Wife stabbed 50 or 60 times, jury hears

By Kelsey Keny

Tribune Intern

After two days of jury selection, opening statements were made Wednesday for the trial of Kenneth Colvett. Colvett is pleading not guilty to the first-degree murder of his wife of almost three years, Bessie Kay Redd Clark Colvett.

Due to a issues with the county courthouse's air conditioning, the case is being tried in the Lewisburg city courtroom. A jury of seven men and eight women -- three of whom will be alternates -- heard opening statements from prosecution and defence.

Assistant District Attorney Mike Randles introduced the case's background information. Kay Colvett was stabbed to death on Saturday, April 7, 2012, Easter weekend. Her body was found by police the next day in the shed at her home at 606 Wood Crest Street, Lewisburg.

Kenneth Colvett's attorneys Walter Bussart and Jason Davis went forward with the claim that Colvett did stab his wife, but was suffering from insanity and mental delusion at the time. Tennessee law affirms this defense if it's proven the defendant "was unable to appreciate the nature or wrongfulness" of his or her acts due to a severe mental defect.

"I'm going to tell you right there he's going to fail miserably," Randles said of Colvett's defense team proving he was unaware of what he was doing.

Bussart stated that Colvett has been fighting with bipolar disorder since he was in his 20s and has been on medications such as Lithium and Risperidone on and off for years. He added that Colvett was hospitalized for a mental disorder at Skyline Medical Center last year.

The state's first witness was Tennessee Highway Patrolman Steve Sanders Jr. Sanders worked for the Lewisburg Police Department last year. He reported to Colvett's house on the night of the murder after receiving a dispatch call to perform a welfare check on Colvett. The welfare check was called due to a report that Colvett had threatened his psychiatrist. Sanders testified that upon meeting Colvett at his door that evening, Colvett appeared calm and well groomed. He left the house, finding no justification to go into the house.

Kay Colvett's daughters, Jennifer Coward and Rhonda Gooch, also testified Wednesday. Coward gave an account of the days leading up to her mother's death. She stated that Kay had planned to move in with her family on Monday, April 9. It is unknown if Kenneth Colvett was ever informed of this decision. Coward went on to say that Kay called her in the afternoon of April 7 with a sharp and scared tone.

"She said 'Listen to me, and listen good. Kenneth told me he was going to pin me underneath a white house,'" Coward stated.

Coward said she and her husband, Jon, noticed Kay was not at Farmington Church of Christ with Kenneth the following morning, Easter Sunday. Coward added Kenneth told them Kay was home sick. After not finding Kay at the Colvett's house, Coward went to lunch with her husband, her son, and Colvett. When questioned, Jon Coward testified that Colvett was acting a little odd at lunch, talking about the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and his daughter trying to kill him.

Another return to the house resulted in Jon Coward seeing splattered blood in the kitchen. The Cowards then called the police. Kay Colvett's body was found in the backyard shed. The prosecution stated that she had been stabbed about 50 or 60 times.

The defense plans to play an audio recording of a past interview with Kenneth Colvett, which Bussart stated will show the "ramblings of a crazy man." According to Bussart, Colvett had a delusion that Kay and his ex-girlfriend Patsy were trained by the TBI to kill him. The defense will also provide testimony from Vanderbilt School of Medicine Professor of Psychiatry Stephen Montgomery concerning Colvett's mental state.

"Kenneth Colvett loved Kay," Bussart stated. "The last thing in the world this proof is going to show is that he wanted to lose Kay."