Whitley County jurors will decide who Williamsburg man’s killer was later this week

Who is telling the truth? It’s a question a Whitley County Circuit Court Jury will have to decide later this week in the trial of two Tennessee women, who are accused in the killing of a Williamsburg man in 2004.
Both Evelyn Ball and Loretta Evans tell a different story as to what happened the day of May 11, 2004, when Edgar Perkins was killed at his home.
Evans claims Ball, who is facing a possible death sentence if convicted, was with her at Perkins residence that day, and that Ball was the one who hit Perkins in the head with a wine bottle and then strangled him to death before taking his money.
Ball claims that Evans, who struck a deal with prosecutors to testify in exchange that they not to seek the death penalty against her if she is convicted, is trying to frame her and that witnesses will say she wasn’t even in Kentucky when the killing occurred.
Prosecutors are asking the jury to convict both women.
On June 14, 2004, the Whitley County Grand Jury indicted Ball of Duff, Tenn., for capital murder in Perkins killing, and Evans of Jellico, for criminal complicity to commit murder in Perkins death.
Both Evans and Ball were also indicted for first-degree robbery for allegedly using physical force on Perkins in order to accomplish a theft, according to their indictments.

Opening statements begin
Opening statements began Tuesday morning in their joint trial after attorneys for both sides spent two days last week interviewing perspective jurors. 14 jurors will hear the case, but two will serve as alternates.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Allen Trimble told the jury that most of the evidence in the trial, which is expected to last until Friday or even Saturday, will be about three people, Perkins, Ball, and Evans.
All sides appear to agree on a few basic facts.
At the time of the killings, Perkins, 76, was retired from an engineering firm in California, and was living in Williamsburg. Ball, 35, was unemployed, living in an apartment in Jellico, and trying to get disability.
Evans, 33, was also unemployed and drawing disability. She lived in the apartment with Ball while waiting to move into an apartment in Lafollette, and was helping pay the rent and groceries.
Perkins caller ID indicated he received a call from someone at Evans and Ball’s Jellico apartment about 1:30 p.m. on May 11, 2004, and that his body was found laying on his floor before dawn the next morning.
Trimble noted that the state medical examiner’s office would testify that Perkins was strangled to death.
What happened between the time of the call to Perkins residence and when his body was found depends largely on which defendant you ask.

Evans defense
Ron Findell, one of Evans’ attorneys, told the jury in his opening statement that Evans was present when Perkins was struck in the head with a wine bottle by Ball, who then strangled him.
Findell said Evans had met Perkins about two weeks before this at Buckner’s Restaurant in Jellico. The restaurant has since moved to Corbin, but featured a sports bar in half the building and a restaurant in the other half.
He said Evans liked Perkins and was “very, very sweet on him.”
Findell said Evans will testify that Ball wanted to go over to Perkins home with her, and that the three sat around and drank for two to three hours on the afternoon of May 11, before the killing, which was not preplanned.
Evans will also testify that at some point Perkins made a remark, which Ball took badly, and that she then struck him with a wine bottle before she straddled him, and started choking him, Findell said.
Evans tried to intervene, but Ball pushed her to the floor, and then Evans ran to the car and waited for Ball to come outside, Findell said.
Findell claims Ball threatened to have Evans “taken care of” if she told anyone.
“She was just totally scared and did not know what to do,” he said.
Findell said Evans didn’t actually see the robbery take place, but that Ball told her the robbery would throw people off track and make them think that a man had done it.
He said Evans basically hid out until Ball checked herself into a mental hospital days later. Evans then turned herself in to police, and voluntarily gave them a statement. Findell conceded that Evans “made mistakes afterwards.”

Ball’s defense
“Evelyn Ball is innocent, and the evidence of this case will show that she is innocent,” said Brenda Popplewell, one of her attorneys, during opening statements.
She told jurors that Ball was 14 miles away in Jellico when Perkins was killed, and that police had this information, but “kept coming” for Ball.
Popplewell noted that a DNA analysis of three cigarette butts found at Perkins home indicate that Evans, not Ball, had been at the residence.
“She (Evans) didn’t call the police because she is the one who killed Mr. Perkins,” Popplewell told jurors.
When Jellico police initially went to question Evans about the case, she told them she was wanting to leave, and that she had a tanning bed appointment to go to, which was confirmed by a call she made while at the tanning bed to someone else, Popplewell noted.
Popplewell said Evans hid from police for six days before turning herself in, and “came up with a story” to frame Ball.
On May 12, Popplewell said Ball learned police wanted to question her, and had someone drive her to the police station. At one point in the interview, she told police to charge her or let her go, and that not long after that they released her.
Soon after that, Ball checked herself into a mental health treatment facility for treatment, which she had planned to do for several days before the killing. Police knew where she was while in the hospital, and were also told when she would be released, Popplewell said.
Popplewell said Evans statements to police don’t match up with the evidence. She told them the wine bottle, which struck Perkins, had shattered, yet police found no shards of glass at the scene. She told police Ball was covered in blood after the slaying, but that no blood was found in the vehicle that both Evans and Ball used, and none of Perkins blood was found inside their Jellico apartment.
Prosecutors claim Ball threw away the blood stained clothes that Evans and Ball were wearing during the killing.
Popplewell told jurors that Evans made a deal with prosecutors that not only precludes her from facing a possible death sentence, but also keeps her from facing either life in prison without parole, or life in prison without parole for 25 years.
If convicted, Evans could still face a life sentence, but would be eligible for parole in about 20 years.
“The proof in this case will be Evelyn Ball did not commit this crime,” Popplewell said at the end of her closing statement. “The proof will give you the power to find her not guilty, to stop this, and to send her home to her family.”

Motive robbery?
According to witnesses, Perkins carried a large amount of cash on him.
Perkins body was found the morning of May 12, 2004, by his brother, Phillip Perkins, who lived less than 200 yards away from him.
Phillip Perkins testified that he noticed Edgar hadn’t picked up the previous day’s mail off his porch where he usually left it for him.
He woke up before dark that morning, and drove over to Edgar’s home to find his door wide open.
“I immediately knew something was wrong,” Phillip testified.
He went inside the residence and found that Edgar’s bed hadn’t been slept in, and his body laying on the floor, which he may have tripped over in the dark room.
Phillip Perkins testified his brother normally carried a lot of cash on him, and that they were getting ready to head to Baltimore for the Preakness. He said Edgar liked to pay cash for things.
He said his brother’s empty wallet was found on the floor, and that his pants pockets had been turned inside out when the body was found.
“Then I began saying, he has been murdered. He has been robbed,” Phillip Perkins testified.
Evans was seen at Buckner’s Restaurant in Jellico having dinner with Perkins in late April or early May, according to Valerie Smith, who testified Tuesday morning. She spoke with Perkins privately when Evans went to the restroom.
“I told him, ‘You don’t want to be here with her,'” said Smith, who had formerly dated Perkins nephew. “I told him I do know her, and you don’t need to be here with her.”
She also testified that Perkins had a lot of money visible in his wallet, although she didn’t know how much, just that it was too much to have out visible at a bar.
Over 100 witnesses have been subpoenaed and could testify during the trial. Prosecutors are expected to wrap up their case late Wednesday.