A Kentucky couple has been charged with killing a man by throwing him off a second story balcony in Elizabethtown.
Shawn, 39, and Nancy Durbin, 36, were initially charged with assault when they were arrested on November 13, after Elizabethtown police officers were called about a man who may have fallen over a balcony, WLKY reported.
Bobby Pennington, 62, was taken to a local hospital in critical condition and then to the University of Lexington Hospital, where he died four days later.
Investigators determined that the Durbins threw Pennington off the balcony, and when the case was brought to a grand jury, their charges were upgraded to murder. Shawn Durbin is also charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest, jail records show.
According to The News-Enterprise, police found a witness performing CPR on Pennington when they arrived on the scene. The witness told officers that she saw the Durbins drag Pennington out of their apartment and throw him over the balcony rail and onto a concrete pad below.
An arrest report said he had several vertebra fractures and broken ribs.
Nancy Durbin denied having anything to do with the incident when questioned by police. Shawn Durbin began kicking the window’s of an officer’s patrol vehicle as he was being transported to jail. The officer stopped the vehicle and opened the back door, and Durbin promptly spit in his face.
The officer dragged Durbin out of the vehicle and put him on the ground, where he promptly grabbed the officer’s crotch, the report says. He continued to fight with officers until he was restrained and taken to the police department, where he was uncooperative.
The Durbins are being held at the Hardin County Detention Center on $500,000 bonds each.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Featured image: Nancy and Shawn Durbin/Hardin County Detention Center]
