Kinyon Charged With Murder Of Batey

BATEY, KINYON, HINKE, SCHROEDER, CROUCH, COUNTRYMAN, COOPER, MILLER

Posted By: Anne Hermann (email)
Date: 12/9/2008 at 21:29:18

Jackson Sentinel
July 13, 1962

Accused Held in Clinton Jail Without Bond

Donald Kinyon, 27-year old Maquoketan, the prime suspect in the assault and death of a 60-year-old Maquoketa farmer, Vincent Batey, Wednesday was arraigned on a charge of first degree murder.

Justice of the Peace Clifford L. Miller, before whom Kinyon appeared, ordered that the suspect be held without bond. Kinyon is charged in connection with the beating of Batey on July 2 and his death on Sunday, July 8, Kinyon was bound to the district court.

Kinyon, since June 14, a hired hand on the Batey farm three miles northeast of here, has also been charged with assault with intent to inflict great bodily injury on Batey’s wife, Mabel, 63. Both Batey and his wife were found, beaten on the Batey farm the evening of July 2. When arraigned last week on the assault charge, Kinyon was unable to post $10,000 bond set by Justice Miller.

From Clinton

Kinyon was brought by Jackson county sheriff’s deputies Wednesday from his maximum security jail cell in Clinton to Maquoketa for arraignment on the murder count. As a precautionary measure. Kinyon last Saturday was transferred to the Clinton county mail. He has since been confined to a cell by himself in the jail’s upstairs quarters. Sheriff Clarence Hinke, jr., said “as far as we know” Kinyon had not learned of the death of one of the two he is alleged to have assaulted “until he was informed of the (murder) charge” Wednesday morning in Maquoketa.

Hinke, County Attorney Asher E. Schroeder and an officer of the Iowa Bureau of Criminal Investigation were closeted with Kinyon for the better part of two hours following his arraignment Wednesday. The sheriff reported “We learned nothing additional from him, although he appeared to be in a bit more ‘conversational’ frame of mind today (Wednesday) than he has been since he was arrested.” Even so, Sheriff Hinke added, “about all we could pry out of him (Kinyon) was the ‘I don’t remember’ kind of a response to questions we asked him.”

Following arraignment and questioning, Deputy Sheriff-Warren G. “Jack” Crouch and Special Sheriff’s Deputies Clarence Countryman and Merlin Cooper returned Kinyon to Clinton by car. Authorities reported Kinyon was close-mouthed both enroute to and from Clinton.

Handcuffed

Handcuffed and attired in a short-sleeved sports shirt and a pair of denim trousers, the unshaven Kinyon entered the Jackson county courthouse about 11:30 a.m. Crouch, Countryman and Cooper escorted the prisoner to the court of Justice Miller Kinyon paused momentarily in the corridor to obtain a drink of water from a wall fountain.

The arraignment itself required only a matter of a few minutes. Surrounded by Sheriff Hinke, his deputies and County Attorney Schroeder, Kinyon was formally advised by Mr. Miller and Schroeder, Kinyon was formally advised by Mr. Miller and Schroeder of the charge being preferred against him. All the while Kinyon handcuffed, his head lowered and his eyes on the floor.

When Justice Miller mentioned “murder” as the charge, Kinyon did close his eyes for several seconds. Other than that, however, he didn’t speak. Asked if he were charged in his lawful name, Kinyon’s only response was a nod of his head in the affirmative.

Advised

Sheriff Hinke once again advised Kinyon that he had a right to place a telephone call and to engage legal counsel. The sheriff said, however, “He didn’t respond to either suggestion.” Hinke said “to the best of my knowledge” Kinyon hadn’t as yet retained a lawyer.

“I also told him,” the sheriff said, “that Clinton county authorities have been advised that anytime he (Kinyon) wants to he is to be allowed to place the phone call.” Clinton jail personnel hadn’t informed Kinyon of Batey’s death or of the impending murder charge, Sheriff Hinke told the Jackson Sentinel.

Meanwhile the sheriff’s office, with the aid of two state bureau of criminal investigation agents, continues a full-dress investigation of the assaults and the subsequent death of one of the victims. Hinke said Wednesday that officials now are questioning “relatives, friends, neighbors – anyone who we think may be able to give us something concrete in the case.” He added, “We are getting quite a few conflicting accounts of things, but we expect that.”

Question Sheri

Again Tuesday, Mr. and Mrs. Batey’s 8-year old granddaughter, Sheri Ann Batey, in whose company Kinyon was found when arrested near Andrew late July 3, was questioned. “We again ran up a blind alley,” Sheriff Hinke reported. “The child still maintains she witnessed Kinyon strike her grandmother over the head with a chair and that Kinyon told her, after he took her and Batey’s car and left the farm, that he struck Grandpa in the head with his fists,” the sheriff said.

The Batey child was unharmed during the incident and the time she was with Kinyon, Sheriff Hinke emphasized this week. “There have been reports circulating to the effect that the girl was molested and attacked, but they are untrue,” he said.