Feds indict trio of Corbin residents, Jellico woman for kidnapping

A federal grand jury in London has indicted three Corbin residents and a Jellico woman for kidnapping in a 2018 case that also involved two pipe bombs and the death of a Corbin man by an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

On Thursday, the federal grand jury indicted Douglas M. Edmonson, 36, Bryanna Soper, 25, and Erik Peace, 32, all of Corbin, and Dallas Anna Chain Perkins, 25, of Jellico, for kidnapping. Each faces up to life in prison if convicted, according to a press release from the United States Attorney’s Office and court documents.

The kidnapping allegedly occurred on Aug. 10, 2018, when the defendants used a Facebook account to lure the unidentified victim to a prearranged meeting place in order to assault her. The defendants then allegedly transported the victim across state lines during the course of the kidnapping and held her against her will into the next day, according to the release.

The alleged motive of the kidnapping involved the suspected theft of methamphetamine from one of the suspects, according to a court document.

The charges stem from a year-long investigation by the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Kentucky State Police (KSP) and the Williamsburg Police Department.

Explosive device found

The investigation began on Aug. 11, 2018, when Whitley County Coroner Andy Croley called ATF Special Agent Todd Tremaine to the scene of a death investigation where an explosive device was located in a bedroom of the residence, according to the affidavit.

Croley said last year that there were two active pipe bombs found at the scene where James King was found dead. This was at an acquaintance’s residence on Peggy Lane near Corbin. He said the death had apparently happened sometime earlier, and at some point after the shooting people at the residence got scared and called 911.

A KSP Hazardous Devices Unit rendered the destructive device safe.

The body of King, 19, was found in the living room at the residence deceased from a gunshot wound, but no gun was found inside the residence, Tremaine wrote in the affidavit.

KSP investigators were able to determine that King was most recently in the company of Douglas Edmonson, also known as Garp, Bryanna Soper, also known as Bree, Peace, Perkins and a fifth individual, whose name was redacted in the affidavit.

Victim kidnapped

KSP Detective Dackery Larkey received information that the kidnapping victim was inside the residence when King died on Aug. 10, 2018, and into the next day.

The victim told police that Edmonson accused her of stealing methamphetamine from him, and then messaged her through Facebook Messenger from an acquaintance, who wanted her to supply the acquaintance with methamphetamine, Tremaine wrote.

The victim agreed to meet the person through Facebook in Newcomb, Tennessee, south of Jellico, but when a vehicle approached her she noticed this was not the person she was supposed to meet.

Perkins and Soper allegedly exited the vehicle and forced the victim into the vehicle where Edmonson was armed with a firearm, the affidavit stated.

The victim was blindfolded in the back of the vehicle that Peace was driving. King was in the front passenger seat, and Perkins, Edmonson and Soper were in the backseat with the victim, according to the affidavit.

The victim told police she was taken to a residence and told to go inside. A rope was placed around her neck and she was taken into a back bedroom and was bound to a chair.

She also told police that every person in the residence, including Edmonson, Soper, Perkins, Peace and the unidentified person, snorted a line of methamphetamine off of her leg, the affidavit stated.

The victim was burned with a glass pipe, struck and kicked by the participants. The victim told police that she was tilted back in the chair after being struck three times in the face by Soper, and she thought a PVC pipe and barbed wire were inserted inside her person. Then the PVC pipe was removed so only the barbwire remained inside her, Tremaine wrote.

The victim was told she was going to die, and was accused by the people assaulting her of stealing methamphetamine. The victim overheard discussions about what the participants planned to do with her body after death occurred, according to the affidavit.

The victim was then taken from the back room and was placed on the couch in the living room with the barbwire still inserted.

Soper, Edmonson and Peace left the residence to pick up another person and the victim stayed there with King, Perkins and the unidentified person, the affidavit stated.

Shooting occurs

The kidnapping victim observed King put the revolver to his head and pull the trigger multiple times before the gun fired and struck him in the head. When this happened Perkins and the unidentified person went outside.

The victim then removed the tape that bound her hands and the sock from her month. She also removed the barbwire from herself and ran outside the residence, where she asked Perkins to help her, and she, Perkins and the unidentified person ran into a field, Tremaine wrote.

Perkins’ brother picked them up from the field they were hiding in and transported the victim back to Tennessee from Corbin. The victim was instructed to shower and was eventually released to a friend, according to the affidavit.

The victim documented her injured with a cell phone camera after the assault.

Kidnapping account verified

Tremaine took a recorded statement from Perkins, who admitted luring the victim with the Facebook Messenger message to sell methamphetamine to a third party.

Perkins also admitted to most other parts of the victim’s story, including pulling the victim into the backseat of the car with Soper, taking the victim to a residence in Whitley County, being in the room when King fatally shot himself, and fleeing the residence with the victim and the unidentified person, according to the affidavit.

Perkins also admitted to calling her brother, who gave her and the victim a ride back to Tennessee.

Soper admitted during an interview with police that Edmonson had accused the victim of stealing methamphetamine, and she was with Edmonson, Peace, Perkins and King in Tennessee when Perkins used Facebook to lure the victim to sell her methamphetamine, the affidavit stated.

Soper also admitted to police that she and Perkins forced the victim into the backseat of the car, and the victim was taken inside a residence and questioned by Edmonson about the missing methamphetamine.

Soper told police that she struck the victim about five times, and placed a sock in the victim’s mouth.

She told police that Perkins used the PVC pipe and barbwire, and placed them inside the victim, who urinated herself when the barbwire was inserted inside her, the affidavit stated.

Soper said the victim continued to lie about taking the methamphetamine and was hit as she continued to lie. Soper said that she struck the victim in the face with a hard piece of plastic several times, according to the affidavit.

Soper said she, Edmonson and Peace left the residence with the victim, Perkins, King and another male at the residence, and she wasn’t present when King died.

Peace admitted to police that he drove his car to Tennessee with the others, and he was of the understanding that the altercation with the victim was over drugs, according to the affidavit.

Peace said he knew the victim was going to be assaulted prior to picking her up, but he denied hurting her, and brought her a glass of water at one point while she was in a back room at the residence in Whitley County.

One portion of the affidavit is redacted, and was presumably taken from the person, whose name was redacted from the affidavit.

Tremaine also noted in the affidavit that he reviewed photographs of the victim’s injuries, which were taken after the assault and showed numerous facial injuries, including what appeared to be a broken nose, black eyes and open cuts. In addition, the photos showed cuts and large bruises to the victim’s legs, shoulders, thighs and calves.

Soper had her initial appearance on Sept. 4, 2019, in U.S. District Court.

Edmonson, Perkins, and Peace will have initial appearances scheduled.

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Stuart Lowrey, Special Agent in Charge ATF; Kentucky States Police Commissioner Richard Sanders; and Chief Wayne Bird, Williamsburg Police Department, jointly made the announcement.

The investigation was conducted by the ATF London Office, the Kentucky State Police, and Williamsburg Police Department.  The United States is represented by Assistant United States Attorney Jenna E. Reed.