News from April 15, 2003 issue


Father dead; son charged with murder
An apparent altercation that followed a minor motor vehicle accident Saturday morning resulted in one man's death near the tiny community of Weston.

Salem resident Larry G. Tabor, 41, is accused of stabbing his father, James E. Tabor, 69, also of Salem. Larry Tabor was arraigned in Crittenden District Court Wednesday morning, charged with murder. He pleaded not guilty and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for April 21.

He also faces charges of first offense driving under the influence and driving without a license, according to Crittenden County Sheriff Wayne Agent. The stabbing happened at about 5:35 a.m., a half mile south of Weston, which is located in far northeastern Crittenden County on the Ohio River.

"The best we can tell, they were driving down the road and for some reason ran off the right shoulder and hit a tree,'' Agent said.

Larry Tabor was driving his father's pickup truck. According to Agent, the truck was pulling a flat-bed trailer used to haul scrap iron to Illinois Friday.

Kentucky State Police Det. Devin Brewer is unsure why the two had been to the boat ramp at Weston before daylight Saturday.

"We don't know if they were lost, but the accident happened when they were leaving Weston," the detective said.

After the wreck, Agent said the men apparently began fighting. The fight escalated until Larry Tabor allegedly stabbed his father with a knife in the head and neck, according to the arrest warrant issued by Det. Brewer.

A motorist, Cindy Miller, who lives at Weston, saw the fight taking place and called 911 from her cell phone. She declined to comment on what she saw when contacted by The Press Tuesday. She told a reporter that she has given police her complete statement. Court documents say the witness told police Larry Tabor was kicking James Tabor while he was laying on the ground.

Agent was the first law enforcement official to arrive at the scene. When he got there, he found Larry Tabor sitting on the trailer, in the company of First Responders Kenneth Wilson and Tommy Chandler.

"They were trying to keep him calm until we got there," Agent said. "He wasn't trying to get away."

According to the narrative contained in the criminal complaint filed by Det. Brewer, the alleged murder weapon was lying in plain view in the floorboard of the truck with blood and hair on the knife.

The complaint says that the defendant had a large amount of what police believed to be blood on his clothing.

Agent said Larry Tabor was transported by ambulance to Crittenden Hospital but was not seriously injured. The sheriff said he observed cuts and bruises "all over" the suspect's body while transporting him from the hospital to the Crittenden County Jail where he is held without bond.

The sheriff did not know how many times James Tabor was stabbed. Brewer said an autopsy completed Sunday revealed multiple lacerations to James Tabor's head and neck. The probable cause of death was stab wounds.

Brewer said his investigation revealed there had possibly been some tension between the father and son in the past.

Nancy Guess, a sister of suspect Larry Tabor and daughter of the victim, said the family is upset with the way regional media and law enforcement have released information about her father's death.

"We're very upset with everyone," she said Monday. "No one has told us anything... the way they tell it on TV, our father was viciously killed and that's not the way it happened."
Crittenden County Jailer Rick Riley said it is up to court officials whether Larry Tabor will remain incarcerated in Crittenden County or be moved to a different facility while he awaits trial. The suspect is being held with other inmates and has caused no problems since lodged here.

Court officials say the murder charge is the first filed in Crittenden County in more than a decade.

No students involved in fatal bus crash
A Burna man was killed when his pickup truck slammed into the rear of a virtually empty school bus Sunday night at about 8:30 p.m., in front of Crittenden County High School.

Alvie L. Sisco, 64, was traveling eastbound on U.S. 60 when his 1991 Ford truck hit the bus from behind. He was pronounced dead at Crittenden Hospital shortly after the wreck, which happened right in front of the hospital.

The school bus driver, Lula "Jimmi" Hackney, and bus monitor Pearl Crabtree, both of Marion, were not injured. There were no children on the school bus at the time of the wreck.

Janie Tomek, acting superintendent for Crittenden County Schools, said the bus had been to Louisville on a routine trip to carry area students to a school for the deaf and blind. Tomek said the bus was not badly damaged, but it will be taken out of service until it's repaired.

"Our thoughts are with the family who lost a loved one," Tomek said. "The school system would like to express its sympathy."

The bus had just returned from the weekly round trip to Louisville. One student from Crittenden County rides the bus to school there, plus others from surrounding counties. The Crittenden bus also picks the children up from Louisville each Friday and brings them home for the weekend. Tomek said the state reimburses the district for sending the bus round trip each week.

Police Chief Kenneth Winn said there were no skid marks at the scene to indicate that Sisco tried to stop before hitting the bus, which was stopped on the highway ready to make a left-hand turn into the school parking lot.

According to the police report, evidence inside the pickup truck caused investigators to believe alcohol may have been a contributing factor in the accident. As required by law, blood from the drivers of both vehicles will be tested. Marion Police officer Marty Hodge investigated the wreck scene. Results of the investigation are pending until results from the blood screenings are available from the Kentucky State Police laboratory.

Hackney has been a school bus driver for longer than 10 years, according to Tomek.

Ukraine adoption laborious process
The prospects of parenthood are becoming more and more real to David and Donette Perryman.

After months of prayerful consideration and completion of a checklist that seemed daunting to say the least, the couple are only a few months away from bringing their adoptive child ­ or perhaps siblings ­ to Marion from the Ukraine.

The Perrymans had thought about adoption for several years, but became serious about it in December after attending an informational meeting about the Louisville-based Hopeful Hearts Foundation.

"I have a friend in Metropolis who adopted a little girl from the Ukraine three years ago through the Hopeful Hearts Foundation," Donette said. "She had such good luck that we decided to go this route." While the Ukrainian adoption process is laborious, it takes significantly longer to adopt an American child.

The Hopeful Hearts Foundation was started by two women, Kathy Drane and Nancy Stanbery, both of whom attend Southeast Christian Church in Louisville.

"These two women made it a ministry to adopt children from the Ukraine into the United States," Donette says. "They have helped 115 kids get to the U.S."

The Perrymans found out in mid-March that they have been approved to adopt up to two children between the ages of birth and four years. However, the Ukraine does not adopt children under the age of 14 months because it gives Ukrainian citizens an opportunity to adopt children in orphanages before they're considered for other countries.
Additionally, the Perrymans say the Ukraine only adopts two children to one family if the children are siblings.

"We could choose the sex of the child but we didn't choose to," Donette said.
"We don't care. We will just let the Lord lead us when we get there."

The Perrymans underwent background checks, prepared medical histories, were fingerprinted and were thoroughly scrutinized during a home visit from a representative of the Hopeful Hearts Foundation in order to be approved as adoptive parents. They even had to write autobiographies as part of the screening process.

Two weeks ago, their collection of documents ­ referred to as a dossier ­ left for the Ukraine. Now the couple waits for the Ukrainian orphanage to schedule an appointment for the couple to travel to the Ukraine, hopefully by year's end. The two-week (sometimes longer) visit will be the last step before bringing home their family's new addition.

"We are so excited," said Donette, a radiology technician at Livingston Hospital.
"The Lord has really turned our lives around the last few months."

David, who works in maintenance for the Crittenden County School District, is as ready for fatherhood as much as Donette is for motherhood.

Together with the Lord's guidance, they say they will choose the child ­ or perhaps siblings ­ they will bring back to their Crittenden County home.

It is illegal for adoptive parents to pick out a child before they arrive at the Ukraine orphanage; therefore, the Perrymans will look at photographs of children, learn their histories and then choose their child when they arrive in the Ukraine. The process takes about two weeks. At the end of their stay, they'll come home with someone who will call them mom and dad. While the child will have an Ukrainian name upon his or her adoption, the Perrymans say most children adopted into the United States are given American names.

Now the Perrymans are waiting for word from the Ukraine.

"They'll schedule our appointment three or four weeks in advance and we'll use vacation time and the Family Medical Leave Act to take time off from work," Donette said.

The couple praises the support they've received from their family and friends, and want God to get all the glory for their success in the adoption process.