LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — A London murder case will be a featured episode on national broadcast television next year.

The murder trial of Lisa Gilliam, who was charged with shooting her husband in his London law office on Jan. 7, 2011, will be the subject of the Oxygen Channel’s “Snapped,” sometime in 2013.

“Snapped” depicts crimes of violence and passion, which are committed by women who finally “snap.”

According to the Somerset Commonwealth Journal, a film crew visited Somerset and London last week to gather information for the show. Lisa Gilliam’s defense attorneys, Scott Foster and Robert Norfleet, will be featured on the show to tell about the trial that ended in the jury being unable to reach a unanimous decision. Two days after the trial ended, the Somerset attorneys filed for a “directed verdict of acquittal” in the case.

Lisa Gilliam’s trial began in mid-September and lasted for three days. When the case went to the jury to decide the outcome, the jury deliberated for some time before telling Special Judge Robert McGinnis that they could not reach a unanimous verdict in the case. Kentucky law requires that all persons on the jury must agree to the same outcome.

McGinnis sent the jury back into deliberations and instructed them to weigh all the evidence again. When the jury returned approximately two hours later, McGinnis had to dismiss jury members and said a new trial would be needed.

However, two days later Gilliam’s attorneys filed for a “directed verdict of acquittal” in their client’s case.

Less than a month later, McGinnis ruled in favor of the acquittal motion. Commonwealth’s Attorney Jackie Steele could not be reached for comment on the case but a staff member with Steele’s office did confirm that Steele has filed an appeal to the acquittal. Due to that action, representatives with the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office cannot comment while the case is still pending.

Lisa Gilliam maintained her innocence throughout the incident that began with a 9-1-1 call to Laurel Dispatch on a Friday afternoon in early January of last year. According to the caller, who identified herself as Lisa Gilliam, her husband--London attorney Larry Gilliam--had shot himself in his Fourth Street office. Larry Gilliam died at Saint Joseph London a short time after being transported from his office to the hospital.

Lisa Gilliam was indicted in March 2011 for her husband’s murder but was released when she turned herself in to police and posted a $100,000 cash bond two days after the indictment was released.

Norfleet and Foster both said they are glad to see Lisa Gilliam’s side of the story presented, according to the Commonwealth Journal.





njohnson@sentinel-echo.com