The Press-Dispatch
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A-2 Wednesday, December 25, 2013 The Press-Dispatch Life without parole for Satterfield By Andy Heuring A Petersburg man received a sentence of life in prison without parole in Pike Circuit Court on Friday, December 20. Andrew Satterfield, 38, of 3515 W. Cart Road, Petersburg, was given the sentence by Pike Circuit Court Judge Jeff Biesterveld. Satterfield was convicted of murder, arson and attempted arson in the death of his mother, Kathy Satterfield. He had admitted he poured gas on her and set her on fire on December 8, 2011. Satterfield was locat- ed that day at Good Samaritan Hospital, where he went to the emergency room with severe burns wearing only his underwear. His defense filed an insanity plea, but the jury found him guilty. They also determined the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances and recommended he receive life without parole. In Indiana, the jury's recommendation binds the judge on Life Without Parole sentences. Along with the Life With- out Parole sentence, Judge Biesterveld also handed down a 20-year sentence on the arson charges to be served concurrent with the Life Without Parole sentence. Satterfield was given credit for the 721 days he had been in jail since his arrest in 2011. Satterfield notified the court he intends to appeal his conviction in the case. Judge Biesterveld appointed attorney Tom Dysert to represent Satterfield on his appeal. H 2013: Year in Review Shopping at the Mouse House Hayden and MaKenna Goins look for presents to buy their parents in the Mouse House at Winslow Church of the Nazarene last week. The event offers gifts at low prices for children to help them with their Christmas shopping. Originally scheduled for Dec. 5, the event was postponed to Dec. 21 because of the heavy snow. H Christmas rescued Continued from page 1 to get help." But even though it was only about 20 feet away, the swift current kept pushing him away from it. "It was just too strong and I quit trying," said Christmas. Christmas gets a break Christmas got a lucky break. When he started yelling for help, in the driving rain storm that dropped as much as eight inches of water on Pike County, there was someone outside his vehicle to hear him. Pike County Highway Assistant Superintendent Josh Byrd just happened to be out putting up high water and road closed signs in the area. "As soon as I got out of the truck, I heard screams for help," said Byrd. "It sent chills down my spine,"said Byrd. He said he ran back to his county truck and called the sheriff's department to notify them he heard someone yelling for help. Pike County's central dispatch registered Byrd's call at 6:52 p.m. He also called his friend Curt Russell, who was celebrating Christmas with his family, but came running with his bass boat. Russell and Byrd attempted to use the small twoman bass boat to get to the screams for help, but the swift current was too much for them to handle. "It was dark and raining like crazy and stream was just unbelievably fast. It started slamming us into trees. We got about three-quarters of the way to him, and I just said we have got to turn back," said Byrd. "It was awful. You hear him yelling for help and you want to try to help him, but we just couldn't get there." Area firemen and emergency responders were also unable to reach Christmas. They were able to hear Christmas's screams, but they weren't able to see him or even a vehicle. Eventually emergency services were able to get two Conservation Officers, Jon Watkins and Shane Cooperfrom Dubois County, with a 16 foot river john boat. They had already responded to several other similar type incidents throughout the afternoon. Conservation Officer Duane Englert said the two officers had to get the boat to the water. He said they had to pick it up and move it by hand from shallow water in the road over a levee in the area to water deep enough to maneuver the boat. Englert said they were able to use the boat in the flood fields, where the current wasn't nearly as fast as it was in the main stream. He stated the Conservation Officers just tried to look in the area where they had last heard Christmas' screams. He said firemen also used thermal imagery to help locate him. Christmas said he saw spot lights from the boat. At the time, he was squatting down in briars and thick brush because of exhaustion. It was going on three hours of being barefoot and sopping wet in the cool temperatures, driving rain and waters continuing to rise up around him. "The only thing I could do was stand up and hold onto the tree," said Christmas. Then he saw the lights. But a new fear gripped him. He was afraid searchers couldn't see him in the thick brush and briars. "I was tucked away in the briars and bushes. They would never have seen me." The water had gone from being over his feet to now being up to his knees. "I had a bright yellow rain coat. I had taken it off because the briars had shredded it." He said he crawled over to where he could get ahold of a piece of the yellow garment, and stood up and started waving it. "I was afraid if I didn't stand up they wouldn't see me and they would leave." But the officers eventually saw him and were able to get to him. "They saved my life," said Christmas from his home Monday morning. He said by the time the Conservation Officers got to him, he was so cold and stiff he couldn't feel his arms and legs or the many briars that were sticking him. He also was having trouble moving his arms and legs. He was taken to Memorial Hospital in Jasper, where he was treated for hypothermia and released. Monday morning he was home with his wife Christine and five children. "I have no idea where my four-wheeler is. It might might be all the way to the river." "I'm really sore all over," said Christmas, but he is looking forward to Christmas with his family. It will really be a special Christmas at the Christmas home this week. "I'm just glad he is alive," said Byrd. Continued from page 1 • Darrin Pride, 44, of 302 Sycamore St., Petersburg, was seriously injured when his vehicle ran off the road on Highway 61. His Chevrolet S-10 pickup flipped on its side, and while sliding on its side, slammed into a utility pole. Pride was trapped in the truck and suffered fractures to his face, chest and legs, as well as head injuries. • Jacob Morton, a senior at Pike Central, placed first in both the Vincennes University Statewide Machine Trades contest and the VU Skills contest. • Pike County Schools announced cost savings measures that included having administrators pay 10 percent of their health insurance premiums and using direct deposit instead of writing payroll checks for all employees. •A Daviess County woman was sentenced to 10 years in work release after pleading guilty to corrupt business influence, a class C felony and two counts of neglect of a dependent. Rita Fraley, 27, admitted to Pike Circuit Court she stole cash, medicine and jewelry from homes in Pike County in July and August of 2012. She admitted to using her children to help her gain entry into people's homes by asking for donations to charity. Then while one person distracted the residents, the other would steal items and get into their medicine cabinets, often preying on the elderly. • Otwell Elementary, Petersburg Elementary and Pike Central High Schools were honored as "TOP Gainer" schools by the Indiana School Achievement Institute in Indianapolis for their achievement on ISTEP. • Lexie Shoultz is crowned basketball Homecoming Queen at Pike Central. • Michael Woodland was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a dangerous felon. In August 2012, Woodland was arrested after he came out of a trailer in Petersburg carrying a rifle. Petersburg Police Corp. Chad Tharp was responding to an emergency call about a domestic disturbance at the residence. Woodland raised the gun, pointing it at Tharp, who ordered Woodland to drop the gun and when he didn't, Tharp shot Woodland. • Otwell Elementary announced they would not have pre-school during the 2013-14 school year. Superintendent Suzanne Blake said federal funding rules require 35 percent or more of the students be eligible for free or reduced lunches. Otwell's student population only had 30 percent eligible for free or reduced lunches, so it was no longer eligible for Title One funding of the pre-school. • A truck hauling an industrial lubricant sludge to the Veolia landfill at Augusta spilled the substance on Highway 61 near Coe, forcing Highway 61 to be closed for about four hours, while being cleaned up. • An Evansville woman, Donna Vindetti, 63, was rescued from floodwater in the Patoka River bottoms along the Pike-Gibson county line, west of Highway 57. Pike County Sheriff Todd Meadors located the woman after the sheriff's department got a call from Vindetti's friends that she had left her house and mentioned getting lost and hadn't made it to her Evansville home. Vindetti had driven into the flood waters. Oakland City firefighters were able to use ropes and wade into the waters to get to her vehicle and walk her out. • Pam Cosby was appointed the new Pike County food sanitarian and emergency preparedness coordinator. • Zach King, Abe Jenson and Daniel Craig were named Hoosier Boys State delegates. March • Petersburg officials were notified the Downtown Terrace was going to be funded. The $7 million investment, on the 600 block of Main St., would receive $728,460 each year for 10 years. The development will be a building that extends the full length of the block with retail space. Much of it will be filled by Good Samaritan's urgent care facility, as well as other services at the ground level. On the second level will be numerous senior housing apartments. A second building behind the Main St. facility will also house senior housing units, for a combined total of 40. • Tommy J. Biggs, 47, of Winslow, was arrested on charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, resulting in death, a class B felony, operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a class A misdemeanor, and two other lesser charges. The charges stemmed from an accident on June 28, 2012. Biggs was driving and ran off the road just east of Oakland City, hitting a tree. His passenger Amy K. Copley, 40, of Winslow, was killed. • Pike Central Middle School boys' swim team broke six school records. The relay team of Collin Sallee, Chaney McKinney, Lucas Hill and Jacob Bohnert set new records in both the 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay. McKin- ney broke individual records in the 100 IM, 200 free, 50 breast and 100 free in one week. • Maya Frederick set three individual girls' middle school records at Pike Central Middle School in the 100 IM, 100 free and 50 back. • Pike County Schools continued to take cost cutting measures, eliminating the positions of athletic director and assistant superintendent for the 2013-14 school year. • Winslow increased their water rates by 28 percent and their sewer rates by 36 percnt. • Mark Petry, 37, of 9019 CR 300 E., Oakland City, was convicted of criminal confinement, sexual battery and criminal deviate conduct. All three are class B felonies. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison. • Pike Central High School performed Guys and Dolls for the Spring musical. • Four residences caught fire in the same week. Mike and Janet Vaughn, near Pikeville, were awakened by their fire alarm on a Saturday morning, which was caused by a chimney fire. Carl Burton, of 4740 N. SR 257, Otwell, was awakened by his dog standing over him barking. His was able to escape his burning home. Terry Wheeler was driving his wife home from the doctor, and when they got home, they found firemen there battling a fire. An unoccupied trailer on Sugar Ridge Road was destroyed by fire. • Arie O'Neal, a Winslow kindergarten student, was ranked number one in the county on Scootpad for kindergarten math among more than 19,000 schools using the internet based program. • Damon Robinson, 18, of Glezen, died of an accidental shooting in his bedroom. • Petersburg is announced as a Stellar Communities finalist for the second year in a row. • Ryan Dowdell, 22, of Winslow and Matt Buroker, 23, of Evansville, drowned in a boating accident during a nighttime finishing contest on Patoka Lake. Brothers Laban and Jacob King were able to escape when Laban swam to shore and Jacob was rescued by nearby boaters. April The county council approved $400,000 in Stellar grant match funding to build a disc golf course at Prides Creek. Darius Hardiman, a murContinued on page 3 may your dreams come true this Christmas! We hope your holiday delivers everything you've been wishing for. For helping us to realize our dreams, we are deeply indebted to each one of you. Where: Winslow American Legion Post 115 When: December 31, 2013 from 9pm-1am Karaoke by Rainey Nights (Gordon Rainey) • OPEN TO THE PUBLIC • Come join the fun and celebrate the New Year! 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