Trial scheduled for birthday party stabbing suspect

A jury trial begins Monday in the case against a Hardin County man accused of stabbing a guest last year at a birthday party on Roundtop Road.

WILSON

Raymond Kendall Wilson, 52, faces charges of criminal attempt to commit murder, first-degree assault and tampering with physical evidence.

Wilson has been lodged at Hardin County Detention Center since his arrest April 12. His bond is set at $250,000 cash.

Investigators with the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office spent several days searching for Wilson after police said he stabbed Gerald Tharpe, 56, at a birthday party April 8 on Roundtop Road south of Elizabethtown.

Sheriff’s spokesman Greg Lowe said deputies responded to the emergency room at Hardin Memorial Hospital after receiving a call regarding a patient who claimed he was stabbed.

Witnesses told deputies the birthday party was for the homeowner’s son, Lowe said, and Wilson arrived uninvited. A fight ensued between Wilson and a party guest and Lowe said Tharpe attempted to intervene to defuse the altercation.

According to witness reports, he said Wilson stabbed Tharpe in the abdomen with a hunting knife. Tharpe was airlifted to University Hospital in Louisville where he was treated for injuries.

Police previously told The News-Enterprise that Wilson has a history of making threatening remarks. In 2007, emergency protection and domestic violence orders were taken out against him, Lowe said.

Attempted murder and first-degree assault are Class B felonies, which are punishable by up to 10 to 20 years in prison if found guilty, according to Kentucky Revised Statutes.

The trial begins at 9 a.m. Monday with jury selection before Hardin Circuit Judge Kelly Mark Easton.

Sarah Bennett can be reached at (270) 505-1750 or sbennett@thenewsenterprise.com.