Defendant Aaron Pearson speaks with his attorney Tuesday after a court appearance in Hardin Circuit Court at the Hardin County Justice Center in Elizabethtown. Charges against Pearson include complicity to commit murder in the 2016 death of Norman Hall.
State seeks death penalty in 2016 homicide
By JEFF D’ALESSIO
The News-Enterprise
In many ways, Norman Hall was an easy target when he was killed in September 2016 inside his Radcliff apartment.
A 22-year veteran of the U.S. Army, Hall, 71, lived alone and needed oxygen to go about his daily activities.
Authorities believe Aaron Lee Pearson, 25, of Radcliff, and Eloysia James-Venerable, 18, of Radcliff, broke into his Pin Oak Court residence to rob him. Hall ended up being killed by Pearson, police say.
On Tuesday, the Hardin County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office filed aggravators in the case and will seek the death penalty against Pearson.
He is charged with complicity to commit murder in the Sept. 7, 2016, death of Hall, who remained in Radcliff after retiring from Fort Knox and the death of his wife.
“The murder occurred as part of the robbery,” Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris McCrary has said.
Hall died from multiple blows to his head and face and from being stabbed in the neck, officials said.
Pearson also was indicted on complicity to first-degree robbery and complicity to tampering with physical evidence charges.
He is accused of taking an oxygen tank Hall used from the victim’s residence and throwing it “into a rocky terrain in an effort to conceal it from police,” according to his indictment.
Hall was found after Radcliff Police Department officers performed a welfare check Sept. 9, 2016, after neighbors said Hall hadn’t been seen for a few days.
Pearson was arrested Sept. 13, 2016. He will stand trial Jan. 14.
James-Venerable, who was 16 when Hall was killed, accepted a plea deal in February that recommends she serve 20 to 50 years or life in prison, with parole eligibility after 20 years.
The agreement also includes assurances she will testify against Pearson. Should James-Venerable not provide honest testimony, the commonwealth will remove the offer and she will be sentenced to life without parole.
She was charged with complicity to commit murder; first-degree burglary; first-degree receiving stolen property — firearm; and tampering with physical evidence.
McCrary has said she was a witness to Hall’s murder.
Pearson has been lodged in the Hardin County Detention Center since his arrest. His bond was increased from a $350,000 cash bond to $1 million following his indictment.
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