News from July 14, 2005 issue



2 escape from Fredonia complex
Crittenden County Sheriff Wayne Agent says there is no indication that the two men who escaped Saturday from the Western Kentucky Correctional Complex near Fredonia are still in the area. However, he urged residents to remain on the lookout and be sure to keep doors locked and remove keys from parked vehicles.

Prison spokesman Carl Fowler said inmates Vernon Lee Parker Jr., 41, and Jay Lee Mersfelder, 32, walked away from the minimum security unit of the complex between 9 and 10 p.m., Saturday night.
Parker was serving a 47-year sentence from a case in Richmond. He had been at the farm center for only four days. He was sentenced for robbery, burglary, criminal possession of forged instrument, escape, theft and being a persistent felony offender.

He is described as being 5-foot-11 and weighing 180 pounds. He has blue eyes, brown hair, medium to large build and medium complexion. He has acne scars on the right and left sides of his face and several tattoos. He has a tattoo on his right arm, left arm, right shoulder, a swastika on his right neck, lightning bolts on his left neck, a spider web on the right and left sides of his forehead, a cross and Maltese cross on the back of his right hand and a chain band on his right and left wrists.

Mersfelder was serving a 17-year sentence and was committed from Boone and Kenton counties. He, too, had just been brought to the Fredonia complex last Tuesday. He was sentenced for nine counts of receiving stolen property, burglary, fraudulent use of credit or debit card, receiving stolen property, bail jumping and being a persistent felony offender.

Mersfelder is described as 5-foot-6 and weighing 160 pounds. He has hazel eyes, brown hair and medium build and complexion. He has tattoos, which include a chest plate on his chest, sleeves on his right and left arms, an iron cross with a skull on the back of his neck and a tribal band with Carrie on his right ankle.
Local law enforcement and Kentucky State Police are currently investigating.

Anyone with information is requested to contact the state police at 1-800-222-5555.


Marion teen dies in wreck
Nineteen-year-old John R. Wolf, Jr., of Marion died and a passenger was injured Monday in a single-vehicle accident on U.S. 641 in Lyon County.

Tessa Shewcraft, 19, of Marion was in the 1995 Chevrolet when it went off the highway for an unknown reason and struck a tree south of Fredonia. The accident happened at 7 p.m. Trooper Michael Dennis investigated the wreck.

Shewcraft was taken by Lyon County Ambulance to Crittenden Hospital and was admitted in the intensive care unit. She was improving Tuesday.

According to Kentucky State Police reports, Wolf was pronounced dead at the scene by the Lyon County coroner. Police reports said that Wolf was not wearing a seatbelt, but the passenger, Shewcraft, was wearing one.

Wolf was a 2004 graduate of Crittenden County High School and enjoyed music. He played guitar and drums in a local Christian band and also played at Life In Christ Church, where he was a member. Wolf and Shewcraft had been shopping in Paducah, friends said.