Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Friday, December 30, 2016
(UNDATED) - April saw a man sentenced to 28 Years after he admitted to killing his wife and burning her body; a 14-year-old boy was named the Youth of the Year for Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence County; Halle Minton was crowned queen of the 48th Annual Dogwood Festival and two Lawrence County men and a Nashville resident received the National Lifetime Eagle Scout Award.
50-year-old Jeffrey Fulton of Paoli accepted a plea deal in March and admitted to killing his wife, 34-year-old Michelle Fulton, at the couple's home in 2014.
Fulton pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter, a Class A felony
.
Fulton was arrested in the fall of 2014 and charged with his wife's murder after police found her remains in a wooded area of the couple's home on Valeene Road.
Michelle Fulton had been missing since June 2014.
Fulton told police that one of the couple's children had dropped his wife off at the Jasper Kmart on June 18, 2014 and he hadn't heard from her since. But Michelle's cousin Margarita Weckman told police that she feared Fulton had harmed Michelle.
Orange County police and Indiana State Police detectives spoke with Fulton several times and he stuck to the story that Michelle had been dropped of at the Jasper Kmart and he had not heard from her since.
But officers uncovered text messages from the couple's children who had since been placed in foster care. In one of those text messages Fulton says, "if they prove the horrible thing that happened that (the child) would not see him for a long time."
Police then obtained a search warrant for the children's cell phone and discovered other messages warning the children not to tell authorities "anything about anything."
Then on September 24, 2014 police received a call from one of the children's foster parents saying the child wanted to speak to police.
The child told police that the story Fulton was telling police was a lie and that Jeffery and Mitchell had been fighting the day she went missing.
Police obtained a search warrant to search the Fulton home and grounds. In a bedroom, police found a letter addressed to one of the children that had information about digging up the child's mother's body and about him being sent to prison.
While searching the grounds, officers located human bones in a burn pit in the backyard and bones in an overgrown field behind the fire pit. Anthropologists were called to the scene and determined the bones were a human wrist and foot.
---
Justin Lemmons was named the Youth of the Year for Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence County. According to officials, 14-year-old Lemmons is a true example of an extraordinary young man recognized by BGCA for his leadership, service, academic excellence and dedication to live a healthy lifestyle.
The Youth of the Year program honors our nation's most awe-inspiring young people on their path to great futures and encourages all kids to lead, succeed and inspire.
Lemmons has been an active member of the Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence County for 6 years and is known around the Club as a competitive basketball player, humble sportsman, dedicated youth volunteer, and a role model to his peers. He maintains a 3.5 GPA, is active in BGCLC League basketball and dodgeball, regularly attends the Teen Center's after school programming and participates in Passport to Manhood, Triple Play, Power Hour, and volunteers his time in monthly community service projects.
Justin has never let the tragedies he has faced dull his joyful spirit. He uses the adverse experiences he has conquered as tools to educate his peers & as a personal catalyst to fuel his dreams of owning his own business one day.
---
Halle Minton was crowned queen of the 48th Annual Dogwood Festival. She was also named Miss Congeniality.
First runner up was Olivia Jenkins and second runner up Gracie Hughes.
Montana Sullivan, was crowned Jr. Miss Queen.
First runner up and named Jr. Miss Congeniality and Miss Fundraiser was MacKenzie Freed.
---
Two Lawrence County men and a Nashville resident received the National Lifetime Eagle Scout Award, at the Hoosier Trails Council's annual gala at The Seasons Conference Center in Nashville.
The National Eagle Scout Association Outstanding Eagle Award was first established in 2011. This is a prestigious recognition granted by the Council's NESA Committee to Eagle Scouts who have demonstrated outstanding achievement outside of Scouting at the local, state, or regional level. Unlike the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award which is a national award, the Outstanding Eagle Scout Award recognizes Eagle Scouts whose efforts have made a positive impact closer to home.
Receiving the award were David Jacobs, Gerald "Jerry" Hill of Lawrence County and Graham "Teed" Howard, of Nashville.
Any Eagle Scout who is a current resident within the Hoosier Trails Council area of responsibility, or who lives outside of Hoosier Trails but is currently registered as a scouter in Hoosier Trails is eligible.
The Hoosier Trails Council's first recipient of this award was Dale Seifker in 2014.
Beginning in 2015 the number of awards was changed to allow us to present two awards for the first 100 eagle scouts awarded in the prior year. For 2015 the award was presented to Dr. Denis Ward and Dr. Paul Cronen.
This year, because our council awarded more than 100 Eagle Scout ranks in 2015, our NESA Chapter was allocated three awards.
David Jacobs
David Jacobs earned his Eagle Scout award on August 2, 1943, as a member of Troop 36 in Bedford, Indiana. David is currently registered as a District Member-at-Large and has received the District Award of Merit and the Silver Beaver Award. As a lifelong resident of Bedford, he took over ownership of the family business from his father in 1961 and continues today as the active owner and daily store manager of the 100-year-old Bedford Furniture Galleries.
Although Dave is in his mid-90s he is extremely active in the Bedford and Lawrence County community. For the City of Bedford he is currently Chairperson of the City Planning Commission, and Vice Chairperson of the Historic Review Board. In his city volunteer roles he was instrumental in the successful application for the state "Steller Grant" in 2014 which is bringing an $8 million investment to the community. For Lawrence County he is a Board Member-at-Large for the County Museum, and current board member for the Lawrence County Community Foundation. In 2013, at the age of 90, Dave completed his first 5K when he walked in the Limestone 5K. He continues to participate in this annual event.
Graham "Teed" Howard
Graham "Teed" Howard earned his Eagle Scout award on November 26, 1943, as a member of Troop 34 in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Teed is a current resident of Nashville, Indiana. He is an Army veteran of World War II and the Korean "conflict". Teed's professional career includes 39 years as a professional Scouter, with 18 years as a Council Scout Executive. As a professional Scouter he also authored and co-authored many training program guides and was a director for administration, scoutcraft, and commissioner service for the National Camping School. After his career as a professional Scouter, Teed began a new career as a real estate broker in Brown County, including tenure as the President of the County Board of Realtors.
He has membership and held leadership positions locally and state wide in organizations such as Rotary, Kiwanis, the Indianapolis 500 organizing committee, the Masonic Lodge, and the Scottish Rite. He has been extensively involved with many aspects of the Native American culture. He was recognized as a Distinguished Hoosier by the Governor of Indiana. He is currently co-authoring a book verifying the truths, myths, and tall tales of Brown County.
Gerald "Jerry" Hill
Gerald "Jerry" Hill earned his Eagle Scout award in 1962 as a member of Troop 477 in Mazon, Illinois. As a civilian employee of the Navy his career focus was construction and management of facilities including buildings, dry docks, and airfields. As the construction director for a 35-state region he was responsible for projects associated with the Reagan Administration homeporting military buildup for which he was awarded the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award medal. As the Crane, Indiana, Naval Base Civilian Deputy to the Public Works Officer, he was also responsible for managing the closure of the Naval ordnance station at Louisville, Kentucky, for which he was commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel by the Governor, and was awarded his second Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award. Jerry was a volunteer Scouter wherever his work took him and also held community roles such as economic development commission, and school board member.
Now living in Springville, he was a founding board member of the Springville Community Association and is currently President of the Lawrence County Community Foundation. He is a registered professional engineer, a "fellow" member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and will receive the society's Life Achievement Award at the 2016 State Convention.
1340 AM WBIW welcomes comments and suggestions by calling 812.277.1340 during normal business hours or by email at comments@wbiw.com
© Ad-Venture Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.