PIKEVILLE, Ky. (EKB) – The man accused of murdering a Pikeville Police officer was back in court Thursday.
According to East Kentucky Broadcasting, John Russell Hall made his first appearance in Pike Circuit Court since his arraignment on a murder charge in Pikeville Police Officer Scotty Hamilton’s death.
Hall is accused of shooting and killing Hamilton on the night of March 13th at Hurricane Creek. Hall was allegedly a suspect in a theft investigation and was well-known to the veteran cop. Officials say Officer Hamilton was searching for Hall and was ambushed when he walked behind a home where Hall was said to be hiding.
In Thursday’s pretrial hearing, Commonwealth’s Attorney Rick Bartley said his office received back a large amount of discovery evidence in the case.
Bartley did say that in order to protect John Hall’s right to a fair trial, he believed that the discovery evidence and evidence expected to be received back in late July could be detrimental to the case and should be sealed in the court file.
He told the court that sealing the evidence will protect Hall’s right to a fair trial. A status hearing in the case was set for the morning of August 9. A trial date has not yet been set.
At the time of his death, Officer Scotty Hamilton was 35 years old. He leaves behind a wife and infant daughter.
