LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — Two men involved in two separate murders were among those indicted by a Laurel grand jury last week.

Freddy Couch, 56, of Laurel Road in London, is charged with causing the death of 36-year-old Kenneth Edward Vincent on April 29 of this year. He was indicted on the charge of murder.

Vincent was discovered lying in the living room floor of the residence he and Couch shared. The two men reportedly got into a physical altercation that involved alcohol in the early morning hours of April 29. Couch told police Vincent pulled a knife on him during the argument that turned violent, and that he overpowered Vincent during the scuffle. According to police, Couch said he went to bed in his bedroom and last saw Vincent lying on the living room floor.

Vincent was still on the floor in the same spot the next day when Couch awakened and found that he was dead. Police said suspicions were raised  by the story, since neither Vincent nor Couch contacted police nor sought medical treatment following the fight.

An autopsy report listed Vincent’s cause of death from being severely and fatally beaten to death. Couch was arrested immediately after the results of the autopsy were released on June 1. He is being held on $250,000 cash bond and has a court hearing on June 26, according to jail records.

The second man indicted for murder was 46-year-old Jeffrey W. Sweeney of Jackson Street in London. Sweeney is charged with the March 29 death of Teresa Wyatt-White. He is also charged with first-degree robbery, tampering with physical evidence, and first-degree arson and is being held in Laurel Detention Center under a $200,00 cash bond.

Nearly two months after Wyatt-White’s burned and beaten body was found inside her mobile home on Waterworks Road, her alleged murderer was arrested.

Sweeney, according to police, acknowledged being at Wyatt-White’s home on the evening the incident occurred. He said he was with some other people at the time of the murder, but he did not know the other people. A black lock box was reportedly taken from Wyatt-White’s home and Sweeney admitted discarding a bloody towel with the 50-year-old woman’s blood on it. Police said Sweeney told them other evidence belonging to Wyatt-White was burned in the fire where her body was found after firefighters and emergency personnel arrived on the scene around 10:30 that Friday night.

Similar to the other murder case, the murder charges were filed after preliminary autopsy results indicated Wyatt-White died of blunt force trauma. Police believed the fire at her home was set to cover up her murder. The ongoing investigation by the Kentucky State Police at Post 11 in London led to Sweeney’s arrest on May 24.



njohnson@sentinel-echo.com