Muhlenberg County Kentucky
News: D
Murder of Henry & Maggie Dukes
Sheriff Finds No Motive in Slaying of Old Couple
Greenville, Ky. - Leslie Dukes, 52, was held to the May 13 term of the Muhlenberg County grand jury today on charges growing out of the slaying of his father and step-mother. Dukes allegedly shot the couple at their home near Weir, a community seven miles south of Greenville. The motiveless murder occurred Saturday.
Dukes, who was arraigned before the county court today, waived his hearing and was held without bond. The arraignment was held up this morning awaiting the conclusion of an inquest looking into the double slaying. The coroners jury ruled both deaths resulted from shotgun wounds and that the couple had been murdered.
Dukes faced charges of wilful murder in the deaths of Henry Dukes, 82, and his wife, Maggie, 80.
Sheriff Philip Stone said he could establish no motive for the act.
Using a single-barrel shotgun, Dukes shot his father in the head and his step-mother in the mouth. Officers found the elder Dukes, clad in long underwear, sprawled on the floor at the foot of the bed which bore the body of the old woman who apparently had gone to bed for the night.
Officers put together this story.
After shooting his parents, Leslie Dukes called for a taxicab to take him to Morehead, another Muhlenberg County community where his wife, Bernie, was visiting a sister for the night.
The taxi driver, Jerry Carver, 44, said Dukes was in possession of the shotgun when they headed for Morehead. Carver said Dukes planned to kill his wife, too.
When Dukes went into his sister-in-law's home, Carver removed the shell from the shotgun and hid the gun under the front seat of the taxi. When Dukes came out of the house, he had changed his mind about killing his wife. “I love her too much,” Carver quoted him as saying.
Dukes had called for Carver over the phone in the home of a neighbor, Buford Johnson. Dukes told Johnson of killing his parents and Johnson informed Sheriff Stone, after Dukes departed for Morehead.
When Dukes returned from the visit with his wife, officers found him sitting on the front porch of his parents' home, the shotgun standing in a corner. He put up no resistance and was placed in Muhlenberg County jail.
Stone said Dukes had lived in California for several years but returned here about 18 months ago to do some truck gardening. He and his wife were living in the home of the elder Dukes.
Double funeral services will be held for Henry and Maggie Dukes at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Cherry Grove Church of Christ at Weir.
Dukes is survived by three daughters, Mrs. Delbert Phillips, Mrs. Clyde West and Mrs. W. H. Saddler, all of Route 3, Greenville; five sons, Sherman, Herman, Shelby and Ernest, all of Willetts, Calif., and Leslie; 30 grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren.
Mrs. Dukes is survived by five sisters, Mrs. Joe Rice, Mrs. Clarence Miller, Mrs. Pete Ford and Mrs. Jesse James, all of Greenville, and Mrs. Vernie Young, Chicago, and a brother, Jack Dukes, Greenville.
The bodies are at the Gary Funeral Home.
Image caption: In Handcuffs - Leslie Dukes, 52, admitted slayer of his father and step-mother at Weir, is about to enter the Muhlenberg County Jail at Greenville. Arresting officers include State Trooper Herbert Johnson, left, and Sheriff Phillip Stone. Dukes had no motive for shotting his father, Henry Dukes, 82, and his step-mother, Maggie, 80.
- Source: Messenger-Inquirer [Owensboro, KY], 5 May 1958.
Updated April 5, 2024.