Trial set for Clark woman’s 2013 death

Published 8:36 am Friday, March 31, 2017

A Powell County man charged with killing a Winchester woman in 2013 is back on the trial docket for this fall.

Lonnie Martin, 42, of Stanton, is now scheduled for an Oct. 16 trial date for the death of Kyla Kline in Montgomery County.

Kline was last seen by relatives on July 3, 2013. Her body was found almost four weeks later on a farm near the Clark-Montgomery county line.

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Martin’s trial has been postponed a number of times for a multitude of reasons including evidence testing delays, the resignation of one of the prosecutors and the retirement of Martin’s own attorney. The trial itself has also been moved to Rowan Circuit Court in Morehead because of publicity after Martin was charged with assaulting a deputy in the Montgomery County Regional Jail last year.

The new trial date also pushes Martin’s Clark County murder trial back even further. Following his arrest for Kline’s death, he was indicted for the 1995 death of his cousin Joseph B. Martin. Clark County prosecutors said they want the Montgomery County case to conclude first before seeking a trial for their case.

In earlier court hearings, detectives said an autopsy showed Kline was stabbed four times. They said they used GPS coordinates from Kline’s cell phone to track her movement, which listed one call from the farm where her remains were found July 28, 2013, with help from cadaver search dogs. Her body was found beneath a pile of brush in a wooded area on the farm. The dogs also alerted on the door handles of Martin’s van and on buried tarps found on the property.

During the investigation, Winchester Police detectives interviewed Lonnie Martin as well. A statement during one interview led detectives to reopen the investigation into Joseph Martin’s death. Joseph Martin fell from a Washington Street bridge and was hit by a passing train.

Lonnie Martin is charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence in Montgomery County and a single count of murder in Clark County.

About Fred Petke

Fred Petke is a reporter for The Winchester Sun, the Jessamine Journal and the State Journal. His beats include cops, courts, fire, public records, city and county government and other news. To contact Fred, email fred.petke@bluegrassnewsmedia.com or call 859-759-0051.

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