Banner Graphic, Volume 13, Number 121, Greencastle, Putnam County, 28 January 1983 — Page 1

Hubbard acquitted in 1977 murder case

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COY HUBBARD Acquitted on all charges

Escapee back at State Farm after incident

By BARBARA CARHART Banner-Graphic Staff Writer PUTNAM VILLE-An Indiana State Farm inmate who escaped from the facility Wednesday afternoon and abducted a rural Greencastle woman Thursday morning was recaptured in Shelby County Thursday afternoon and was returned to the farm’s maximum security unit Thursday evening. ROBERT L. CORRELL, 38, was apprehended by Indiana State Farm Lt. Harry Pilkin, Sgt. Charles Renfro and Officers Dale Bruner and Charles Wheeler, as well as State Police officials, two New Castle detectives and officials from the Shelby and Rush County Sheriff’s Departments at 4:05 p.m. Thursday near the intersection of State Road 44 and a Shelby County road. Police officials set up a road block near the Shelby-Johnson county line and apprehended Correll without incident en route to his New Castle destination. Correll was then brought back to the Indiana State Farm at 7:25 p.m. Thursday. Charges are pending against Correll, w'ho escaped from the Farm at approximately 2:50 p.m. Wednesday and allegedly abducted Mary Jo Kellum, 42, Route 2, Box 662, Greencastle, at 1:30 am. Thursday. Mrs. Kellum escaped unharmed from the trunk of her 1982 brown Ford Escort in Lawrence, northeast of Indianapolis. ACCORDING TO STATE Farm officials, Correll was working as a mechanic

The end of January? Partly cloudy and continued mild overnight. Low in the mid 30s. Partly cloudy and windy on Saturday with a 50 per cent chance for light rain late. High Saturday in the mid to upper 40s. Indiana Extended Forecast It will be cloudy Sunday through Tuesday with a chance of rain on Monday. The highs will range from the mid 30s to the mid 40s. The lows will be in the upper 20s and 30s Sunday and Monday, and in the 20s Tuesday. Abby A 4 Bridge AlO Calendar A 4 Classifieds AIO.AII Comics A 6 Crossword AlO Editorials A 7 Heioise A 4 Horoscope All Obitauries Al 2 People A 6 Sports AB,A9 TV B section Worry Clinic AlO

By BECKY IGO Banner-Graphic Area News Editor After nine hours of deliberation, a Putnam Circuit Court jury early Friday morning found Coy Hubbard, 32, not guilty of murdering and robbing two Putnam County men on July 24,1977 near Cloverdale. Hubbard was found not guilty by the seven-woman, five-man jury of the 1977 handgun slayings of Daniel Hassler and Raymond T. Atkins, both 20 years of age. THE VERDICTS WERE read by Put nam Circuit Court Judge William C. Vaughn at 3:05 a.m. Friday before approximately 25 spectators, most either relatives of one of the victims or members of Hubbard’s family. The jury received the case at 6 p.m. Thursday. Following closing arguments by Putnam County Prosecutor Del Brewer, and Hubbard’s attorney, Chris Carisch of Indianapolis, Judge Vaughn read the panel its final instructions. Members were then escorted from the courtroom by court bailiff Glenda Evens. Deliberations continued with few breaks for jurors until 2:10 am. Friday, when Judge Vaughn summoned the panel to the courtroom. Vaughn was prepared to

BarmerGraphic Putnam County, Friday, January 28, 1983, Vol. 13 No. 121 20 Cents

in the blacksmith shop when he was discovered missing from the lineup. Prior to taking Mrs. Kellum hostage, he apparently burglarized a vacated Putnam ville residence (first erroneously reported by authorities as the Bob Blue residence) and stole a shotgun. Correll then reportedly kicked in the front door of the Kellum residence Thursday morning and ordered the victim to accompany him to Indianapolis in her vehicle. Correll also reportedly ordered Kellum to purchase gasoline on her credit card at a Shell station located at the intersection of 40th Street and Lafayette Road, Indianapolis. He later ordered her to drive to the McDonald’s parking lot in the 7200 block of Pendleton Pike, where she was placed in the vehicle’s trunk, state police said. Correll apparently then drove to the James M. Prater residence, 7210 Pendleton Pike, where he asked Prater for additional clothes, a license plate and whether Prater wanted to purchase the stolen gun. It was while at this residence, that Mrs. Kellum reportedly escaped from the trunk and ran to the American Inn, 7262 Pendleton Pike where she contacted the Lawrence Police Department. CORRELL, WHO WAS serving a 10-year sentence for burglary and robbery, began his incarceration at the facility in June 1982 after he received the concurrent sentence May 20, 1982 in Henry Circuit Court for the felony convictions.

Grads fill DPU Board of Trustees' vacancies

DePauw University’s board of trustees has elected an interim chairman who will serve three months as well as a permanent chairman and vice chairman who will take office in April. John W. Fisher, chairman of the board of the Muncie-based Ball Corp., will complete the three months remaining on the three-year term of the late J. Stanford Smith. Smith died earlier this month. FISHER, WHO WAS completing his three-year term as the board’s vice chairman, assumed Smith’s duties as interim board chairman this week. Eugene L. Delves, an executive and partner in the accounting firm of Arthur Andersen & Co., and newly elected RCA Corp. president Robert R. Frederick will become the board’s new permanent officers. Delves will be chairman of the board and Frederick will become vice chairman following the board’s April meeting in Greencastle. They will serve three-year terms. Delves lives in Chicago and Frederick lives in New Canaan, Conn. Both are graduates of the university. FISHER HAS BEEN a member of the DePauw board since 1966 and has been associated with Ball Corp. since joining the firm in 1941 as a trainee. He holds degrees from the University of Tennessee

sequester the jury at a Putnam County motel, if members related they were not close to reaching a verdict. BUT THE JURY FOREMAN indicated to Judge Vaughn that the panel was indeed close to reaching a decision. With that, Judge Vaughn sent members back to the deliberation room. The jury returned almost an hour later with its verdicts. Security was tight in the old Putnam Circuit Courtroom where the trial began on Tuesday. Officers were present throughout the night at the Putnam County Courthouse via the Indiana State Police, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department and the Greencastle Police Department. As Judge Vaughn read the first not guilty verdict on one of two murder charges, Hubbard’s family hugged each other, clapping for the decision made by jurors. GREENCASTLE ATTORNEY Stephen Pierson, who served as co-counsel with Carisch, reacted immediately by hugging his client as Carisch placed a supportive hand on Hubbard’s shoulder. Judge Vaughn continued by reading not guilty verdicts on the second murder charge and the two robbery charges which

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Man admits to Merle Norman break-in

By BARBARA CARHART Banner-Graphic Staff Writer Charges are pending against a 27-year-old Bainbridge man who was questioned by the Greencastle City Police Thursday evening in connection with last week’s burglary of Merle Norman Cosmetics and Beauty Boutique, 25 W. Washington St. Police are not releasing the subject’s name, although at this time officials do not believe the suspect is responsible for the six residential break-ins - three on Highfall Avenue, two on Seminary St. and one on Arlington - two weeks ago. THE SUBJECT WAS released on his own recognizance Thursday night.

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EUGENE L. DELVES To be new chairman

and the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. He has been deeply involved in this state’s higher education system. He was instrumental in developing legislation which created the Commission for Higher Education for the State of Indiana and he served two Hoosier governors as a member of the state’s Commission on Higher

had also been filed against Hubbard. The judge thanked jurors for the time and effort put into the case and released Hubbard. | The defense rested its case at 2:15 p.m. Thursday after calling five witnesses to the stand that day, one of which was Hubbard. Hubbard was an Indianapolis resident at the time of the murders, but now resides at Greenfield. He reinforced earlier testimony which revealed he had attended a birthday party for his sister at Greenfield the day prior to the murders. ON JULY 24, 1977, WHEN Hassler and Atkins were mortally wounded, Hubbard testified he had spent the entire day at home with his family, which included his former wife, Margaret. The Hubbards were remodeling their Indianapolis home at the time and spent that particular Sunday making repairs. Carisch questioned Hubbard’s relationship with Kenny Burton, a current Indiana State Farm inmate who told State Police last summer he was a witness to Hubbard shooting Hassler and Atkins. Although he knew Burton “vaguely” in 1967, Hubbard said the two became “very

Breaking and entering and theft charges are expected to be filed, pending consultation with the Putnam County prosecutor’s office Friday. Officer Ernie Newby told the BannerGraphic Friday morning that the subject did confess to the Merle Norman burglary and said he acted alone. All of the stolen items - jewelry, calculators and some cosmetics -- except for the SSO taken from the cash box, were recovered with the subject’s assistance. “We did go with him to recover the items,” Newby explained. “The property was stored in Bainbridge and west of town near the Big Four Arch.”

JOHNW. FISHER Assumes Smith's duties

Education. He also serves on the Board of Governors of the Associated Colleges of Indiana. Fisher was chairman of the board of the National Association of Manufacturers, the voice of American industry, and he is a director of several corporations and organizations, both public and private. Two of Fisher’s sons graduated from DePauw.

good friends” in 1974. Hubbard testified he never owned any firearms and it was Burton who “carried a gun everywhere he went.” HUBBARD SAID BURTON phoned him during the first part of 1982, saying he needed a large amount of money to post bond following an arrest. Burton inquired if Hubbard knew of anyone who would put their home up as bond for his release, Hubbard told jurors. Hubbard told Burton he knew of no such individual, and although Hubbard had sufficient funds to aid Burton, he did not do so. “When I (Hubbard) got out of prison in 1981 (for an armed robbery offense), I tried to get rid of my old acquaintances and straighten out my life,” he told jurors. Carisch asked Hubbard if he was aware of Paul Heady stealing money from Atkins just before the murders. Heady resided with Hubbard and his family at Indianapolis in 1977. Burton also resided there. Hubbard said he never saw money being taken from Atkins, but added he was told by Burton and Heady that Atkins had been a victim of theft by Heady. “DID YOU HAVE anything to do with

ALTHOUGH THE SUBJECT confessed to the Merle Norman break-in, he repeatedly denied involvement in the other burglaries when interrogated on the incidents by investigating officer Sgt. Norman Varvel. Newby said the subject was apprehended at 6:30 p.m. Thursday after the officer had received a tip from a citizen who had seen a vehicle suspiciously leaving a parking lot on the morning of the Merle Norman burglary. Meanwhile police are still pursuing leads in the other burglaries. “It’s (the rash of house burglaries) still our number one priority,” Newby said.

Delves is a 1950 graduate of DePauw where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and a Rector Scholar. He joined Arthur Andersen in 1951 after earning an M.B.A. from Northwestern University. NOW A PARTNER AND director of Arthur Andersen’s Management Information Counsulting Division at its Chicago headquarters, Delves was a pioneer in the application of computers to business. He has served the university as president of its national alumni association and was a member of the institution’s Commission on Education in the Future. He is a member of numerous Chicago civic and religious boards and won his alma mater’s Alumni Citation in 1973. His wife and two of his children are graduates of the university. Frederick was recently named president and chief executive officer of RCA Corporation after more than 30 years with the General Electric Corp. A native of Elkhart, Frederick graduated from the University in 1948 with a degree in economics. At GE he was involved in operations, planning, sales, and marketing and was the corporation’s top corporate planner from 1977-79. FREDERICK HAS BEEN a member of the DePauw’s board of trustees since 1974. His wife is also a graduate of the university.

the rip-off of Raymond Atkins?” Carisch asked his client. “No,” Hubbard answered. Later, the defendant said he did not know the other murder victim, Hassler. “You heard Kenny Burton testify here in court that you killed two men in Putnam County on July 24, 1977. Is that true?’ Carisch asked Hubbard. “No, sir. It’s not,” the defendant answered. “I’ve never hurt nobody in my life, nevertheless, murder them,” Hubbard said. “I’ve never killed anyone. I’ll put it that way.” “YOU’VE NEVER HURT anyone with a gun or knife?” Carisch continued. “No sir, I have not,” Hubbard said. During cross-exam, Prosecutor Brewer asked, “You heard your counsel ask if you have ever hurt anyone in your life. Was that response based on your statement you have never hurt anyone with a knife or gun?” “That’s what it was based on, yes,” Hubbard responded. Speaking of the charges against Hubbard, Brewer said, “You’re looking at the possibility of four life sentences. You don’t Col. 3, back page, this section

Monday has officially been proclaimed Joe Allen Day in Greencastle, thanks to a proclamation signed by Greencastle Mayor Jane Harlan (center) in the presence of Chamber of Commerce Executive Secretary Ruth Ann Newnum (holding a copy of the DePauw Alumnus magazine with astronaut Allen on the cover) and DPU Public Relations Director Pat Aikman. Allen, who one of four astronauts aboard the fifth flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia last November, will return to campus Monday for a full agenda of activities, including a noon luncheon and 7:30 p.m. public convocation. (Ban-ner-Graphic photo).

Customer sues Kroger for $27,000 I A lawsuit'against the Kroger Co. requesting $2,092.52 in special medical expenses and an additional $25,000 in damages, has been filed in Putnam Circuit Court. “Negligence of the defendants and its servants” is alleged by the plaintiff, Edith McGuire, after she reportedly fell in Kroger’s Greencastle store on Jan. 18, 1982, while passing the produce counter. McGUIRE ALLEGES that she suffered from a right femoral hernia and other injuries after she slipped and fell on the floor adjacent to the produce area. Specifically, McGuire alleges in the suit that the “proximate cause of her injuries” was negligence of the Kroger Co. for allowing grapes and other produce to accumulate in an area designated as a passageway for shoppers. A subsequent operation, medical care of two attending physicians plus the cost of emergency transport, radiological services and pharmaceuticals amounted to the $2,092.52 claim. In addition, the plaintiff alleges in the suit that she experienced “pain and suffering” as a result of the operation and during her convalescence, resulting in the claim of $25,000 for damages. A SUMMONS OUTLINING the complaint for damages was sent via certified mail to CT Corp. System. Resident Agent, The Kroger Co., Indianapolis. Kroger must respond within 23 days of receipt of the complaint or the judgment will automatically be made in the plaintiff’s favor.