Upton wrote letter to friend

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September 22, 2009

By GINA KINSLOW The Glasgow Daily Times Tue Sep 22, 2009, 01:21 PM CDT

GLASGOW — A letter from a Barren County teenager accused of killing his father says he could kill again.

Jared Upton, 18, of Smiths Grove, wrote a letter to a friend in May. The letter was mailed to a friends’ grandmother’s house in Woodburn.

In the letter, which is on file at the Barren Circuit Court Clerk’s office, Upton refers to himself as the “Tinman” and says, “Man, I remember when you asked me what it was like to put someone out, man it ain’t much really I could do it again it was just the fact it was my blood you dig.”

Upton allegedly shot his father, John Upton, in October 2008 with a 12-gauge shotgun multiple times at his home on Old Bowling Green Road. He was indicted on murder and tampering with physical evidence by a Barren County grand jury on Dec. 19, 2008.

A uniform offense report filed by the Kentucky State Police makes reference to the letter. It states the friends’ mother notified state police of the letter and told them Upton and her son were friends. She also said Upton was not aware her son was incarcerated at the Warren County Juvenile Detention Center.

In the letter, Upton talks about being placed in isolation following an alleged fight.

Upton was 17 when he was arrested on Oct. 31, 2008, but has since turned 18. According to Karen Davis, commonwealth’s attorney for Barren and Metcalfe counties, certain criteria must be met in order for a juvenile to be tried as an adult, such as whether the defendant is at least 14 years of age, whether a firearm was used in the commission of the offense, whether the crime was against a person or property and whether the juvenile has prior criminal history. It was determined by the commonwealth early on in the case that Upton will stand trial as an adult if he is found competent.

Upton has undergone two psychiatric evaluations. One evaluation was requested by his attorney, the other by Davis.

Upton was transferred from the Adair County Juvenile Detention Center in Columbia to the Kentucky Correctional pyschiatrist Center in La Grange for the second competency evaluation in early August. Davis anticipated a report regarding the evaluation to be returned by mid-September. As of Monday, she had not received it.

Upton is scheduled to appear in Barren Circuit Court on Oct. 15 for competency and suppression hearings.

During the hearing, his attorney will attempt to suppress a confession he made at the time of his arrest.

Since the evaluation was conducted, Upton has been incarcerated at the Barren County Correction Center.

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