Published: January 25, 2008 04:04 pm         

New arrest in 1984 Vigo County murder means David Scott could go free

TERRE HAUTE — David L. Scott remained incarcerated in Miami Correctional Facility near Kokomo on Friday night, awaiting release for a murder authorities now say he did not commit 23 years and four months ago Sunday.

“Obviously we’re going to make it happen as quickly as possible,” said Vigo County Prosecutor Terry Modesitt regarding the petition for release jointly filed by his office and Scott.

Scott is expected in Vigo County Superior Court Division 6 on Monday morning, at which time DNA evidence will be submitted indicating that Kevin Mark Weeks of LaGrange, Ky., not Scott, bludgeoned 89-year-old Loretta Keith of West Terre Haute to death with a hydraulic jack April 18, 1984.

Modesitt said based on the recent findings, there was no relationship between Scott and Keith’s murder, for which Scott was sentenced to 80 years in prison April 26, 1985, a term which was later reduced to 50 on appeal.

Indiana State Police Lt. Chris Wilson and Kentucky State Police detectives arrested Weeks at 2:30 p.m. Friday at his place of employment in Shelbyville, Ky.

Weeks, 44, was a 21-year-old resident of West Terre Haute at the time of the homicide.

Weeks remained in the Shelby County Jail in Kentucky awaiting extradition Friday.

Scott’s sister, Carol Smith, said the extra couple days don’t amount to much compared with more than half a life in prison.

Scott was 17 years old when sentenced to half a century in prison. He was being readied to transfer from the Miami Correctional Facility in Bunker Hill to a work-release program out of Putnamville next year for good behavior, she said.

“We worked for it for so long,” she said. “Monday, he’ll be all right.”

Smith said she and their mother, Nora Brown, along with members of the Keith family have been fighting to have the DNA evidence admitted for quite some time, maintaining his innocence for the entire 23 years.

Modesitt said DNA testing was not available in 1984, and that the jury convicted Scott guilty based largely on a covertly taped admission that he made to Clifford “Sonny” Allison saying that he and Paul Wycoff did in fact kill Keith.

“I would say most juries would say, ‘Well he wouldn’t say he did it unless he did,’” Modesitt said.

Charges were dropped against Wycoff, according to a probable- cause affidavit filed in Modesitt’s office against Weeks.

But Smith maintains, as she has for more than two decades, that the taping was a setup and her brother was tricked, not knowing he was being recorded.

Police needed someone to blame, and her brother, then a special-needs high-school student, fit the bill, she said, and has said since 1984.

“But that’s something we have to deal with,” she said, indicating that a civil suit against the state may be coming once the family gets Scott safely out of prison custody. “He’s already done 23 years for something he did not do. It’s not all about the money. It’s about getting my brother cleared.”

Modesitt, who had just been graduated from law school around the time of the case, said he’s thankful the case is being settled.

“I think it’s good for our office and the State Police to get this thing finally solved. Obviously the last thing anybody wants is for someone to be in prison when they’re not even guilty,” he said.

Smith, who said both her family and the Keiths have been “beating on doors long enough,” credited Lt. Wilson for driving the investigation which led Modesitt to allow for the DNA review.

“He really dug into it,” she said. “We made a lot of progress in the last year.”

But as for other law enforcement, many retired, who handled the case, Smith said corruption and mishandling was rampant.

“That DNA’s set up in that courthouse for 23 years,” she said.

Smith declined to say where Scott would be living once released, but was adamant that “it won’t be in West Terre Haute.”

While in prison, Smith said her brother has earned educational certifications, including high school and college degrees, and has job offers waiting.

“I’m just glad it’s over for now,” she said.

Brian Boyce can be reached at (812) 231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.