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(For members) Testimony: Defendant in homicide case had planned to rob man

Posted at 2:41 pm January 24, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The homicide charge filed against Christy Viola Comer, 37, middle, was sent to the Anderson County Grand Jury after a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. At right is defense attorney Leslie Hunt. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

CLINTON—The defendant in a criminal homicide case in Rocky Top in August had planned to rob the 83-year-old man who died because “it would be easy,” according to court testimony Tuesday.

The body of the victim, J.C. Copeland, who has been described as a “sweet old man,” was found partially wrapped in a pink blanket underneath a porch at a mobile home on Jacksboro Avenue on August 31, according to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Agent John Hannon. Copeland is believed to have been strangled until he died, according to court records. There was white rope around Copeland’s neck and other parts of his body, including his wrists and ankles, Hannon testified during a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on Tuesday.

Inside Copeland’s home, investigators found a fresh brown stain on the floor near his front door, white strings similar to the material found around his neck, and in one possible sign of a struggle, cigarettes on the floor, according to Hannon’s testimony. An acrylic painted press-on fingernail was found in the living room, Hannon said. It’s similar to the type of press-on fingernail that a woman might wear, Hannon said when questioned by prosecutor Emily Faye Abbott.

Outside the home, Copeland’s vehicle was missing.

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Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories.

Filed Under: Anderson County, Courts, Front Page News, Police and Fire, Premium Content, Rocky Top, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County Detention Facility, Anderson County General Sessions Court, Anderson County grand jury, Christy Viola Comer, criminal homicide, Dave Clark, Don Layton, Drew Winstead, Emily Faye Abbott, homicide, J.C. Copeland, Jim Shetterly, John Hannon, Knoxville Police Department, Leslie Hunt, Mitch Wade, Rocky Top, Rocky Top Police Department, Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force, TBI, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation

Investigation: Clinton man accused of threatening three judges

Posted at 5:52 pm July 18, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

 

Ronald Taylor Don Elledge Don Layton Nicki Cantrell Slider Cropped

CLINTON—A Clinton man accused of threatening to harm three Anderson County judges has a trial scheduled this week in Anderson County Criminal Court.

Details about the alleged threat aren’t available in an indictment filed by the Anderson County Grand Jury in October.

The 53-year-old man has had a dispute with Anderson County officials about searches of people at the security checkpoint near the elevators on the third floor of the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton. He has told deputies that they do not have the right to search him, objected to the metal detectors there, claimed that civil rights are being violated, and asserted the right to defend himself with deadly force against an unlawful act by a police officer, according to court records.

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Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include coverage of court cases and in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories.

Filed Under: Anderson County, Anderson County, Courts, Courts, For Members, Front Page News, Police and Fire, Premium Content, Slider Tagged With: Anderson County Courthouse, Anderson County Criminal Court, Anderson County General Sessions Court, Anderson County grand jury, Anderson County Sheriff's Department, Charles Relford, Darrell Leach, disorderly conduct, Don Layton, Don R. Ash, Donald R. Elledge, Fourth Amendment, grand jury indictments, indictment, J. Michael Clement, Jeremiah Tuggle, John Hannon, John McCulley, Kory Blevins, metal detectors, motion to dismiss, Nichole Cantrell, resisting stop frisk halt arrest or search, retaliation for past action, Ronald Jennings Taylor, searches, security checkpoint, Sixth Judicial District, Steve Bourff, Steve Garrett, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, threat, three judges, trial, William F. Evans

Andersonville man indicted on murder charge in death of girlfriend’s mother

Posted at 7:32 pm March 29, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

William James McMillan

William James McMillan

An Andersonville man has been indicted on a second-degree murder charge in the death of his girlfriend’s mother at a home on Lone Mountain Road in Anderson County in 2015.

William James McMillan, 50, was indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury on March 7. He will be arraigned in Anderson County Circuit and Criminal Court in Clinton on Friday.

McMillan is accused of fatally shooting Karen Zahrobsky, who was 66.

Authorities said McMillan, Zahrobsky, and Zahrobsky’s daughter, Christina Dixon, who was then 45, all lived at 460 Lone Mountain Road in Andersonville, where the shooting allegedly occurred at about 4:45 a.m. Wednesday, June 10, 2015.

Zahrobsky was dead when deputies arrived. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Front Page News, Police and Fire, Tennessee, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County Circuit and Criminal Court, Anderson County General Sessions Court, Anderson County grand jury, Anderson County Sheriff's Department, Christina Dixon, Dave Clark, Gregory P. Isaacs, John Hannon, Karen Zahrobsky, Lone Mountain Road, Mark Lucas, second-degree murder, TBI, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, William James McMillan

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