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Amnews.com
02 November 2005

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Defense attorney Mark Stanzian

Details emerge about alleged m

In Ronnie Cornett's 2004 day planner, there was a curious entry for Dec. 2. Affixed to that page was a small black sticker that read, simply, "Special Event," Kentucky State Police Detective Monte Owens told jurors this morning.

There were no other entries after that date.

That planner was one more piece of evidence Owens said police gathered at Cornett's girlfriend's Sea Biscuit Drive apartment on the morning of Dec. 2 that shows the "special event" Cornett had planned was the murder of his ex-wife Kathleen Cornett, attorney Eileen O'Brien and Family Court Judge Bruce Petrie when they all gathered later that morning for a court appearance at the Boyle County Courthouse.

Owens testified that he also found a loaded pistol and extra ammo clip in the back of a Chevy Tahoe parked at the residence. Owens said he had information that the gun was there, but had trouble finding it because it was hidden inside a stack of notebooks that had been cut out to hold the pistol and then placed inside a folder in the back of the SUV.

"I had not found the weapon. The only thing I found was a brown accordion folder in the rear of the Tahoe," Owens said. "I pushed it around a couple of times and opened it a couple of times. What made me realize what it was was the sheer weight of it."

Inside the hollowed-out compartment, there was the semi-automatic pistol with a bullet in the chamber, a fully-loaded clip inserted in the weapon, and another clip containing seven rounds. Owens said that a total of 15 bullets were in the folder that Cornett planned to carry into the courthouse.

A search of the residence also uncovered another loaded pistol on a dresser in the bedroom, the day planner in a briefcase that also contained a Christmas card addressed to Cornett's sister in Perryville with the inscription, "Please forgive me," Owens told the court.

"It was more language from Mr. Cornett that he was going to go through with the plan," the detective said.

Cornett, 57, is charged with three counts of attempted murder. The trial, in its third day in Boyle Circuit Court, is being presided over by Special Judge William Cain of Somerset, who replaced Boyle Circuit Judge Darren Peckler after Peckler recused himself because of his relationship with Petire.

Opening statements

In opening statements Tuesday, Commonwealth's Attorney Richard Bottoms told jurors that evidence would show Cornett, embittered by his recent divorce, would have killed his three intended victims and himself had police not intervened on the morning of the court appearance.

Defense attorney Mark Stanziano admitted that Cornett did indeed plot to kill his adversaries, but had a last-minute change of heart and would not have followed through with the scheme. He called the situation a "near tragedy" and argued his client committed no crime.

"No one was shot," Stanziano said. "No gun was taken to the courthouse."

Testimony opened Tuesday with three men providing other pieces of the puzzle that led police to believe Cornett was planning the deadly shooting spree.

Local State Farm insurance agent Bob Miller said his office had been contacted on Nov. 20 in reference to two life insurance policies that Cornett held listing two of his granddaughters as beneficiaries of $25,000 each. Miller said Cornett talked to his staff members to learn how much was owed to pay the policies in full. About two weeks later, Miller said he received a check from Cornett for $1,374.

Cornett's closest friend and business partner, Tom McClain of Danville, testified for about three hours. He told jurors about their business partnership in a West Virginia coal mine and other ventures. He said they were both 32nd-degree Masons and traveled the world together with their wives. He said Cornett spoke with him almost daily about the bitter divorce he was going through and how unfair he thought the settlement was.

Package shook up McClain

It was McClain who met with Cornett on Dec. 1, the night before the planned shootings, at a Waffle House in Winchester. There, Cornett delivered a large manilla envelope that McClain said would shake him to his core. Inside the packet was a list of 18 things McClain should do, including how he would like his funeral to be handled, and an apology for leaving McClain "with this mess."

"Let Tri-City (Funeral Home in Benton) handle arrangements. Bury me as cheaply as possible. Make sure I'm buried the day after Kathleen," McClain said, reading from the letter. "Sing 'Amazing Grace' and one more. Keep it short."

Another item instructed McClain to "Try to clear my name as best you can."

Cornett also wrote "I'm sure that the Petrie and O'Brien estates will sue, also."

Under questioning from Commonwealth's Attorney Richard Bottoms, McClain said, "I understood that to mean that Judge Petrie and Ms. O'Brien would be dead also."

McClain said the letter left him dumbfounded and unsure what to do. He said he tried to persuade his friend not to take such drastic actions.

"I proceeded to attempt to talk him out of this. I said, 'You don't need to do this.' He said, 'Yes, I do.'" McClain testified. "He said the world would be a better place because these people wouldn't be able to destroy other people's lives like his was destroyed."

Cornett made sure his funeral expenses were covered

Out in the parking lot, Cornett handed McClain $5,000 in cash to cover funeral expenses and later a check for $2,500, which McClain said he thought was to be used for paying off Cornett's other bills. The two men exchanged hugs and "I love yous" before Cornett drove off, McClain said.

"He was crying. I know I had tears in my eyes," he told jurors. "I was stunned, sort of numb. It was hard for me to think straight. This is crazy, I thought. I cannot keep quiet."

On cross examination, Stanziano asked McClain, "How could you have left him knowing he was going to off himself and three others?"

McClain answered, "I was so stunned that I couldn't think clearly."

Unsure what to do, McClain said he started to drive toward West Virginia but quickly changed his mind. He called Lexington attorney Scott Crosbie, a personal friend of both men who had been working on an appeal of Cornett's divorce settlement. Crosbie agreed to meet McClain at a McDonald's near Lexington. McClain shared the packet with Crosbie, who read it over and over again. "He was visibly shocked," McClain said. "He kept saying, 'Oh my god. He's going to do this.'"

Crosbie testified that he, too, was unsure of what to do, his thinking muddled because of the confidentiality agreement he entered with Cornett as his attorney. He called two friends, Gov. Ernie Fletcher's attorney John Roach (who has since been promoted to state Supreme Court justice), and Greg Howard, a former Lexington police officer who was chief of the state Vehicle Enforcement Division, and asked them to meet at his Lexington office.

"I knew I had to stop this from happening," Crosbie said.

Decision made to call KSP commissioner

The four men read over the letter and other contents of the packet, which also included a eulogy and obituary that Cornett had written for himself, and Christmas cards to be sent to his two sons. They decided to call the commissioner of the Kentucky State Police, who in turn notified the KSP post in Richmond, which then dispatched two officers to Crosbie's office.

As the officers discussed how to intervene, Crosbie said that one idea was to send him to Danville in a bullet-proof vest to meet with Cornett the morning of Dec. 2, as they were scheduled to appear in court that morning together anyway. Crosbie said he agreed to this plan, but by the time he arrived at the Danville airport about 7 a.m., police had already arrested Cornett as he was leaving his girlfriend's house on Sea Biscuit Drive.

Stanziano asked Crosbie why he just didn't tell police of the plot instead of turning over the packet, in honor of his confidentiality pact with Cornett. Crosbie said he felt like he needed the documents to convince officers the threat was real.

Crosbie also testified that Cornett had told him in mid November that he would kill himself if things didn't start going his way in the divorce appeal. Crosbie said this information troubled him, but after talking with legal ethics experts, he learned that he was not responsible to intervene to prevent a suicide.

"Homicide is a different matter," Crosbie said.

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Details emerge about alleged m

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Amnews.com
02 November 2005