Retrial still set in Warren County

Local News

Discussion

January 31, 2009

Burton Speakman The Glasgow Daily Times Sat Jan 31, 2009, 03:50 PM CST

BOWLING GREEN — The case of two Barren County men accused of murder continues to move towards a trial, while both sides acknowledge they are working toward a resolution.

There was a hearing Friday in Warren Circuit Court in the case of Lonnie Freeman, 40, of Etoile, and Dustin Asher, 32, of Glasgow. Both men are charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence in the July 2005 deaths of Daniel Froedge, 38, of Park City and Kelly O. Johnson, 32, of Smiths Grove. Froedge’s and Johnson’s burned bodies where found on July 28, 2005, inside a truck on a gravel road near Scottsville.

Asher and Freeman were initially tried on these charges in Oct. 2006 in Allen Circuit Court and the case ended in a hung jury. The retrial was moved to Warren County due to publicity surrounding the initial trial.

On March 7, there is a motion hearing scheduled in this case to consider an expert witness, polygraph evidence and a defense motion to dismiss the case, said Clint Willis, commonwealth’s attorney for Allen County.

Steve Romines, who is representing Freeman, and Pat Renn, who is representing Asher, stated during the hearing that have had discussions about resolving this case. Romines and Renn both did not attend the hearing in person, but were part of a teleconference.

The trial in this case remains scheduled for March 17.

There could be an issue with the March 7 hearing date, Willis said. Freeman is also facing a charge of unlawful possession of a methamphetamine precursor and being a persistent felony offender in Barren Circuit Court.

Assistant Common-wealth’s Attorney Kathryn Thomas is planning to try that case in the first or second week of March, Willis said.

“If that happens we’ll just have to deal with it,” he said.

The result of the Barren County case is the last point of dispute stopping a resolution in this case, Romines said.

“My understanding is if the Freeman case is resolved then our case is resolved,” Renn said referring to Asher.

Freeman’s next hearing in Barren Circuit Court is scheduled for Feb. 9., according to court records.

Freeman was sentenced Jan. 9 in U.S. District Court in Bowling Green to seven years in prison for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of an unregistered short barrel rifle. There is no parole in federal court.

The murder case had been delayed multiple times because the U.S. Attorney's Office in Louisville would not allow Freeman to attend state court hearings until his federal charges had been finalized.

After the final sentencing Freeman should now be able to attend all hearings in both cases, Willis said.

Text Only

Local News

To bee or not to bee ... the winner
To use some of the words from Friday morning's Barren County Spelling Bee in a sentence: “Those who reign in the linguistics world urgently and jerkily spelled foreign words with enthusiasm and sometimes their cheeks turned an awful rouge.”

February 4, 2012 1 Photo
3 have new roles at GDT
Three Glasgow natives are settling into new roles within the Glasgow Daily Times.

February 4, 2012 1 Photo
AFTERNOON UPDATE: Police investigate stabbing
4:04 p.m.: A Glasgow man was arrested in connection with a stabbing on East Cherry Street on Friday morning.

February 3, 2012
OBITUARY UPDATE: Audrey Wyatt
Audrey Wyatt - GLASGOW

February 3, 2012
ELLIS UPDATE: Lawmakers closer on new district mapping
Democratic House Speaker Greg Stumbo said Thursday that lawmakers in the Republican Senate and Democratic House are close to an agreement on re-drawing the congressional district map.

February 3, 2012
MORNING UPDATE: 911 report
February 3, 2012
Bill would amend absentee voting rules
The filing deadlines for those intending to run for governmental office in 2012 has been extended to Feb. 7, but those who have already filed are gearing up to start campaigning again for votes.

February 3, 2012
Shepherd brings legislature to a stop
Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd not only put on hold the filing deadline for candidates for state House and Senate districts — he effectively shut down the business of the General Assembly.

February 2, 2012
Band is ‘Unpredictable’
With The Unpredictables, anything can happen.

February 2, 2012
MORNING UPDATE: 911 report
February 2, 2012
More Local News Headlines

Local News

Search Results

Discussion

Retrial still set in Warren County

Site Map