Hickman Mayor Shot by Adoptive Son of Girlfriend
The mayor of a small Kentucky town was found dead after a man turned himself into local police and reported shooting him to death.
Thomas Joseph Lattus, 30-years-old, walked in to the local police station at 1 a.m. to report that he had shot Mayor Charles Murphy. The man was the adoptive son of Carole Lattus who, according to reports, had dated the mayor on and off for years. The relationship between the suspect and the mayor was not suspected to be on bad terms.
Lattus' mother was out of the country and could not be reached for comment, and his father his been deceased for many years. Although Lattus is currently being held on charges for murder, he has yet to provide an official motive.
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The Hickman town of 2,560 people has reacted with shock, as word of the mayor's murder spread quickly. "Next thing I know, people started calling the store, saying `Did you hear what happened?'" Morrison Williamson, manager at Hickman Hardware, said.
Murphy had served two terms as mayor, after retiring as a school principle. Gerald Harris, whose niece is married to the mayor's son, established that he had known the mayor since grade school and held a high opinion of him. "He's just a super nice guy," he told local papers.
An officer that went to investigate the scene after Lattus' confession found the mayor's body in his bedroom. Harris told local news that the family was very upset. "They're tore all the pieces, all of them are," he said.
The small town, which houses Thomas Chapel C.M.E. Church, a historic church built in 1895, was named for Captain Paschal Hickman, a Kentucky officer who was killed by Indians in the Massacre of the River Raisin during the War of 1812.
