Man Found Guilty of Murder In Retrial

Allen Hatcher, 67 (Hart Co. Jail)

An Edmonson County jury found Allen Hatcher, 67, of Glasgow, (formerly of Rocky Hill) guilty of murder in a retrial of a case almost 12 years old. Hatcher was originally tried and convicted in 2005 for the murder of Edward Tankersley Jr in Rocky Hill where Hatcher was accused of shooting Tankersley in the head. Hatcher was then sentenced to 30 years in the state penitentiary. The case was appealed in 2008 but the guilty conviction was upheld at that time. It was then taken to the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 2010, where a retrial was ordered on the grounds of "ineffective assistance of counsel because of trial counsel's alleged failure to challenge the jury instructions, to object to amendment of the charges, to adequately investigate the prosecution's witnesses, and to raise double jeopardy as an issue." The Jury upheld the guilty verdict in Edmonson Circuit Court on Thursday of last week.

In addition to the guilty verdict, the jury has recommended that Hatcher receives a sentence of life in prison with chance of parole in twenty years. Formal sentencing is scheduled for February 16, 2015 at 10am. Until then, Hatcher will remain in the Hart County Jail under a $100,000 cash bond. 

Edmonson Voice Staff

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