The Press-Dispatch
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winter s pporitw s rev e Small Business Saturday See SeCtion D Beginning on page C-4 Four sections 44 pages Ten inserts Wednesday, November 27, 2013 75¢ Volume 145 Number 48 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-340) Satterfield guilty; life without parole recommended By Andy Heuring A Petersburg man was convicted of murdering his mother and the jury recommended life without parole. Andrew Satterfield, 38, of 3515 W. Cart Road, Petersburg, was convicted on Thursday of murdering his mother. The jury returned the verdict at about 4 p.m. Thursday. Because Satterfield had admitted killing his mother in court documents and entered an insanity defense, the jury was asked to determine if he was guilty of murder or not responsible by reason of insanity at the time of the crime. The jury returned the most severe verdict, which was just a straight up guilty. The verdict came after nearly three days of testimony from 18 different witnesses, including a psychiatrist and two psychologists, as well as a video tape of Satterfield being interviewed by a State Fire Marshal investigator. Jury foreman Glenn Capozella said the initial verdict of guilty was reached fairly quickly. He said evidence presented about all the things Satterfield did after he killed his mother convinced the jury to find him guilty. "Almost everything he did following her death took some planning," said Capozella. "The medical and physical evidence was very strong in the state's favor," said Pike County Deputy Prosecutor Noah Shafer, who prosecuted the case. Satterfield's attorney Doug Walton, in pre-trial motions, had admitted Satterfield murdered his mother, but he was claimed Satterfield was legally insane. "The jury had a very hard job, but they were able to do it and I'm very grateful they were that conscientious," said Shafer. The guilty verdict means the jury found he was guilty of murdering Kathy Satterfield and that they were convinced by preponderance he was not legally insane. It was one of three guilty verdicts the juContinued on page 4 Joshua Miller was seriously injured Monday morning on Highway 61 near Coe, when he crossed the centerline in a pickup truck and collided with the rear wheels of a semi-trailer. His passenger, Emily Jacob, was uninjured. Miller seriously injured in Monday crash By Andy Heuring A rural Petersburg man was seriously injured at about 11:30 a.m. on Monday, November 25, when apparently he went across the centerline and hit the rear dual wheels of a semi-truck's trailer. Josh Miller, 18, was driving a Department of Natural Resources truck north on Highway 61 near Coe, just south of CR 800 S., when according to Indiana State Police, Miller fell asleep and went left of center. State Trooper Ryan Johnson said Christopher Hadfield, 33, of Elberfeld, was driving a 2000 Sterling semi-trailer south on Highway 61 and saw Miller come across the centerline. Hadfield attempted to swerve to the right, running off the road near Myreon Krohn's house, and clipping a utility pole. Despite Hadfield's efforts, Miller's truck hit the rear trailer wheels with the front left of the truck. The impact nearly ripped the whole side off the pickup. The pickup spun 360 degrees and came to rest at the side of the road facing north, but the semitruck went several hundred feet south before coming to a rest. Miller suffered serious arm and internal injuries. He was taken from the site by ambulance and then taken by air ambulance to Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, where as of Tuesday afternoon he was listed in fair condition. His passenger, Emily Jacob, 22, of Huntingburg, also a DNR employee at Sugar Ridge Headquarters, was treated and released from Memorial Hospital at Jasper. The DNR said Miller is a seasonal state employee. Hadfield was not injured. Trooper Johnson said everyone was wearing seatbelts. Who has Carol Sutton's elf suit? By Ed Cahill While it's beginning to look – and feel – a lot like Christmas in Pike County, Carol Sue Sutton is still holding out hope that a speciallymade elf costume she loaned to someone four years ago will be returned to her. The elf costume, one of two made by Sutton's best friend, Marie Boyd, in 1986, has a great deal of sentimental value to the Petersburg resident. "Back then, we went wherever we knew Santa was going to be," Sutton said. "We went to schools and handed out candy canes. We went to nursing homes and to people who were shut in. And there were some families that would have us come to their Christmas gatherings to help Santa pass out presents." "It was just something that was special, something that Marie and I did a lot together," Sutton added. "And it just meant a lot to me." As she grew older, however, Sutton began wearing the elf costume just once a year – in the annual Christmas parade. "Probably the last 10, 15 years, I only wore it for the Christmas parade, because my sorority, Psi Iowa Xi, has the sleigh, and we girls have always been the elves," Sutton said. "So I'd al- ways wear my suit and I was the main elf, the special elf." While she had gently turned down previous requests to borrow the elf costume, following the Christmas parade in 2009, she finally relented. Unfortunately, however, Sutton cannot remember to whom she loaned it. "It had to be somebody who didn't smoke, because I didn't want to get it back smelling like smoke," Sutton said. "And somebody who I trusted would get it back." Sutton said that the elf costume was, along with all the accessories, in a zip-up garment bag. "It had all these extra pieces to it," Sutton said. "There's a belt and there are bells, and we had two or three different hats. Over the years, we'd gotten the headband things with the antlers. She'd knitted the leggings. And we had elf shoes and different gloves and things, and it was all in this garment bag." The elf costume also has a green Hallmark button emblazoned with the word's "Santa's Special Elf." In addition, Sutton's initials "CSS" are stitched in the tunic's collar. Continued on page 2 Area holiday events scheduled By Andy Heuring Christmas in the Park will officially begin at 5:30 p.m. Friday, November 29. The ceremonial lighting of the numerous Christmas displays will also be used to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Hornady Park. Petersburg Mayor Frank Coleman will be on hand to read a proclamation about Hornady Park before the Christmas displays are switched on Friday. The 56-acre park was given to the City of Petersburg on November 28, 1913, when the last Hornady family member died. (Read a related story about the unusual history of the Hornady family and Hornady Park.) The annual Christmas in the Park will be on display starting Friday, November 29 through Christmas Eve. Its hours are 6 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 6 to 10 p.m. Friday Continued on page 2 Hornady Park marks 100th anniversary Petersburg Christmas lights go up Crews put up Petersburg Main St. Christmas lights on Monday. Darin Cook and Caleb Schlechty put up this display at the corner of Main and Ninth Sts. PIKE PUBLISHING WHAT'S INSIDE: Local ........A1-12 Sports ........B1-5 Opinion..........C2 Obituaries ......A3 Classifieds B10-11 History ...........C9 Shopping..A8-10 Church .......C1-8 Winter Sports ..D Hornady Park in Petersburg will turn 100 years old on Thanksgiving Day. One hundred years ago the last Hornady family member died, automatically deeding the 56-acre park to the City of Petersburg. Since then it has become an integral part of many Pike County family's lives. The place where thousands of kids frantically searched for Easter eggs, rode fair rides, slid down the giant slides, had fun on the playground equipment, learned to play tennis, got married, stole their first kiss, went through their bridging ceremony for advancing in Scouts, walked, ran , skated or biked mile after mile, had their church picnic, family re- NEWS TIPS: Phone:........................354-8500 Fax: ............................354-2014 E-Mail . editor@pressdispatch.net union, birthday party or just improved the quality of their lives. Below is a history written by Sandy McBeth about the park and its history. It was first published in December 1998: Hornady Park was given to the city of Petersburg by the Finis Hornady family. The park, which is located on Highway 56 south of Petersburg, was deeded to the city through the will of Finis Hornady, the head of the Hornady family. Finis was the youngest of six children, the son of David and Hannah (Whitehead) Hornady. They were early settlers who arrived in Pike Continued on page 2 CONNECT WITH US: NETedition ... pressdispatch.net/edition Facebook .... facebook.com/pressdispatch E-Mail .......... news@pressdispatch.net