Jury gives Williamsburg man five years in prison for killing uncle in hunting accident

After the two-day trial of William "Willie" Sulfridge ended early Friday evening with a jury recommending a five-year prison sentence in connection with the death of his uncle, Russell Meadors, both sides could readily agree on one thing — the five-year wait to bring the case to justice had been the worst part of it.

"You always worry. It’s in the back of your mind that something is going to get overlooked or bypassed the longer it gets," said the victim’s brother, Eugene Meadors. "When you finally get here and get it over with then it is like a big sigh of relief to you."
Defense attorney John Blevins said the wait to get the case resolved was also difficult on his client, who could have received up to 20 years in prison when the trial started.

"When you have something like this holding over your head it is very hard living your life knowing that there is potentially 20 years," Blevins said.

"He has a son now, who is a young boy in elementary school. To realize you could spend the rest of their childhood in prison and that is how you spent the last five years that is a hard way to spend your life."

Blevins noted that the delay wasn’t the fault of Sulfridge or the prosecution but simply a series of unfortunate circumstances that kept happening outside of either of their control.

"You certainly hope the wheels of justice in normal cases move faster than this," Blevins added.

Sulfridge was initially indicted on July 12, 2010, for second-degree manslaughter, two counts of tampering with physical evidence and for being a felon in possession of a firearm in connection with the April 7, 2010 shooting of Russell Meadors, 62.
Among other delays, two of Sulfridge’s former lawyers died while the case was pending.

Facts largely undisputed

On Aug. 17, 2012, Sulfridge pled guilty to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. On March 15, 2013, Circuit Judge Paul Winchester sentenced Sulfridge to three years in prison for the offense, which was the agreed upon sentence in the plea deal.

Sulfridge served six months in prison and was released on parole.

The two-day trial started last Wednesday and then continued Friday morning.

For the most part neither side disputed most of the facts in the case.

Russell Meadors’ was Sulfridge’s uncle and the two were fairly close.

Meadors purchased a backhoe and a trailer so that Sulfridge would have a means of making a living.

The day before the shooting, the two had decided to go turkey hunting together near a site where they had been working even though turkey hunting season didn’t official begin for another few days. At the time Meadors was running for constable.

Meadors went to Sulfridge’s home about 6:30 a.m. and the two drank coffee until his daughter got on the school bus.

Then Meadors drove six or seven minutes to their turkey hunting location off River Road in a remote area.

Sulfridge was a convicted felon at the time and legally wasn’t allowed to own or handle a firearm.

The two separated and began hunting in different locations in the woods.

After the shooting Sulfridge initially lied to police about what happened and claimed that he didn’t have a gun that day and was calling turkeys to help his uncle.

After police began looking at the evidence Sulfridge’s story quickly fell apart. He soon told police what really happened.

After he and his uncle separated, Sulfridge admitting that he was hunting with a shotgun. He heard what he thought were turkeys in the trees moving closer towards him.

"When he thought it was right in front of him he took the shot," retired Whitley County Sheriff’s Detective Chuck Davis testified.
Sulfridge admitted that he didn’t see what he was shooting at.

After a couple of minutes, Sulfridge got up and started looking to see if he could find the dead turkey, but instead discovered that he had shot his uncle.

"When I started that way there was Uncle Russell laying on the ground," Meadors can be heard telling police during a taped interview, which was played for the jury.

"I just seen the side of him. Russell was laying face down on his belly."

An autopsy report from the Kentucky Medical Examiner’s indicated that Meadors’ died from the gunshot wound just a few short minutes after he was shot.

Sulfridge told police that he panicked and fired his uncle’s gun in the air in an attempt to make it look like he accidentally shot himself in the back and shoulder.

Then he tossed his own gun into some high grass near a farm pond in an attempt to hide it.

"He said he was a convicted felon. He got scared and he wanted to make it look like an accident," Davis testified.

At the time of the shooting, Meadors was wearing all camouflage including a hat with camouflage mesh that covered his face. He was wearing no orange safety vest.

During the guilt or innocence phase of the trial, defense attorneys John Blevins and Brandon Baird called no witnesses in Sulfridge’s defense.

During closing arguments, Baird asked jurors to acquit his client on all charges.

The four-man, eight-woman jury deliberated for about one hour before convicting Sulfridge of reckless homicide and two counts of tampering with physical evidence.

The first tampering count dealt with Sulfridge firing his uncle’s gun in attempt to cover up the crime. The second count dealt with his attempt to dispose of his own firearm before calling 911.

During the sentencing phase of the trial, jurors learned that Sulfridge would be eligible for parole after serving 15 percent of his sentence, and that he had prior felony convictions for flagrant non-support, receiving stolen property and the possession of a firearm by a convicted felon charge, which was related to his uncle’s death.

They also learned that they could sentence Sulfridge to as much as five years in prison on each count or as little as one year in prison on each count.

They could also recommend that the sentences be served consecutively, which means one after the other, or concurrently, which means at the same time.

In other words, they could sentence Sulfridge to as little as one year in prison or as much as 15 years total.

Sulfridge’s former parole officer, Billy Stephens, testified that while he was on parole, Sulfridge was a model parolee.

Stephens also testified that there was no guarantee that Sulfridge would get parole after serving 15 percent of his sentence in this case.

Willie Sulfridge also testified for about five minutes during his sentencing hearing.

"I can’t bring him back. If I could I would," Sulfridge testified.

Sulfridge said that after he realized his uncle was dead, "I panicked. I absolutely panicked."

Sulfridge told jurors that his uncle loved him like a son.

"Only thing I’m saying when it’s family, it shouldn’t be run together," Sulfridge said urging jurors to run his sentence on each charge concurrently.

After about 90 minutes of deliberations, jurors recommended that Sulfridge serve three years in prison for reckless homicide.

They also recommended a five-year prison sentence in connection with Sulfridge firing his uncle’s gun in an attempt to cover up the crime, and a three-year prison sentence for trying to hide his own weapon.

The jury also recommended that Sulfridge’s sentences be served concurrently, or at the same time, for a total effective sentence of five years in prison.

Special Judge Gayle House scheduled formal sentencing in the case for May 1. Under state law, a judge can reduce a jury’s recommended sentence but can’t increase it.

House also ordered that Sulfridge be taken into custody pending his sentencing hearing.

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"I am very happy to have it over with," said Eugene Meadors after the sentencing concluded early Friday evening. "As far as the sentence I am not really happy about that, but I will abide by it. I’m not really satisfied with it but that was the jury’s decision. I am glad to have it over with."

Meadors said the trial offered his family closure.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Allen Trimble said he wasn’t surprised by the verdict or the sentence. During closing arguments he had asked jurors to sentence Sulfridge to the maximum sentence, which was 15 years behind bars.

"Sentencing is really something that is the province of the jury. The most I can do is argue what I believe is appropriate but I am satisfied when the jury sets the sentence," Trimble said.

"I don’t think there was any evidence that he intended to shoot him but the wantonness of shooting at something you didn’t see and killing another human is something that needs to be punished and I think the jury did that."

Trimble said the difference between second-degree manslaughter and reckless homicide in this case was perceived danger.

"If you perceive a danger and have a gross disregard for it then that is second-degree manslaughter. If it is just a gross deviation from what a reasonable man should do then that is reckless homicide," Trimble said.

Blevins said he feels like the jury in this case paid attention to the facts and did its job.

"You always hope for the best for your client. We certainly feel that Willie had a case where he could have walked out of here today," Blevins said Friday. "With that said, we always knew a conviction on reckless homicide was a possibility.

"We came out well ahead of any written offers we ever received from the commonwealth. Clearly the jury disagreed with the commonwealth, which shows us we were right to bring this to trial."

Blevins said he’s not sure what swayed the jury and why they gave different sentences on different counts.

"The fact that they ran it concurrent shows that ultimately they felt five years was what the fair sentence was," Blevins said. "We hoped he would walk out of here but realistically I think it was a fair verdict."

Blevins said that there hadn’t been any discussion yet on whether his client will appeal the conviction.