WTFM Local News

THE MURDER TRIAL OF A KINGSPORT MAN ACCUSED OF STABBING ANOTHER MAN TO DEATH HAS BEEN RESET. 21 YEAR OLD DENNIS LEE ROSE IS CHARGED WITH FIRST DEGREE MURDER IN THE NOVEMBER 2007 STABBING DEATH OF 20 YEAR OLD DAVID NOEL DORTON. DORTON WAS STABBED IN THE ABDOMEN AT A HOME ON BLOOMINGDALE PIKE FOLLOWING AN ALTERCATION WITH ROSE EARLIER AT AN APARTMENT COMPLEX. ROSE REMAINS IN THE SULLIVAN COUNTY CORRECTIONAL FACILITY ON A 250-THOUSAND DOLLARS BOND. THE CASE HAD TO BE RESET DUE TO SCHEDULING CONFLICTS. THE NEW TRIAL DATE IS SCHEDULED IN FEBRUARY OF NEXT YEAR.

Virginia State Police say they will be on the lookout for seat belt scofflaws from Monday through June 1. The enforcement effort is part of a national “Click It or Ticket” campaign. Troopers patrolling Virginia highways will be on heightened alert for drivers and front seat passengers who fail to buckle up as required by law. However, police won’t be able to pull over motorists for a seat belt violation alone. Under state law, only motorists who are stopped for other violations can be ticketed for failing to buckle up.

TWO JOHNSON CITY RESIDENTS ARE IN TROUBLE WITH THE LAW AFTER POLICE SEIZED A GOOD QUANITY OF MARIJUANA, DRUG PARPHERNALIA, AND A SMALL AMOUNT OF CASH AT A HOME THE TWO SHARED. WASHINGTON COUNTY INVESTIGATORS ALONG WITH DRUG ENFORCEMENT AGENTS ENTERED THE RESIDENCE ON ORLEANS STREET WHERE THEY DISCOVERD OVER TWO POUNDS OF MARIJUANA WITH A STREET VALUE OF APPROXIMATELY 25-HUNDRED DOLLARS, DIGITAL SCALES, AND BAGGIES. 25 YEAR OLD JUSTIN BENNETT AND 21 YEAR OLD SAMANTHA DEPRIEST WERE CHARGED WITH POSSESSION OF SCHEDULE SIX DRUGS FOR RESALE AND POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA. BOND FOR THE TWO SUSPECTS WAS SET AT 6-THOUSAND DOLLARS EACH. THEY WILL BOTH BE ARRAIGNED IN SESSIONS COURT IN JOHNSON CITY.

THE TENNESSEE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION IS HOPING TO IDENTIFY THE REMAINS OF A WOMAN FOUND IN GREENE COUNTY NEARLY 23 YEARS AGO. THE UT FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY CENTER IN KNOXVILLE HAS RELEASED A RECONSTRUCTION OF WHAT SHE MAY HAVE LOOKED LIKE IN 1985. THE BODY OF THE NUDE FEMALE WAS LOCATED BY A LOCAL FISHERMAN AT JERALDSTOWN ROAD, EXIT 44 OFF INTERSTATE 81. DECOMPOSITION OF HER BODY INDICATED SHE HAD BEEN THERE ABOUT THREE TO SIX WEEKS WHEN SHE WAS DISCOVERED. THE CAUSE OF DEATH IS BELIEVED TO BE BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA TO THE HEAD. JANE DOE IS A WHITE FEMALE, FIVE FIVE, BETWEEN 15 AND 17 YEARS OLD, WEIGHING ABOUT 140 POUNDS WITH SHOULDER LENGTH WAVY LIGHT BROWN TO DARK BLONDE HAIR. HER NAILS WERE PAINTED WITH A FROSTED SILVERY PINK NAIL POILISH. THE AUTOPSY REVEALED SHE HAD RECENTLY LOST A PREGNANCY DURING THE FIRST TRIMESTER. IF ANYONE HAS INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS PERSON, THEY SHOULD CONTACT THE TBI.

THE SEARCH IS CONTINUING FOR A NEW DIRECTOR OF SCHOOLS FOR SULLIVAN COUNTY. THE BOARD OF EDUCATION INTERVIEWED ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF SCHOOLS JACK BARNES YESTERDAY. BARNES IS THE SECOND INTERNAL CANDIDATE CONSIDERED FOR THE POSITION. THE CURRENT DIRECTOR OF SCHOOLS, GLEN ARWOOD, IS SET TO RETIRE EFFECTIVE JUNE 30TH.

THE MURDER TRIAL OF A KINGSPORT MAN ACCUSED OF STABBING ANOTHER MAN TO DEATH HAS BEEN RESET. 21 YEAR OLD DENNIS LEE ROSE IS CHARGED WITH FIRST DEGREE MURDER IN THE NOVEMBER 2007 STABBING DEATH OF 20 YEAR OLD DAVID NOEL DORTON. DORTON WAS STABBED IN THE ABDOMEN AT A HOME ON BLOOMINGDALE PIKE FOLLOWING AN ALTERCATION WITH ROSE EARLIER AT AN APARTMENT COMPLEX. ROSE REMAINS IN THE SULLIVAN COUNTY CORRECTIONAL FACILITY ON A 250-THOUSAND DOLLARS BOND. THE CASE HAD TO BE RESET DUE TO SCHEDULING CONFLICTS. THE NEW TRIAL DATE IS SCHEDULED IN FEBRUARY OF NEXT YEAR.

MORE CHARGES HAVE BEEN FILED AGAINST A BUCHANAN COUNTY VIRGINIA MAN ACCUSED OF TRYING TO DEVELOP CHILD PORNOGRAPHY PICTURES AT A TAZEWELL COUNTY RETAIL STORE. 33 YEAR OLD ADAM STEWART YOUNG IS NOW CHARGED WITH 11 COUNTS OF POSSESSION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY. HE ALLEGEDLY ATTEMPTED TO DEVELOP THE ILLEGAL PHOTOS AT A WAL-MART THIS WEEK. POLICE CONDUCTED A SEARCH OF YOUNG’S HOME AND CONFISCATED A COMPUTER, PHOTOS, VIDEOS, COMPUTER DISKS AND OTHER MATERIALS. THE INVESTIGATION IS ONGOING AND ADDITIONAL CHARGES ARE PENDING. YOUNG’S SET TO BE ARRAIGNED IN BUCHANAN COUNTY JUVENILE DOMESTIC RELATIONS COURT ON TUESDAY.

The Tennessee Court of the Judiciary has levied four charges of judicial misconduct against Cocke County General Sessions Judge John Bell. The charges follow a state investigation into the relationship between Bell and East Tennessee Probation Inc., a private probation company incorporated by Bell’s brother-in-law, Tommy Large. If found guilty of judicial misconduct, Bell could face censure, recommendation for impeachment or removal from office. Investigators allege Bell sentenced defendants to probation terms that forced them to pay fees to Large’s company. The Court of the Judiciary also found that Bell was disqualified from hearing misdemeanor probation cases a year ago, but continued to do so. Bell said he has followed the law and done nothing improper or unethical.

A northeast Tennessee woman said her adult son burned down her mobile home after she scolded him for not going to work. Sue Barlow told the Elizabethton Star her son, Coleman Barlow, had not gone to work in two days when she insisted he report to his job Tuesday night. Barlow said the 34-year-old man started breaking things in the trailer and became livid when she told him she had called the Carter County Sheriff’s Office. Sue Barlow said her son reached in through a bedroom window and used a cigarette lighter to ignite the curtains. She said her son then ran into the woods before police arrived. The trailer was a total loss and Barlow said she has nothing left.

A MOSHEIM MAN CAPTURED 46 YEARS AFTER HE ESCAPED FROM A TENNESSEE PRISON HAS BEEN GRANTED PAROLE. LEROY ALBERT MORGAN ESCAPED FROM THE TENNESSEE STATE PENITENTIARY IN 1962 WITH TWO OTHER INAMATES. PAROLE WAS GRANTED AFTER THE DAVIDSON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHOSE NOT TO PROSECUTE MORGAN ON ESCAPE CHARGES, DUE TO HIS AGE AND HIS CLEAN RECORD SINCE THE ESCAPE. MORGAN WILL BE ON PAROLE UNTIL MAY OF NEXT YEAR.