Lexington Herald-Leader from Lexington, Kentucky • 12

B2 LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER LEXINGTON KY MONDAY AUGUST 20 1990 CityState News in brief Accountant convicted of killing wife State Huntington tale of kidnapping fails to sway jurors in murder case Prosecutors said McGinnis killed his wife to help cover up a $6 million embezzlement scheme that was coming apart McGinnis has pleaded guilty in federal court to six mail fraud counts in that scheme in which he embezzled money from two Maryland land-holding companies He faces a five-year sentence in that case: In closing arguments Saturday the prosecutors told the jury that McGinnis' story of being kidnapped and tortured while Kathy McGinnis died was Defense attorneys countered that the murder case against McGinnis was based on speculation and conjecture asking you to make giant leaps of faith ladies and gentlemen convict a man of first-degree murder based on speculation innuendo and Allen said Lyle is so smart and you leave your common sense up in Fayette County if he was so smart he would have thought up a better story than this Bob King another defense attorney told the jury Cabell County Assistant Prosecutor Charlie Hatcher agreed with characterization but in a different manner "This is the most unbelievable story there was and his lawyer just told he said Hatcher stunned the packed courtroom during closing arguments when he pointed out a missing piece of evidence In letters to his two children and attorney McGinnis told them what to do if he were ever harmed But Hatcher pointed out that McGinnis did not write a similar letter to his wife He said that McGinnis did not because he knew Kathy McGinnis would be dead when the letters were read The defense contended the killing and kidnapping were the work of retired lawyer Thomas Harvey of Chevy Chase Md Harvey was the former president of Harvey Holding Co one of the companies McGinnis embezzled from defendant's story just flat doesn't hold Chiles said was taken to the Cabell County JaiL very said Cabell County Prosecutor Chris Chiles was a very long case a hard case but the evidence was Defense attorneys said they would appeal the decision certainly disappointed in the said Bob Allen one of the defense attorneys wholly circumstantial case no motive I don't think the verdict was Kathy McGinnis was strangled and her body was dumped behind a St Albans shopping mall She was found dead Nov 29 1989 The next day McGinnis was found near his wrecked Jeep in Carter County Ky McGinnis told police he was kidnapped drugged and tortured at the time his wife died He said his abductors tied him to the Jeep drove it off a hillside and left him for dead By Mark Paxton Associated Press HUNTINGTON WVa A Cabell County jury Saturday convicted Huntington accountant and admitted embezzler Lyle McGinnis Jr of first-degree murder in the death of his wife Kathy Jurors deliberated about three hows before they returned their verdict with a recommendation of mercy McGinnis 43 will be eligible for parole after 15 years Their decision ended the three-week trial that had the jury brought in from Fayette County Va because of pretrial publicity The courtroom was often packed with spectators during the trial before Cabell Circuit Judge Alfred Ferguson When the verdict was read his 20-year-old daughter Ami wept uncontrollably After a brief meeting with his children McGinnis of Huntington IT Traffic report Sm Traffic report contains information from the Urban County Government All work is between the hours of 9 am and 3 pm unless otherwise noted Traffic report appears Mondays in the Herald-Leader EDGEMOOR DRIVE: 0 Beginning Aug 27 Edgemoor Drive at Nicholasville Road will be closed to traffic for 10 days Motorists can access Edgemoor Drive from Nicholasville Road via Jesselin Drive and Glendover Road Caution should be taken in the area EAST MAIN STREET 0 State police attempting to identify man found in river Staff wire reports NEWPORT Authorities are trying to identify a man pulled from the Kentucky River yesterday morning State police at Dry Ridge post said a boater with the California Yacht Club sighted the body of a white man floating near the bank of the Ohio River about 11 am The body was pulled from the bank of the Kentucky River a half mile west of the Interstate 275 bridge The man was not carrying any identification The body was taken to the Hamilton County Ohio morgue Same man thought behind store holdups SHELBYVILLE State police think the same man who robbed a' Shelbyville grocery store Wednesday night also held up another Shelby County market earlier last week In both cases a man wearing a blue ski mask and brandishing a handgun robbed the stores minutes before midnight On Tuesday a man escaped in a dark-colored Dodge with an undetermined amount of cash from the Oasis Market on Ky 1848 in Simpsonville He was last seen heading south on the road with another unidentified man in the car On Wednesday night a man locked the employees of the JT Food Mart on US 60 in a back store room and escaped with cash State police in Frankfort said they did not know what kind of car was used or in which direction the suspect was last seen heading Officials await test results on dead inmate LOUISVILLE Officials say it will be about three weeks before they will have test results that show why a Jefferson County Jail inmate died at Humana Hospital-University of Louisville Stanley Shepherd 39 was taken to the hospital Saturday because he was authorities said Shepherd of Bowling Green was taken to the hospital about am EDT said Capt Sandy Foster of the county corrections department He died about 10 minutes later Deputy Cornier Carl Adams said Adams said Shepherd had a history of seizures and was being treated Jail officials kept the inmate under close observation checking on him every 10 minutes Adams said a toxicology report and other test results will be available in about three weeks Shepherd had been arrested Friday evening and charged with theft and terroristic threatening Foster said He was to have appeared in arraignment court Saturday morning Judge upholds decision to close school FORDSVILLE A Franklin Circuit judge has upheld the Ohio County Board of decision to dose Fordsville High School The board voted Aug 6 to send the 130 students at Fordsville to Ohio County High School in Beaver Dam Judge William Graham said that any action based on his decision Friday should be delayed five days to allow for an appeal Phillip Shepherd an attorney for parents challenging the consolidation effort said he would file an appeal this week Sentencing set in cross-burning incident LOUISVILLE Sentencing is scheduled for Sept 10 for a Oldham County teen-ager who pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges in a cross-burning The 17-year-old pleaded guilty to burning the cross May 15 in front of Gary heme in Ballardsville The plea came Tuesday before US District Judge Edward Johnstone Two Ballardsville men have pleaded guilty in the same case Charles Michael Pendergrast 19 was sentenced to 18 months in prison without parole and Stacy Dion Husband 21 is scheduled to be sentenced Sept 10 Jury awards $11 million to woman LOUISVILLE A Jefferson Circuit Court jury has awarded nearly $11 milium to a woman who was shot in foe head by her boyfriend a Louisville police officer Richard King who was forced to retire after the shooting testified that he shot Donetta Payne 43 in a drunken stupor July 11 1986 after he found her in bed with another man Payne suffered a stroke that left her partially paralyzed as a result of the shooting King 48 pleaded guilty to assault in 1987 He is serving a five-year prison sentence Jurors said they wanted to send a message to city officials They said Thursday that they thought police officials could have prevented the shooting if they had dealt with alcoholism Fredonia Farm inmate remains at large HOPKINSVILLE An inmate from the Fredonia Farm Center who escaped Friday when he was taken to a Hopkinsville office was still missing yesterday authorities said About 40 officers from various local and state law-enforcement agencies have searched for Jesse Earl Loving 22 who escaped on foot Christian County Sheriff Tom Scillian said Loving of Hopkinsville was placed in the medium -security farm center about three months ago He was serving a sentence of one to five years for burglary and escape Scillian said Loving was among several inmates who were taken to the doctor's office Scillian said Loving was the only one to escape he said Scillian said he did not know how Loving eluded the farm officers when he fled on foot He said this is the third or fourth time Loving has escaped State board fires trooper for breaking regulations Associated Press ELIZABETHTOWN A Kentucky State Police trial board found a trooper at the Elizabethtown post guilty of seven conduct code violations and dismissed him from the department Saturday night After hearing the case for three days the five-member board found Marcus Ray 25 guilty of seven of eight charges said John Lite a spokesman for the state police Ray a three-year veteran of the department was charged with violating the code of conduct on nonconformity to law improper use of force and dishonesty He was found guilty of five of the six charges of nonconformity to law and one count each of improper use of force and dishonesty Ray will be dismissed from the department effective immediately Life said The board focused on three main instances involving Ray: allegedly pulling a revolver on a female acquaintance at an Elizabethtown ballpark misuse of a state credit card and using profanity and slapping a person while working a wreck Ray had said he was provoked during the accident detail by an intoxicated man who was interfering with and threatening him Larry Smith a Radcliff attorney who represented Ray said he was disappointed with the decision have set two standards one they applied to Marcus and the other to the rest of the state Ray one of few black state troopers has argued the charges were racially motivated Smith said Saturday night the dismissal was sending the back to the blade 0 NICHOLASVILLE ROAD: Work continues this week on the widening of Nicholasville Road from Southland Drive to New Circle Road Workers are on the east side of the road in the northbound lanes and motorists should use caution in the area There is no lane blockage and traffic should be moving as usual The right-hand westbound lane in front of 155 East Main Street will be blocked through Wednesday while crews install new sanitary and storm sewer lines 0 EAST MAIN STREET: The left lane of East Main Street at Martin Luther King Boulevard will be blocked through Tuesday through while crews construct a concrete curb at East Main Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard 0WOODHILL DRIVE: Traffic on Woodhill Drive will continue to experience intermittent delays as the road is widened from three to five lanes between New Circle Road and Codell Drive Paving has begun and two lanes will remain open at all times as work is done on both sides of Wbodhill Drive Delays and slowdowns can be expected during daylight hours while work crews are in this area CLAYS MILL ROAD AND 0 and Roads crews will be blocking the following streets today through Friday for asphalt repairs Clays Mill Road between Hill 'n Dale and Cromwell drives Redding Road between Kirklevington Drive and Cromwell Drive EAST VINE STREET: Kentucky-American Water Co crews will block the south-side right-hand curb lane of East Vine Street between South Limestone Street and the Martin Luther King Boulevard bridge while replacing a fire hydrant Interstate 75: Work will continue on widening from lust North of the Fayette County NEW CIRCLE ROAD: 0 line to the rest area in Scott County Crews will work Monday at 6 pm in the northbound lane and will follow-up in the southbound lane on Tuesday The inside lane will be closed during this operation Slowdowns and delays are expected and motorists are advised to use caution in the area Work will begin Tuesday on the widening of the shoulder in the median of New Circle Road from Nicholasville Road to Newtown Pike All lanes will be open from 6 to 9 am and 3 to 6 pm The project is expected to be completed by Nov 15 Missing Bell-organ chimes with artful music from Lexington man Wrecks and ran a perfect department for he said did it to the best of her ability definitely a leader in our Cashen says he hopes she will show up at Wal-Mart today to pick up her $400 paycheck at 8 o'clock knock on that damn Wal-Mart door and go to he said Dozens of police and volunteers have searched the park night and day since Bailey was reported missing Cashen said One searcher Richard Ketch of Lexington broke some vertebrae in his back when he fell off a 45-foot cliff Friday night during the search Ketch a member of the Kentucky Search Dog Association was combing the area with his dog Cain around midnight when he fell Cain followed his master over the cliff but was not injured Ketch was in stable condition at the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center Anyone who might have seen Jennifer Bailey or has any information about her disappearance is asked to call the Kentucky State Police Harlan post (606) 573-3131 or the toll-free hot line (800) From Page B1 written on it Some of her teeth overlap and she has a medium tan Most of her time was spent working out lifting weights or jogging and working at the Wal-Mart in Barbourville Police and others said that nothing unusual appeared to being going on in her life before she disappeared "She was a very stylish person always top of the said Joe Harris the assistant manager at Wal-Mart where Jennifer managed the shoe department She was promoted and transferred to the Barbourville store from the Middks-boro location a year and a half ago caught us all by said Harris who has worked with her at both stores always in good spirits never acted depressed or She never missed work and was always on time coming in at 8 each morning he said was very conscientious cles as his hand strikes the keys linked by wires tumbuckles cranks and springs to the bells overhead technique is more like piano" Weinstein said "The bell clapper will move only one-half to three-quarters of an inch to strike the bell but you have to keep in mind that the mass of a 6765-pound bell is going to create more sound than the smaller The smallest bell on the four-octave range weighs 23 pounds is 8 inches in diameter and has a high-C pitch The largest on the chromatic scale spans 5 feet 7 inches across and rings as a B-flat The carillon was developed in the Netherlands as a kind of folk instrument Weinstein said He likes the instrument's setting in Carillon Park Weinstein said Many carillons are situated in church towers in crowded urban settings where they must compete with other sounds he said Associated Press DAYTON Ohio The Deeds Carillon has left its mark on a Lexington man who plays the largest bell instrument in Ohio Larry Weinstein has a mild case of calluses on the outside of his little fingers He developed the ailment from playing the keyboard that sounds a set of stationary bells each producing one tone of the chromatic scale To make music on the 50 bells imported from Holland in 1988 Weinstein sits at a console and pounds long wooden levers with his fists old mechanism was electronic and played only one way loudly" said Weinstein 37 this new instrument I can play more notes together and hear other voices not just a jumble of noise The trick is to make all the nuances come To do that the carillon neur must stay relaxed and use his upper arm shoulder and back mus gional Hospital in Hartford Three others were slightly injured in the wreck which occurred at the intersection of US 231 and Kentucky 69 in Hartford The string of deaths began at 6:58 am EDT Friday when two Prestonsburg High School seniors were killed in a one-car crash on Kentucky 1428 in the Little Plaint community of Floyd County Killed were Matthew Baldridge 17 and Robert Fife who would have turned 18 yesterday Classes were dismissed Friday at the high school after the community learned of the deaths State police also had reports of single deaths in accidents in Jack-son Simpson Whitley and Jefferson counties during the period From Page B1 driven by Justice The accident occurred at 9 pm CDT about 7 miles south of Greenville on Kentucky 1473 Only 25 minutes later Brenda Whitaker 18 and Jacob Rogers 16 both of Centerville were thrown from the bed of a pickup truck that was hit while speeding out of control through an intersection The truck's accelerator was stuck police said Rogers was pronounced dead at the scene Whitaker died about an hour later at the Ohio County Re- I.