Posted on 12/17/2003 3:29:03 PM PST by RockDoc
'It just looked like somebody had tortured him' LESLIE MINE INSPECTOR DIES; SISTER SAYS BITE MARKS ARE HUMAN By Valarie Honeycutt Spears And Lee Mueller HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITERS
HYDEN - A state surface-mining inspector died yesterday, more than two weeks after he was found at his Leslie County home beaten and unconscious, suffering from a head wound and what his sister described as several human bites.
No one has been arrested in the death of John K. Slone, 60, who was found Nov. 29 at his home on old Ky. 80, about a mile east of Hyden, said Perry County Deputy Coroner Jimmy Lynn Maggard Jr.
"At that time, he was hanging on to life," Maggard said.
Slone's sister Mary Gibson of Knott County said that physicians at the University of Kentucky Hospital told her that a human was responsible for biting off her brother's left thumbnail, and causing deep bites on the left cheek of his face, an ear and arm. There were also bite marks on his left index finger, she said.
Gibson said she also noticed a wound on his leg that looked like a cigarette burn.
"It just looked like somebody had tortured him," she said.
Maggard said Slone's body was transported to Frankfort yesterday for an autopsy, but declined to list a cause of death.
"I do suspect foul play," Maggard said. "There were multiple injuries located at different parts of his body, but mainly, he looked like he suffered a blunt-force injury to his skull."
Kentucky State Police Trooper Tim Kilburn said he couldn't discuss Slone's wounds, which Gibson said were confined to the left side of his body, except to say that he was assaulted and had severe injuries. Gibson said she doesn't know who attacked her brother, who lived all his life in Knott County until he built a home on Bob's Fork near Hyden three years ago.
Gibson said her mother last talked to Slone on the telephone about 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 28. Slone was discovered the next day.
He was immediately flown to the University of Kentucky Hospital and transferred Friday to the Hazard Nursing Home. He died yesterday at 11:52 a.m at the Hazard Appalachian Regional Hospital, said Maggard.
Maggard declined to describe the injuries as bite marks because of the healing time and treatment Slone had received and an ongoing investigation.
Leslie County Sheriff John Morgan said "there was blood all over the house," but he had heard nothing about anyone biting Slone.
He said Slone was about 5-foot-9 and about 150 pounds, and had not reported any threats or harassment.
Maggard indicated that Kentucky State Police have at least one suspect.
Allen Luttrell, the new commissioner for the state Department for Surface Mining, said Slone had worked for the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Agency for 21 years, including 14 1/2 years for the surface-mining agency.
"He did good work," Luttrell said. "We had no issues with his work."
Slone had worked in the agency's Prestonsburg office before transferring to its London office about six years ago, he said.
Luttrell said Slone was nearing retirement. Gibson said her brother could have retired within three months.
She said she hopes anyone with information about the case will call the Kentucky State Police post at Hazard at (606) 435-6069.
"I have no no idea," Gibson said, "who would do anything that brutal."
"I do suspect foul play," Maggard said.
Ya think?
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