Uncle charged with murder in early morning incident

Emanuel Fluter, 33, was arrested and charged with the murder of his three-year-old niece Josephine Bulubenchi early Saturday morning.

Tuesday morning, Fluter appeared in court to be arraigned. Judge Mike Lawson presided over the arraignment. Fluter entered a plea of not guilty to two counts of assault, and four counts of wanton endangerment as well as not guilty to the charge of murder.

Judge Lawson scheduled a preliminary hearing to be held on Tuesday, December 18, 2018 at 1 p.m. at the Clinton County Courthouse.

According to Clinton County Sheriff Jim Guffey, screams came across the baby monitor at the residence of Benjamin and Simona Bulubenchi at 1232 Beaty Creek Road in Clinton County.

“The story to me was the father awoke to screams heard on the baby monitor and went into the room and saw the brother-in-law over the child … didn’t know what was going on. It was still early in the morning and he was trying to gain his senses. That’s when he noticed a knife and tried to disarm him and did disarm him. They grabbed the child and that’s when they headed to the hospital,” Guffey said. “They brought all the other children with them, including the perpetrator. He rode to the hospital with them and that’s where we arrested him at.”

Sheriff Guffey said Pickett County had received a call and wanted an ambulance to meet Bulubenchi and advised them his brother-in-law had sliced his daughter’s neck.

“Our dispatch got a hold of the father, Benjamin. At that time, they had made it to the stop light on Hwy. 127 and he just went on to the hospital,” Guffey said. “He took the daughter on to the hospital. About 2:48 a.m., I got the call and responded to the hospital. Albany Police Officer Jeremy Ferguson and Sheriff Deputy Jose Lagos had the subject contained.”

Guffey said Fluter rode in the vehicle with the family to the emergency room.

“I got there a little after 3 a.m. and we took statements from the family and they were going to fly the little girl out. She was in very critical condition,” Guffey said. “At 3:36 a.m., I contacted the county attorney and got search warrants to where I could go back to the crime scene. I had permission from the family, but I wanted to cover all basis.”

Upon search of the residence, Guffey said he started collecting evidence at the scene.

According to Guffey, Fluter had been staying at the residence for a couple of months and is the brother of Simona Bulubenchi.

Sheriff Guffey originally charged Fluter with four counts of wanton endangerment and two counts of assault in the first degree.

When Fluter allegedly committed the crime, three of Josephine Bulubenchi’s siblings were in the room.

“There were four children total in the room. The dad got cut trying to disarm him. One of the assault in the first degree has been amended to murder at this time.”

Bond on the murder charge has not been set as of press time.

“Bond was set for the original charge of assault at $500,000 cash only, but since the charge has been upped to murder it has not been set yet,” Guffey said.

Guffey said the investigation is ongoing and his department is being assisted by the Kentucky State Police and KSP Detective Kenny Brown.

“There is still a lot of work that has to be done,” Guffey said. “I did get word from the coroner’s office in Fayette County and notified me time of death was 5:08 p.m. EST on Sunday, December 9, 2018.”

Clinton County Sheriff Jim Guffey, far right, Clinton County Deputy Jailer Jonathan Branham, center, and Clinton County Deputy Sheriff Rick Stearns, far left, escort murder suspect Emanuel Fluter into the Clinton County Courthouse Tuesday morning for an arraignment. Fluter is a suspect in the murder of his three-year-old niece, Josephine Bulubenchi, who died after having her throat slit early Saturday morning.

Clinton County Sheriff Jim Guffey opens the door to his cruiser before placing Emanuel Fluter inside Tuesday morning at the Clinton County Jail. The murder suspect was being transported to the Clinton County Courthouse for arraignment on charges of murdering his three-year-old niece, Josephine Bulubenchi. Below, Fluter is shown being escorted to the courthouse steps.