04/12/2022
Sept. 2012 updated July 2017 Ky New Era: CADIZ, Ky. — Claude Russell professed his innocence while testifying Friday in his trial for the 2002 murder of Chantell Humphries.
Commonwealth’s Attorney G.L. Ovey wrapped up the prosecution’s case earlier in the day. Russell’s defense attorney, John Stewart, declined to offer an opening statement and called Russell as his first witness.
Russell testified for close to two hours Friday. When asked by Stewart if killed Humphries, Russell broke down in tears and asserted his innocence to the jury.
“I got a real good, big heart,” the 36-year-old Russell told the court. “Everyone in the community knows me.”
Humphries’ body was found June 25, 2002, on a farm off Wallonia Road in Trigg County. She was shot multiple times. Experts for the prosecution have identified a .357 Ta**us revolver owned by Russell as the murder weapon.
Humphries took her car to Cadiz Auto Service Center for repairs on June 24, 2002. Russell said he followed her to the repair shop in his car and then gave her a ride back to her neighborhood in Cadiz. He said he dropped her off outside a house near her own.
In his cross-examination of the defendant, Ovey pointed out several instances in which Russell lied to police. In his testimony, Russell indicated that he had had s*x with Humphries before taking her to the repair shop.
n his statements to police, though, Russell denied having a s*xual relationship with Humphries. When asked by Ovey why he didn’t share the information with investigators, Russell said it was because he was ashamed of what he had done.
Russell said that, when he brought Humphries back from the repair shop, he dropped her off outside the home of Delina Crenshaw on Line Street. When he dropped Humphries off, he said, three men — Rodney Phillips, Les Tinsley and Rico Love — were in the driveway. Humphries dealt drugs for Phillips and owed him $500 at the time of her death, Russell told police. Delina Crenshaw previously testified that she didn’t see Humphries or Phillips at her home the day Humphries was shot.
After Russell left Humphries, he testified, he went to do some yard work at the home of his girlfriend, Sharon Crenshaw. While working in her yard, Humphries came to him and asked to borrow his gun, he said. She told him she was afraid of Phillips and wanted to scare him with the gun. Russell said he lent her the gun but gave it to her unloaded.
On June 25, Russell said Tinsley and Phillips returned the gun to him and threatened to kill him if he told police about it.
Investigators haven’t been able to establish a time of death for Humphries. Dr. Neil Haskell, a forensic entymology consultant, previously did a report about the maggots found on Humphries’ remains. The speed of their development, Haskell said, indicated her time of death was most likely between noon and 5 p.m. June 24.
Sharon Crenshaw testified that Russell came to her home between 10 and 11 a.m. After he finished working in the yard, Russell went home to get cleaned up for work.
Theresa Russell, Russell’s aunt whom he lives with, said Russell took a shower when he returned from Sharon Crenshaw’s home. Crenshaw and Russell both worked for Grupo, a local manufacturer, and left for work just after 1 p.m., Crenshaw testified.
On the way to work, Crenshaw and Russell saw Cadiz Police Chief Hollis Alexander working an accident scene on Interstate 24. The two drove by Alexander as he was flagging traffic. Alexander confirmed that he saw Russell at the scene around 1:35 p.m.
Crenshaw said Russell worked a 2:30 to 10:30 p.m. shift that day. Russell said he dropped Crenshaw off and arrived home around 11:35 p.m. Theresa Russell said her nephew ate a small dinner before going to bed.
The commonwealth has offered no theories for a motive in the case. Prosecutors haven’t presented any fingerprint evidence linking Russell to the crime scene, though Humphries’ footprint was found in his backseat. Prosecutors also haven’t presented any DNA evidence linking Russell to the crime scene.
After Humphries’ body was discovered, Russell’s car, a 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier, was seized and examined by police. They found dirt and cow f***s in the wheel wells and lower parts of his car. They also found fescue grass scattered in his interior. The property where Humphries was found is used as a cattle farm, and fescue grass grows there.
In his testimony, Alexander said Russell previously worked for his family farming to***co in the field where Humphries was found.
In initial interviews with police, Russell couldn’t say how the cow f***s got on the bottom of his car, saying simply that it shouldn’t have been there. On Friday, he testified that he had never driven his car through any fields and could have gotten the cow f***s on his car by driving through someone’s yard.
Sadie Graves, who lives near the field where Humphries was found, testified she heard gunshots at about 5 p.m. June 24 coming from the direction where Humphries was found. Graves told police about hearing the shots when they came to her house a few days after finding Humphries’ body.
Dave Duncan, who was working at Cadiz Auto Service Center the morning Humphries brought her car in, testified that, when Humphries arrived, she seemed very rushed and left the auto shop very quickly. As she left, Duncan saw her get into the backseat of a car with two people in the front seat. Duncan didn’t say what type of car it was.
The defense also concluded its case Friday. Closing statements will begin Monday morning.
