The Press-Dispatch
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Three sections 34 pages Ten inserts St. Patricks Celebration Cel INSIDE 75 75ยข Volume 144 Number 11 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-340) Wednesday, March 14, 2012 Satterfi eld pleads insanity in murder case By Andy Heuring A Pike County man has fi led a motion with Pike Circuit Court admitting he shot and killed his mother and then set her house on fi re. Andrew Satterfi eld fi led an "admission of facts and notice of defense of mental dis- ease or defect with the Pike Circuit Court. In it he admits his guilt, but claims he didn't realize it was wrong. The single-page double-spaced motion states: Andrew Satterfi eld, by counsel does hereby freely and voluntarily admit that the following facts are true: "Andrew S. Sat- terfi eld, did then and there kill Kathy Satterfi eld by shooting at and against the body of said Kathy Satter- fi eld with a .22 cali- ber pistol then and there infl icting mortal wounds in and upon the body of Kathy Sattter- fi eld and setting the residence of Kathy Satterfi eld on fi re while she was inside, causing her to die." His motion continues: The defendant fur- Andrew Satterfi eld Tyler Gray gives his car the one-eye alignment test in the starting gate to get it just right during the Petersburg Cub Scout Pinewood Derby on Saturday. Kent Claridge was the starter. The event was won by Bryce Garland. See more pho- tos on page A-4. News briefs The Press-Dispatch email outage this week The Press-Dispatch is switching email providers this week. In the transition period there will be no access to our standard "@pressdis- patch.net" email addresses. Please send your email to news.tpd@ gmail.com during this transition. Tornado drills set for county next Wednesday Severe Weather Awareness Week is scheduled for March 18- 24 in Indiana. Tornado drills are scheduled for Wednesday, March 21 at 10:15 a.m. and 7:35 p.m. The backup date is March 22 if there is threatening weather in the area on March 21. Residents are asked to make emergency plans and participate in the drills at their place of employ- ment and at home, which is why the state has two drills during the day and in the evening. CR600N to be closed permanently today County Road 600N in Pike Coun- ty will be closing permanently be- ginning today, March 14, accord- ing to the Indiana Department of Transportation. C.R. 600 N will be closed from the junction of County Road 275 East (C.R. 275 E) to the junction of County Road 200 East (C.R. 200 E). Crews will begin work at about 7 a.m. local time, weather permit- ting. Crews are closing C.R. 600 N for construction of the I-69 Corri- dor. No through vehicle traffi c will be allowed, however local residents will have access to the point of clo- sure. Work day Saturday at Winslow Youth League fi elds The Winslow Youth League is preparing for the 2012 youth base- ball and softball seasons by work- ing on the fi elds at the Winslow Park. They will be working on the fi elds on Saturday, March 17, be- ginning at 9 a.m. There is a lot of work to do to prepare for the 2012 season. For information contact Dan Carnahan at 789-9410. County council pledges $250,000 Stellar match Pinewood derby By Andy Heuring Pike County Councilmen voted 7-0 to commit $250,000 to Petersburg's Stellar Community application. They also viewed a proposal to build an elite disc golf course at Prides Creek and heard a sales pitch on a ditching machine. Petersburg Mayor Jon Craig talked about the various phases of the Stellar Communi- ty Program. Petersburg was recently select- ed as one of seven fi nalist communities. If they are one of two communities selected, it would make up to $20 million available to Petersburg for various projects. Craig said the city's original plans are changing as they learn more about what Stellar offi cials want. He said they had to Two vehicles stolen and swiftly returned A rare case of double grand theft auto in Winslow was wrapped up in an even rarer way within a few hours last Sunday morning. At about 7 a.m. on Sunday, March 4, Winslow Town Marshal Steve English received a call of a stolen vehicle at the home of Chad Dent in Winslow. When English arrived at the house, he spoke with Dent, who had discovered an Infi niti near his house and his own Ford Explor- er missing. The Infi niti turned out to be stolen as well, with Gibson Coun- ty plates. English and Dent began inves- tigating both cars. Dent called his wife, who lives in Mt. Carmel, and asked her to look for the Explorer, just in case. Within about four hours, Dent's wife called back and said she had found the Explorer and that her grandson was the culprit. The grandson, a juvenile, turned himself in and gave a confession that fi lled in some of the gaps to this puzzle. The grandson, age 14, and a friend of his, age 17, were in Evansville when their car broke down. They hitched a ride to a truck stop and waited for someone to go in and leave their keys in their car. That unlucky person was the owner of the Infi niti. The two juveniles stole the Infi niti and drove all over Indi- ana and Illinois before their stolen car broke down as well in Winslow. When it wouldn't start, they found Dent's Explorer, and were able to get in because the window was down. They took the Explorer and $400 from Dent's wallet, then drove back to Mt. Carmel. Both boys are in custody, await- ing trial in juvenile court. WHAT'S INSIDE: PUBLISHING PIKE Local ........A1-12 Obituaries ......A3 Healthy PC ....A6 Sports ........B1-4 Classifi eds ...B9-12 Church .......C1-6 Opinion ..........C2 History ...........C7 change the plan which would create senior housing at the former IMI concrete site, and relocate it downtown. He said they are also changing their plan to move the Stel- lar Youth Entrepreneur Incubator to down- town. Originally they planned to located it near I-69 and be an anchor for an industri- al park. Two locations they are looking at now in- clude the former Integra Bank building and the former Citizens State Bank building for the incubator. He said one thing that hasn't changed is a nearly $8 million project to create a bypass for truck traffi c from near Hornady Park around the south side of Petersburg out to Highway 61. ther says and hereby gives notice pursuant to IC 35-36-2-1 that his sole defense is that he is not responsible under IC35-41-3-6 for his conduct, which took the life of Kathy Satterfi eld, because he lacked the substan- tial capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law, as the result of a mental disease or defect. Doug Walton, the attorney who fi led the motion on Satterfi eld's behalf, did not re- turn a phone call seeking comment. Pike County Prosecutor Darrin McDon- ald said there are three possible outcomes Continued on page 2 Craig said Petersburg's goal with the building of I-69 is to create a city and down- town area people will want to get off of the interstate to see. He said I-69 will leave much of the truck traffi c in Petersburg, while most of the car traffi c moves to I-69. He said it would be hard to create the type of downtown space they envision with heavy semi-truck traffi c in the area. "We aren't bad-mouthing the coal trucks. They are life blood of our community. But we want to re- route them. Craig said while the program hasn't said Petersburg needs to have a set amount of match, they are asking how much Peters- burg is willing to match the grant funding. Continued on page 2 Ag Day breakfast appetite Tuck Satterly prepares for a big bite of sausage fed to him by his grandfather, Jer- ry Barrett, during the Pike County Ag Day Breakfast on Saturday morning. The breakfast had a near-record crowd that packed the Otwell Community Center. See related photos on page A-10. Public meeting on Stellar grant March 29 By Andy Heuring Petersburg city offi cials will have an infor- mational meeting about the Stellar Communi- ty Program grant. The meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 29 at Main Street Pres- byterian Church's Kiefer Hall. Mayor Craig said there will be a presenta- tion on the project explaining the aspects of NEWS TIPS: Phone: ........................354-8500 Fax: ............................354-2014 E-Mail .editor@pressdispatch.net it and then engineers and other consultants would be available to talk one-on-one with peo- ple about their questions and concerns. Also beginning Monday, March 19 informa- tion about the project will be available at Pe- tersburg City Hall during business hours. Peo- ple can also leave written comments or make comments at the public forum. CONNECT WITH US: Facebook .... facebook.com/pressdispatch Twitter ......... twitter.com/pressdispatch E-Mail .......... news@pressdispatch.net