Shooting suspect being held on $1 million bond

Keith Mason, 40, is accused of shooting his former father-in-law last Friday.

An Oak Ridge man is being held in the Whitley County Detention Center in lieu of a $1 million cash bond for shooting his former stepfather to death early Friday afternoon on a rural Whitley County Road.

Whitley County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy K.Y. Fuson charged Keith Edward Mason, 40, with second-degree manslaughter Friday in connection with the death of his former father-in-law Robert Wayne Vanover, 60, of Corbin.

During Mason’s arraignment Monday morning, District Judge Cathy Prewitt rejected a request by Mason’s attorney, B.J. Foley, to reduce his client’s bond from $50,000 cash to a $50,000 property bond. Instead, Prewitt raised the bond to $1 million cash.

"It would stand against everything I stand for to let an alleged murderer out on a property bond," she told Foley during the hearing.

The shooting happened about 12:30 p.m. Friday on Ayers Road, which is located about 17 miles west of Williamsburg only a few hundred yards from the Tennessee state line.

Whitley County Sheriff Colan Harrell said that the two men knew each other prior to the shooting, and coincidentally were at the scene of the shooting, which was in the road. There was no indication it was a planned meeting.

Family members told police Vanover was in the area taking some groceries to his son, who was staying in the area.

Mason was apparently there looking at some property when Vanover drove by, left and then drove back. Harrell said Vanover got out of the vehicle, told Mason to leave and then struck him, according to statement from Vanover and a woman, who was at the scene there with him.

Mason then shot Vanover with a .380 pistol striking him three times, hitting him once in the face, once in the chest and once in the lower part of the body, Harrell noted.

After that Vanover left the scene to call 911 because he didn’t have any cell phone service, and told 911 operators that he had shot someone and thought that they were dead.

Harrell said that there were problems between Vanover and Mason prior to the shooting.

Vanover’s aunt, Shirley Hudson, told police that there had been long standing problems between some members of the two families since the divorce.

Harrell said authorities consulted with Commonwealth’s Attorney Allen Trimble before deciding on the charges.

Fuson filed the manslaughter charge about four hours after the shooting.

Fuson, Lt. Bill Riley and Deputy Jeff Anderson are continuing the investigation, and were assisted at the scene by the Campbell County, Tennessee Sheriff’s Department, the Whitley County Coroner’s Office and Whitley County EMS.

Harrell said he opted not to activate the recently reformed major crimes task force because this was a relatively simple case with a compact crime scene, and relatively few witnesses to speak with.

Deputies had the scene cleared in about two hours.

Foley entered a not guilty plea on Mason’s behalf during his arraignment Monday, which lasted about three minutes.
Mason answered only a few questions asked directly by the judge during his video arraignment from the jail Monday, and spoke in a raspy voice.

In asking for a reduced property bond, Foley noted that his client had a low risk assessment, no criminal history, and that he suffered from a chronic disease, which affects muscles and the nervous system.

Prewitt scheduled a Jan. 30 preliminary hearing in the case.