By BRAD DICKERSON
GLASGOW — The events of Oct. 18 and 19 were recalled for jurors on the second day of a Barren County murder trial.
William R. “Billy” Haynes, 61, of Glasgow, is charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence in connection with the death of Luis Rodriguez, 45, also of Glasgow. The victim’s body was found in the Barren River Lake in Allen County on the morning of Oct. 19.
At Haynes’ initial December hearing, Kentucky State Police Detective Chad Winn, the lead investigator, said it is believed that Haynes shot Rodriguez after Rodriguez, along with three accomplices, tried to break into an indoor marijuana-growing site on property owned by Houchens at 2836 Winn School Road.
Danielle Neal, 18, testified that she gave Rodriguez and the three accomplices – Rick Driver, 22, Tyler Allen, 17, and Tony “Montana” Allen, 27 – a ride on the night of Oct. 18 following a request from Driver, her boyfriend, after she returned home from her job at Akebono Brake around 11:15 p.m.
“Rick asked me if I would give his friends a ride out to the country,” Neal said, adding that no one told her exactly where they were going or why.
“I didn’t ask him why they wanted to go, I just gave them a ride,” she said.
Neal testified that she was given directions toward the Lucas community in Barren County, but not before being asked to make a stop at Clark’s residence at Hillview Apartments in Glasgow.
She said both Clark and Allen went into the apartment and were inside for about 10 minutes, but did not notice if they were carrying anything when they returned.
Clark testified that when they stopped at his apartment, he went to get tools for the alleged robbery, including a mask, bags and a handgun.
“When you’re going to try to rob somebody, you can’t just go out there empty-handed,” he said.
After the detour, Neal said she drove the four out to the Winn School Road area and pulled off to the side.
Then, the four said they were getting out of the car and would be right back, she testified, adding that the last she could see of them was as they were heading toward a field.
Clark said he had put on his mask before the four got out of Neal’s car.
“It seemed like five or six minutes later and I heard gunshots and then I (saw) flashing lights in the air,” Neal said.
After hearing what she described as a truck starting up, Neal testified that she hid her car on a side road and turned off the lights. She said she saw what appeared to be a white diesel truck driving along the road.
Neal said she eventually tried to locate the men after a few hours of hiding. Around 3 a.m. she headed toward Glasgow and called Driver’s uncle, Rudolph Depp, and told him what happened.
“She seemed worried to me,” Depp previously testified.
Depp said he called law enforcement after 5 a.m. Both he and Neal went back out to the area with members of the Barren County Sheriff’s De-partment, where Allen and Driver were eventually located.
Driver testified he and Allen ran into the woods after the shots were fired, adding that he lost one of his shoes, a red and white “Air Jordan,” while jumping a fence.
The two stayed in the woods for a few hours, according to Driver, before coming upon a residence in the early morning hours that had lights on.
Larry Shirley, 65, testified that he and and his wife went up to the farm office on their property at 4:30 a.m., shortly after waking, for a cup of coffee.
Shirley said his wife was on the front porch when she saw two men, Driver and Allen, approach and ask if they could use the phone.
They were allowed to use Shirley’s cellphone, he said.
“I said, ‘Guys, it’s a good way for someone to get shot, wandering around this early in the morning,’” Shirley testified, adding that their excuse was they were out “looking for some girls.”
Driver said he used the phone to call Neal and have her come to pick them up.
After the shots were fired, Clark said he ran into the woods and stayed there until daylight. While wandering around the area, he came in contact with Bobby Pedigo, an area resident who was hunting on the morning of Oct. 19.
“I could tell he was lost,” Pedigo testified. “He was just wet and muddy.”
Pedigo said he let Clark use his cellphone to call someone before driving him to the end of Tobacco Road.
Detective Rusty Anderson, with the Barren County Sheriff’s Department, said law enforcement found Clark walking down US 31E South. The officers retrieved the weapon from the subject’s front pocket, according to Anderson.
Both Allen and Driver testified that they initially told law enforcement officers their real reason for being in the area was to go to a friend’s house and play videogames, admitting that they lied about their true intentions for fear of getting in trouble.
Allen testified it was Rodriguez who said “he knew where to get some marijuana at.”
Driver admitted during questioning by Kathryn Thomas, assistant commonwealth’s attorney, that most of his initial statements at the sheriff’s office were “false.”
“My truth was I went out there to buy some weed, that’s what my truth is,” he testified.
On cross examination by defense attorney Buddy Alexander, Driver said he had no money on his person when deputies searched him.
“My girl had some (money),” he said, adding that the Air Jordans cost $150 and he had not had a job in about three years.
Driver later told Alexander that marijuana he had been smoking that night was “some good stuff” that he had found.
“I found it one day outside,” he said.
“You come in here and you raise your hand and say you’re going to swear to tell the truth, you’re supposed to answer with the truth,” Alexander responded. “So where did you get the weed?”
“I just found it, for real,” Driver said.
On redirect, Thomas asked Driver if he was “telling the truth” today.
“Yes, I’m telling the truth,” Driver said.
On a final redirect, Alexander again asked Driver where he got the marijuana. The witness stated it was from a cousin in Georgia, named John, “I believe his last name was Alexander.”
The last witness of the day was Dr. William Ralston, a state medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Rodriguez.
Ralston testified that the victim had an entrance wound in his back and an exit wound in the lower abdomen.
“This gunshot wound wouldn’t have been immediately deadly,” he said.
The doctor said his final analysis was the victim likely died of the gunshot wound, but drowning could not entirely be excluded as a contributing factor, since the body had evidence of pulmonary edema, or fluid in the lungs.
Testimony in the case continues today.
