The Political Bridge

A Murder In The Bluegrass: Nunn's need for help stressed in e-mails; Shooting Victim Said She Wasn't Trying To Make Him Lose His Job, reports The Lexington Herald-Leader

FRANKFORT — Shortly after taking out a protective order against her ex-fiancé in February, Amanda Ross told family and friends that she didn't want former state Rep. Steve Nunn to lose his high-profile state job — she just wanted him to get help.

Ross, 29, was shot outside her Lexington home on Sept. 11.

Nunn, who resigned from his job as the deputy secretary for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services in March because of the February 17 fight with Ross, has been charged with her murder. He has pleaded not guilty.

In e-mails to family and friends, including Nunn's daughter, Ross said that she decided to seek protection from the court after Nunn's behavior became increasingly violent and erratic.

Read more: The Lexington Herald-Leader

A Murder In The Bluegrass: Ross said Nunn ‘did some terrible things to me many times’, reports The Courier-Journal

FRANKFORT, Ky. — On Feb. 18, Amanda Ross received a text message from Mary Nunn, the daughter of former state lawmaker Steve Nunn, pleading with Ross to dismiss domestic-violence charges against her father.

“He is going to lose his job in the morning if they hav (stet) not been dropped,” Mary Nunn messaged Ross.

But Ross replied that the charges, once filed, cannot be dropped. “He did some terrible things to me many times,” Ross stated in a text reply to Mary Nunn. “Someone like that should be held accountable. My intent was not to jeopardize his job, it was to make him accountable and get him out of my life.”

The following day Steve Nunn was placed on unpaid leave from his job as deputy secretary of the Health and Family Services Cabinet because of the charges. Two weeks later he resigned after a judge ordered Nunn to have no contact with Ross, who said Nunn had hit her four times in the face.

Read more: The Courier-Journal

The Rural Post: 'Fed' Written on Chest of Hanged Census Worker in Ky. County where Feds Have Been Active for Years

 U.S. census worker was found hanging with "fed" scrawled on his chest in Clay County, Kentucky, on Sept. 12, a fact that went unreported until last night, when Devlin Barrett and Jeffrey McMurray of The Associated Press put it on the wire. The victim was Bill Sparkman who was doing interviews for the Census Bureau in preparation for the 2010 census. Authorities...call it an "apparent homicide." AP reports, "The FBI is investigating whether he was a victim of anti-government sentiment...

Read More: The Rural Blog

A Murder In The Bluegrass: Nunn to get psychiatric evaluation, reports The Lexington Herald-Leader

A Fayette district court judge Tuesday ordered a psychiatric evaluation of former state Rep. Steve Nunn.

Nunn is accused of killing his former fiancée, Amanda Ross, on Sept. 11 outside her home.

Fayette District Judge Julie Muth Goodman ordered Tuesday that Nunn be evaluated by Bluegrass Comprehensive Care. The evaluation will occur at the Fayette County jail where he is being held.

The evaluation's purpose is to determine whether Nunn was criminally responsible for his alleged actions, said Brian Mattone, first assistant county attorney.

Read more: The Lexington Herald-Leader

A Murder In The Bluegrass: Former Rep. Nunn sued by family of slain woman, reports The Courier-Journal

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Former state Rep. Steve Nunn, who is charged with murder in the death of an ex-girlfriend, has been sued by the woman's family.

The family of Amanda Ross filed the wrongful death lawsuit Monday in Fayette Circuit Court, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.

Also Monday, prosecutors agreed to a motion filed last week by Nunn's attorney that he undergo a psychiatric evaluation, said Brian Mattone, an assistant county attorney.

Mattone said the county attorney's office withdrew a motion it filed last week to compel Nunn to provide a DNA sample because the commonwealth's attorney now has jurisdiction over the case.

Mattone said he expects Fayette Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Larson to resubmit that motion.

Read more: The Courier-Journal

Murder In The Bluegrass: Dating women need DVO protection, an editorial from The Lexington Herald-Leader

Almost half the women who are homicide victims in Kentucky die at the hands of their husbands or boyfriends.

When beatings, choking and threats escalate into lethality, the "if onlys" begin:

If only she had left. If only she hadn't gone back.

If only she had had a protective order. If only the protective order had been served.

If only he had been in jail for violating the protective order. If only his guns had been taken away.

And, now, if only she had known he was there, waiting for her to walk out the door.

The death of Amanda Ross, a politically connected woman who was gunned down in the gated parking lot of her Lexington townhouse, has caught the attention of a legislature that is generally more comfortable ignoring violence against women.

Read more: The Lexington Herald-Leader

A Murder In The Bluegrass: Murder charge against Nunn sent to grand jury

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — The attorney for an ex-lawmaker charged with killing his former girlfriend has waived a preliminary court hearing, sending the case to a grand jury.

Former state Rep. Steve Nunn is charged with murder and violation of a protective order in the Sept. 11 shooting death of 29-year-old Amanda Ross. He entered a not guilty plea last week and a preliminary hearing had been set for Friday.

His lawyer, Astrida Lemkins, declined to comment after the brief hearing.

An unshaven Nunn showed no emotion while appearing on a video screen during the proceeding. He said nothing other than to answer a judge's questions about whether he could see and hear.

Read more: The Courier-Journal

A Murder In The Bluegrass: Nunn To Waive Preliminary Hearing, reports 89.3 WFPL

From Kentucky Public Radio’s Tony McVeigh

Former Kentucky lawmaker Steve Nunn will waive a preliminary hearing in Fayette District Court Friday morning, sending his murder case directly to the grand jury.

Fifty-six year old Steve Nunn pleaded Not Guilty last week to the murder of his former fiancee, Amanda Ross, who was gunned down outside her Lexington townhouse September 11th. A preliminary hearing was set for Friday morning.

But the Lexington-Herald Leader says Nunn’s attorney, Astrida Lemkins and the county attorney’s office have reached an agreement to waive Nunn’s right to a preliminary hearing and present the case directly to the Fayette County grand jury.

Read more: 89.3 WFPL

A Murder In The Bluegrass: Stumbo offers domestic violence bill, reports The Courier-Journal

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The recent killing of a Lexington woman, allegedly by her ex-boyfriend, could spur legislative action that would help other domestic violence victims, House Speaker Greg Stumbo said Thursday.

Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, called for a new law that would be named after 29-year-old Amanda Ross, who police say was shot by her ex-fiancee, former Republican state Rep. Steve Nunn.

The bill would allow Kentucky courts to tag some domestic violence offenders with high-tech electronic monitoring devices that would notify victims when their attacker enters restricted areas.

Read more: The Courier-Journal

A Murder In The Bluegrass: 'Amanda's bill' would use GPS devices, reports The Lexington Herald-Leader

Amanda's Mother Attends Press Conference 

FRANKFORT—In the wake of the Sept. 11 death of Amanda Ross, House Speaker Greg Stumbo pre-filed a bill Thursday that would allow judges to order electronic monitoring devices for the most dangerous domestic violence offenders.

If "Amanda's Bill" is passed, it would give victims a "fighting chance," Stumbo said at a press conference at the capitol. Ross, 29, a Department of Insurance employee, was gunned down outside of her Lexington home, allegedly by her former fiance, Steve Nunn.

Ross had taken out a protection order against Nunn, a former state legislator and son of former governor Louie Nunn, earlier this year and had told friends and co-workers that she feared for her life in the days before her death. Nunn has pleaded not guilty to her murder.

Read more: The Lexington Herald-Leader