Six men were charged with the manufacture and initiation of process to manufacture methamphetamine from an incident Wednesday night at a home on 830 Kevin Road in West Knox County.

 The men are identified as:

43 year old Johnny Parker Lane had bond set at $10,000, which he made and is out of jail. Ron Walter Austin, age 32, is still in jail on a hold from Anderson County.  He has a criminal record in Knox County consisting of theft and possession of drug paraphernalia. Russell Lee Jarrard is being held on a $10,000 bond.  The 36 year old has previous convictions of assault and vandalism.

Johnny Parker Lane	Ron Walter Austin	Russell Lee Jarrard

Twenty-six year old William Matthew Allison is out of jail after making a $4,000 bond.  He has a criminal history involving speeding, evading arrest, and driving under the influence.  Aaron D. Lawhorn, 27, is out of jail after making a $10,000 bond.  He has no previous criminal record in Knox County.  Joseph Akins is also out after making a $4,000 bond.  The 29 year old has an extensive criminal history in Knox County which includes driving without a license, driving while privilege revoked, burglary, theft, and multiple counts of aggravated burglary. 

William Matthew Allison	Aaron D. Lawhorn	Joseph Akins

The owner of the house, Boyd Lane, does not live at the house and was not charged.  He will, however, be responsible for finding a private company certified by the Knox County Health Department to inspect the house and advise what needs to be decontaminated.

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the suicide of the man being held in the murder of Johnia Berry.  Twenty-two year old Taylor Olson was found hanged in his Knox County Jail cell at 12:56 a.m. Monday.  Olson had torn a bed sheet and hung it from a clothes hook in the corner of his cell where he hanged himself.  There was no prior indication of suicidal tendencies. Olson was being held in a cell alone and was checked on hourly. 

Jail officers found Olson unresponsive and started CPR and continued until Rural Metro arrived and declared him dead.  His body was transported to the University of Tennessee Forensic Center.  He left letters to his family. 

Taylor has been jailed since September 2007 charged with first degree murder and held on a million dollar bond for the death of Berry.  The 21 year old was found stabbed to death outside her West Knoxville apartment on December 6, 2004.

Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale mistakenly mentions in his audit response that the Knox County Sheriff’s Office bought $1,587.50 of donuts from Krispy Kreme.  That simply is not true.  The Explorers’ Post of the KCSO bought Krispy Kreme coupon books for its fundraiser.  No food was ever purchased.  The sale of the coupon books brought in $2,759.50.  After the initial $1,587.50 was paid back to the account, the remaining money was used for uniforms, equipment, and travel expenses for competitions.  There are receipts for all expenses.

 Knox County Auditor Richard Walls and the state auditor both looked at the account and found no impropriety.

The Explorers is part of the Boy Scouts’ Learning for Life program and promotes on the job training for young people from 14 to 21 years old.   It is funded entirely from donations and does not receive any money from the Knox County budget.

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Knoxville man wanted for attempted first degree murder of his wife Thursday morning.  He is 42 year old Charles N. Edwards of 6316 Netherlands Drive in Knoxville. 

He is accused of trying to kill his wife in their home Wednesday by trying to strangle her and suffocate her with a pillow.  He also struck her with his hands and kicked her and pointed a gun at her and said he would kill her.  Before fleeing their residence, she was able to call 911 for help.  Edwards also fled the scene.  Officers arrested him without incident at the Netherlands Drive
address shortly before 9:00 a.m.