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Murder Charge Dropped Against Man Accused Of Hiding Corpse

Posted at 4:03 PM, Mar 05, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-05 16:27:03-05

BOURBON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Officials in Bourbon County on Tuesday dropped a murder charge against a man who had previously been accused of killing a woman and hiding her corpse under his home.

Michael Hutsell

Commonwealth’s Attorney Sharon Muse said that the state and Kentucky State Police recently concluded they did not have evidence to prove a murder charge against 48-year-old Michael Hutsell in the death of 53-year-old Tina Johnson.

Officials believe Johnson died in December 2016. Her body was discovered in January 2017 in a crawl space of a Paris home.

Muse did not offer details about what lead investigators and authorities to abandon the murder charge.

Hutsell still faces several other charges, including abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, first-degree persistent felon and retaliating against participants in a legal process.

Hutsell has since been released from jail.