By SUSAN TEBBEN
Glasgow Daily Times
TOMPKINSVILLE —
The man accused of conspiring to kill a Monroe County man in his home, then setting fire to the residence called state police and admitted to the crime, according to testimony given at his preliminary hearing Tuesday in Monroe County District Court.
Jonathan Young, 22, of Glasgow, called Detective Mike Dubree, of the Kentucky State Police, four days after the alleged murder of Thomas M. Martin, 68, at his home in Summer Shade, saying he “couldn’t live with himself,” Dubree said. He also named Jessie Parke, 22, of Summer Shade, as the killer of Martin, which led to a search by United States Marshals, who found Parke in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Text messages sent by Young and Parke the night of Aug. 25 were also presented in front of Judge Kristi Castillo.
The text messages were sent just before the men allegedly shot and killed Martin, according to Dubree, who is the investigating officer on the case. The text messages were obtained with a search warrant after Young told police they mentioned Martin’s name and talked about killing him.
At 11:42 p.m. on Aug. 25, Young allegedly sent a text to Parke saying he wanted to “do the big deal ... now,” to which Parke responded “kill Max,” referring to Martin’s middle name. Young responded with “yeah, get it now, watched CSI lately?” The final message, “do it now,” was sent at 11:48, shortly before Martin was killed, Young told police.
Young, who was arraigned last Tuesday in Monroe County on charges of complicity to murder, complicity to first-degree burglary and complicity to first-degree arson, sat silently as Dubree was questioned by county attorney Wes Stephens and Greg Berry, attorney for the Department of Public Advocacy.
Dubree told the court that on Aug. 26 he was dispatched to a house fire on 1600 Hope Road, where fire crews told him they suspected the owner was still in the house because a car was in the driveway. After the fire was extinguished and the body found, preliminary investigation led detectives to consider the death a homicide after two small-caliber wounds consistent with gunshot wounds were found in Martin’s head, Dubree said.
An autopsy confirmed that Martin had died of multiple gunshot wounds and had been dead prior to the fire.
The alleged murder weapon has not been found, but investigators think it was either a .25- or .35-caliber handgun that Martin kept at all times. In his interview with state police, Young said that he and Parke had been allowed in the home by Martin. Parke had asked to see the weapon and then shot Martin with it. The two men then took Martin’s wallet and some unidentified pills, Dubree said.
Young also told police he and Parke, who is charged with murder, first-degree burglary and first-degree arson, had come back to make sure the fire was burning and re-entered the house to reset the fire when they found it had gone out.
Parke and Young had also been identified in interviews with neighbors who said they had seen the two men enter and leave the house, but could not confirm the time. Dubree said the police were not aware of any connection between the two men and Martin.
In previous statements to the police after the fire, Parke had said the two had been to Martin’s home, but had left before dark. In a second interview, he said they had left around 10 p.m. but came back later.
“Through interviews with neighbors, we found Mr. Parke and Mr. Young had some deception in their statements,” Dubree said.
Castillo ruled that probable cause existed in the case and sent it to be considered by a Monroe County grand jury.
Neither Berry nor Stephens had any further comment.
Parke was extradited from South Carolina and brought back to Monroe County on Sunday. He was arraigned Tuesday on the charges and entered a plea of not guilty through his attorney, Steve Romines.
A bond of $500,000 cash has been set for Young and $1 million cash for Parke. Another preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 13.
