Two jailed in ’05 killing on Letitia; third sought

Published 12:00 am Friday, December 4, 2009

Police and prosecutors will try again to have two Vicksburg people face murder charges in the shooting death of 26-year-old Kennado Caples four years ago. A Jackson man is being sought as a third suspect.

Initial police reports said Caples was shot several times including in his neck during a struggle with a burglar in his home at 2708 Letitia St. on May 8, 2005.

They said his girlfriend, Kathryn Blue, who shared the home with him, reported the break-in, but later arrested and charged her as an accessory and her brother with homicide. They were released after a grand jury determined there was insufficient evidence to indict them, which would have resulted in a trial.

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Thursday afternoon, Blue, 30, 2606 Ken Karyl Ave., her brother, Dwight Albert, 35, 240 Bazinsky Road, were arrested again, charged with murder and taken to jail, Lt. Bobby Stewart said.

“After a review of crime lab reports, other evidence and reinterviewing witnesses and meeting with the DA, we felt we had a case worthy of prosecution,” Stewart said.

The shooting had perplexed officials until Stewart introduced it to former Jackson Police Department homicide investigator Garland Ward, hired here last month.

Stewart said the new perspective on the case led officials to believe the case “had a solvability.”

“Sometimes that’s what it takes,” he said.

Police were looking for a Jackson man, Larry Hamlin, 30, no address given, who is wanted for accessory after the fact to murder, Stewart said.

Records show that on the day of the homicide, Blue told police she escaped harm by running to the back of the home and hiding during a fight between Caples and a masked man.

Discrepancies in Blue’s story and evidence gathered in the investigation suggested her involvement, and she later declined a polygraph test, officials said.

Hamlin initially was charged with murder on Oct. 4, 2005, when Blue and Albert were first arrested, but will face accessory charges if found, authorities said.

When arrested four years ago, Hamlin also picked up separate charges of two counts of simple assault on a police officer after patrolmen found him inside a motel room at Battlefield Inn. He was also charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and sale of cocaine.

Blue and Albert were being held without bond at the Warren County Jail today pending an initial appearance on the new charges, Stewart said.

Police are asking anyone with information on Hamlin to call the department at 601-636-2511.

Thursday’s arrests were the second in an older homicide case in recent weeks. On Nov. 6, police charged Tyler Lee Smith, 51, 3112 N. Washington St., with the capital murder of former Assistant Police Chief Walter Cole, who was 75.

Cole had been shot to death in his vehicle when his body was found 17 months earlier, on July 23, 2008.

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Contact Tish Butts at tbutts@vicksburgpost.com