in prison by Vanderburgh Circuit Court Judge Carl Heldt.
The defendant was represented by attorney John Goodridge as well as by attorney John Brinson.
back to top
Man convicted of trespassing at judge's office
David Alan Kifer was convicted by a Vanderburgh Superior Court jury of trespass, a class A misdemeanor, for refusing to leave the office of Vanderburgh Superior Court Judge Robert Pigman after being asked to do so and of disorderly conduct, a class B misdemeanor, for lunging at a court security officer. His trial was held on May 26, 2004. Kifer had demanded a trial by jury and insisted on representing himself. Posey Circuit Court Judge James Redwine was appointed special judge for the case.
Prior to Kifer’s arrest, Judge Pigman had been assigned a case in which Kifer had filed suit against the Indiana Civil Liberties Union alleging breach of contract. On July 2, 2003, Kifer went to Judge Pigman’s office and confronted Judge Pigman’s riding bailiff demanding that records in the case, which he believed to contain errors, be corrected. Judge Pigman’s court reporter contacted Judge Pigman, who was in a meeting. The court reporter then informed Kifer that, if he would be seated in the hallway outside the judge’s office, Judge Pigman would speak to him when he was available.
Kifer refused to leave the office and continued to cause a disturbance. Court security was summoned by the court reporter. The two officers responding tried to convince Kifer to leave, but he refused, stating that they would have to take him to jail. Kifer was taken to be booked and given a final chance to avoid arrest if he would agree not to return to Judge Pigman’s office. He said that he would return to the office immediately. Kifer then lunged at one of the officers, Vanderburgh County Deputy Sheriff Shannon Henry, in an attempt to grab the booking paperwork and his property which she was holding. Deputy Henry parried the assault with a kick to Kifer’s left leg, and Kifer was taken to jail for trespass and disorderly conduct.
During the trial, Kifer, who was then in jail on a parole matter, chose to wear his jail clothing to court and cross-examined the government’s witnesses on their knowledge of the United States and Indiana constitutions. After the jury returned the guilty verdicts, Judge Redwine sentenced Kifer to the time he already had served in jail.
The State of Indiana was represented by Deputy Prosecutor Matt Keppler. Kifer was assisted in his defense by attorney Verdelski Miller who was appointed as standby counsel for Kifer.
back to top
Habitual offender sentenced to forty years
Leonard Lamont Frye, 43, of Evansville was convicted on March 17, 2004, by a Vanderburgh Superior Court jury of residential burglary, theft, false informing, and being an habitual felony offender.
On February 6, 2004, callers to 911 reported seeing a black male wearing a dark-colored sock hat walking toward an alley from the driveway of their neighbor's home on Linvood Avenue in Evansville. They reported he was carrying two sacks and a portable TV.
Twelve minutes after the 911 call, officers of the Evansville Police Department located a black male wearing a maroon sock hat and carrying a trash bag standing at a nearby bus stop. The suspect was identified as Leonard Lamont Frye who was then arrested for an outstanding warrant for drug possession.
Inside the trash bag, the police found a portable TV and other property later identified by the victim of the burglary as property stolen from her dwelling.
On April 7, 2004, Vanderburgh Superior Court Judge Robert J. Pigman sentenced Frye to forty years in the Indiana Department of Corrections. Frye said he would hire attorneys to appeal his convictions.
Deputy Prosecutor Donita Farr represented the State of Indiana in the Frye prosecution. Frye was represented by Public Defender Sonny Reisz.
back to top
Rapist sentenced to 100 years in prison
Frank B. Pettus, Sr., 31, was sentenced on January 22, 2004, to a total of one hundred years in the Indiana Department of Corrections by Vanderburgh Superior Court Judge Wayne S. Trockman. Pettus entered guilty pleas to rape, attempted escape, and to being an habitual offender.
Pettus was serving prison sentences for criminal deviate conduct and confinement when his DNA was matched to DNA obtained from a sexual assault kit prepared after the rape of an Evansville woman in 1999. His DNA had been collected while he was in prison and placed in an Indiana DNA database of violent offenders. The rape victim reported to police that she was walking to work on an Evansville street when a man later identified through DNA testing as Pettus grabbed her, choked her, and dragged her behind a car, where he struck her and forcibly had sexual intercourse with her.
Pettus was transported from the Indiana Department of Corrections to the Vanderburgh County Jail where he was lodged pending trial on the rape charge. While in the jail, he and another detainee, David Earl Markand, failed in an attempt to overpower guards and escape. Markland also has plead guilty and been sentenced for the escape attempt.
Inmates of the Indiana Department of Corrections can earn day-for-day credit time for good behavior. Pettus could be eligible for parole in fifty years, or when he is eighty-one years old, if he earns “good time” credit.
Deputy Prosecutor Charles L. Berger represented the State of Indiana in the Pettus prosecution. Pettus was represented by Public Defender Steven L. Bohleber.
back to top
Yarbrough convicted of attempted armed robbery at Target store
James Michael Yarbrough was convicted by a Vanderburgh Circuit Court jury on August 12, 2003, of attempted armed robbery and intimidation, both felonies, and three counts of misdemeanor battery.
On December 1, 2002, Yarbrough was attempting to walk out of the First Avenue Target in Evansville without paying for a mobile DVD player when a female loss prevention officer tried to detain him. Yarbrough pushed aside the loss prevention officer, in an attempt to leave the store with the stolen DVD player. A male secuity guard grabbed Yarbrough by his jacket and a struggle ensued. Yarbrough pulled out a hunting knife and held it on the male security officer, telling him, "Just let me go, man". The officer complied.
During the struggle, Yarbrough dropped the merchandise and his jacket was pulled off. Both were left behind when he fled the store. The jacket was a rental mechanic's uniform jacket with a name patch reading "James". Detective Brent Melton of the Evansville Police Department traced the jacket to a service station in Indianapolis where Yarbrough once was employed. The Target employees picked Yarbrough from a photo lineup, and he was later arrested on a warrant.
The trial began on August 11, 2003. The State of Indiana was represented by Deputy Prosecutors James W. Ethridge and Camala G. Cooley. The defendant was represented by Henderson, Kentucky, attorney Chad Groves.
On September 3, 2003, Circuit Court Judge Carl A. Heldt sentenced Yarbrough to fifteen years in the Indiana Department of Corrections on the attempted robbery conviction, to one hundred and eighty days on each of the battery convictions, and to six years on the intimidation conviction. The Judge ordered the sentences to be served concurrently, or at the same time.
back to top
Jacinto guilty of robbery and murder of elderly neighbor
Daniel Paul Jacinto was convicted by a Vanderburgh Circuit Court jury on April 4, 2002,
of murder, felony murder, and robbery of
eighty-one-year-old Bernard Dossett. Bernard
Dossett was found lying on his kitchen floor with his throat slashed in
his home at 2800 S. Ruston in Evansville, Indiana, on Febraury 28, 2001.
Later that day, the police located Jacinto in his home at 2513 Culverson
Avenue in Evansville. They found a knife in his pocket which was identified
as belonging to Bernard Dossett. DNA testing revealed that blood on the knife was
consistent with that of Bernard Dossett. The police also discovered in
Jacinto's bedroom a bloody glove and a bloody T-shirt and cigarette pack
smeared with blood. The DNA of the blood on the T-shirt and cigarette
pack was consistent with the DNA of Bernard Dossett.
Numerous bloody shoe prints were found throughout Bernard Dossett's
house. Those shoe prints matched the pattern of a pair of Nikes found
in the washer at Jacinto's house.
Two acquaintances of Jacinto testified that they saw him throw away a
paper bag that day in a trash bag along a street curb. The paper bag was
recovered and found to contain Bernard Dossett's wallet and identification. Those
two also said that Jacinto showed them money he had in his wallet, including
two twenties, although he had been broke the day before.
The trial began on April 1, 2002.
The State of Indiana was represented by Deputy Prosecutors Michael J. Perry and
Kurt A. Schnepper. The defendant was represented by Evansville attorney Cole
G. Banks.
On July 3, 2002, Jacinto was sentenced to sixty years in prison on the murder conviction and thirty-five years in prison on the robbery conviction by Vanderburgh Circuit Court Judge Carl A. Heldt. Judge Heldt ordered the sentences to be served concurrently, or at the same time.
back to top
McManus sentenced to die
A Vanderburgh Circuit Court Jury convicted Paul Michael McManus of three counts of murder on May 9, 2002, rejecting McManus's insanity defense.
McManus's attorneys, Glenn A. Grampp of Evansvile and Mitchell B. Rothman of Tampa, Florida, never disputed that on February 26, 2001, McManus shot to death his estranged wife, Melissa McManus, and their two daughters, eight-year-old Lindsey and two-year-old Shelby in their home located at 4903 Tanglewood Drive in Vanderburgh County, Indiana. They asserted that he was legally insane when he shot his wife once in the leg and three times in the head, when he shot Lindsey three times in the back of her head, and when he shot Shelby once in the side of her head with a .38 caliber revolver.
After shooting his family, McManus drove Melissa's car to the Ohio River bridges between Evansville, Indiana, and Henderson, Kentucky, where he climbed to the top of the southbound bridge and eventually jumped into the river. He survived the jump and was pulled from the river and taken into custody and to a Henderson hospital for treatment.
Two psychiatrists appointed by the Court, Dr. Thomas Liffick and Dr. David Hilton testified that, in their opinions, at the time he killed his family McManus was not legally insane. Under Indiana law, a person is not legally responsible for his actions, if, as a result of mental disease or defect, he was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct at the time of the offense.
A psychologist hired by the defense, Dr. Michael Gelbort from Joliet, Illinois, testified to his opinion that McManus was legally insane when he shot his wife and daughters. He testified that McManus was having an acute episode where he lost contact with reality at the time of the shootings.
Testimony at trial showed that McManus had made threats in the past that he was going to kill his whole family and commit suicide. The weekend before the shootings, McManus quit his job at a blliard parlor and told co-workers to watch the papers Monday for something big. Evidence at trial indicated that, on the day of the shootings, McManus went to his brother's house and took a .38 caliber revolver, and went to a gun shop and purchased .38 caliber ammunition after asking for the cheapest kind.
On Friday, May 10, 2002, after hearing evidence and arguments of counsel in the penalty phase of the trial, the jury recommended to Judge Carl Heldt that he sentence McManus to death.
On June 5, 2002, Judge Heldt followed the recommendation of the jury and sentenced McManus to death "in the manner prescribed by law", which is by lethal injection. The Court appointed Public Defenders John Brinson and Timothy Dodd to represent McManus in his appeal to the Indiana Supreme Court. On August 31, 2004, the Indiana Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentencing of McManus.
back to top
Juries return guilty verdicts in murder and conspiracy case
A case of twice-mistaken identity led to the murder of Ronald Mackey, 41, of 5606 N. New York Avenue in Evansville. Two men, Rumero W. Ziebell, 37, and Dean A. Everett, 23, were convicted in separate trials of his murder. They also were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, criminal confinement, and battery. Everett was convicted by a Vanderburgh Circuit Court jury on March 6, 2002, and Ziebell was convicted by a Vanderburgh Superior Court jury on May 15, 2002. Ziebell was also convicted of being an habitual offender. On June 12, 2002, a third conspirator, Allen L. Gross, pled gulity to conspiracy to commit murder, and was sentenced to thirty years in prison on July 16, 2002, by Vanderburgh Superior Court Judge Wayne S. Trockman.
According to trial testimony, the conspirators mistook Ronald Mackey for his late brother, Dallas Mackey. Ziebel, according to trial testimony, solicited Everett and Gross to murder Dallas Mackey, who Ziebel mistakenly believed to be a confidential drug informant who would testify against Ziebel at his trial for dealing in methamphetamine. Ziebell was convicted in that trial, when the real informant appeared and testified against Ziebell.
The body of Ronald Mackey was found in his brown Ford van on May 27, 2001, near the Ohio River Twin Bridges in Henderson, County, Kentucky. According to trial testimony, the victim was lured from his home by Everett, who asked the victim to give him a ride in exchange for $20. Ronald Mackey was then beaten on an Evansville street, which dead-ends into the grounds of a factory where Everett once worked, dragged back to his van, and driven to the Twin Bridges area where he was shot in the head at close range with a shotgun.
Everett was sentenced to sixty years in the Indiana Department of Corrections by Vanderburgh Circuit Court Judge Carl A. Heldt on April 5, 2002. Ziebell was sentenced to one hundred and twenty three years in prison by Vanderburgh Superior Court Judge Scott R. Bowers on May 31, 2002. Ziebell said that he would appeal.
The State of Indiana was represented at Everett's trial by Deputy Prosecutors Kevin Stalker and Julie Fox. Everett was represented by Evansville attorney Michael C. Keating. Kevin Stalker also prosecuted Ziebell, who was represented by Evansville attorney Ivan Arnaez.
back to top
