What appeared to be the scene of a possible beating or even murder in Livingston instead turned out to be the scene of an unplanned, self-inflicted injury.

According to Livingston Police Department Chief Greg Etheredge, the attendant at East Main Produce at the old Blue Circle Restaurant property in Livingston was opening up the produce stand Thursday, July 12 when she noticed large blood stains on some cardboard that was laying on the ground at the back of the business along with some personal items including a belt, blue jeans, and boots. Some of those items also appeared bloody.

Etheredge said, “It was the one day that it was raining, so you couldn’t follow the blood anywhere, so we began to collect evidence.”

“Old-fashioned police work did it. We knew that the blood wasn’t very old. So ultimately, we found a check stub in the pant pocket, but all the rain had washed all the print off of it except the original printer’s tag with the check number.

“We actually got out the old-fashioned magnifying glass and were able to see it was a company in Hermitage. So we ended up calling them and having them track the check number. About the same time our legwork had come up with the name, we had the name from the company.”

Examples of the “legwork,” Etheredge noted: In addition to the check stub, investigating officers were able to identify some of the clothing left at the scene. Officers had also discovered three bloody fingerprints at the scene that would have eventually identified the individual because he is on probation for a prior offense. The prints proved unnecessary, according to Etheredge, who said officers found the individual lived “about a block away.”

“He had come back late that night. Presumably, he fell. He wasn’t beat up. He wasn’t assaulted. We know that from where his injury was. It was on his hand. It was like he’d fell and cut himself on a piece of glass.”

Etheredge said the individual, who was not named because he was not formally charged with any offense, had reportedly sat at the scene for a time after tripping and suffering the cut. He was ordered to pay restitution to the business for the clean-up costs, Etheredge said.

According to Etheredge, Pickett County Sheriff’s Department had brought its K-9 officer to the scene to aid in the investigation, and another was on the way from Nashville when the ultimate discovery was made that the individual was not an assault or murder victim.

“Our job is to be prepared for the worst-case scenario,” Etheredge said.

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Kalyn Marie Polochak will turn 18 next month in state prison as she serves a life sentence for helping her boyfriend murder his grandmother.

That boyfriend, Benjamin Bowers, 23, of Moore Road in Overton County, is already in prison serving a life sentence for the murder of Pearl Breeding, 72, who raised him.

Bowers pled guilty in the case last year, and prosecutors moved to have Polochak, who was only 16 at the time of the crime, tried as an adult.

Her trial began a week ago Monday in Overton County Criminal Court and ended Thursday afternoon, July 12 when the jury, after deliberating four hours, returned a verdict of guilty on all counts–first degree murder, conspiracy to commit first degree murder, felony murder, especially aggravated robbery, and theft over $1,000.

Court observers said the girl, who will turn 18 on August 6, wept upon hearing the verdict.

The case began December 11, 2010, when Pearl Breeding’s daughter went to her home on Moore Road and found her 72-year-old mother dead. She had been strangled and suffocated, and her grandson and his girlfriend, who lived with her, were nowhere to be found.

The next day, Bowers and Polochak were arrested in Indiana. They had taken money from Breeding and had driven to Indiana in her car.

After being arrested, Bowers gave a statement to TBI agents confessing that he and the girl had planned and rehearsed the robbery and murder.

They had attacked her when she arrived home that day, strangled her with a dog leash, and suffocated her with a pillow over her head.

In Polochak’s trial, state prosecutors introduced testimony from a DNA expert who said Polochak’s DNA was found on the pillow that was used to suffocate the elderly woman.

The murder conviction means an automatic life sentence for Polochak, and she will not be eligible for parole for 51 years, according to District Attorney Randy York.

DA York and Assistant DA Mark Gore prosecuted the case. Attorney Mike Savage represented Polochak, and Judge David Patterson presided at trial.

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A local man lost his life Friday morning, July 13 in Crossville, when he was electrocuted while working at a local business that had suffered storm damage the week before, according to a police report.

The victim was identified as Joey W. Taylor, 36, of Poplar Springs Road, Cookeville. The accident occurred at Cumberland County Co-op on Elmore Road around 7:10 a.m., according to Ptl. Donald Hammons’ report.

Witnesses told police that Taylor was in a bucket above the ground disconnecting dead electrical wires from a building damaged in the previous night’s storm.

Workers on the ground, who witnessed the incident, said a wire from the pole Taylor was working on that was on the ground arced on a metal base of a propane refill tank in the business’ lot. As a result, the victim was struck by an arc of electricity, causing an electrical explosion.

Crossville Police and Crossville Fire Department responded to the scene and attempted life-saving measures on the victim for a period of time before he was transported to Cumberland Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.