Slain boy struck with toilet tank lid
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Erie
Morning News newspaper:
Slain boy struck with toilet tank lid
Story Created: 09/08/1999
By KEVIN FLOWERS
Staff writer
Kentucky authorities say the former Erie-area boy beaten to death in an
Owensboro, Ky., hotel room over the weekend was repeatedly struck with
the
porcelain top of a toilet tank and the legs of chairs.
Kentucky Commonwealth Attorney Jay Wethington told the Owensboro, Ky.,
Messenger-Inquirer newspaper that the man accused of attacking the youth
and
his brother, 8-year-old Brandon Hakola, will be arraigned Wednesday on a
charge
of murder and a charge of attempted murder.
Authorities claim Barry Lynn Havener, 40, attacked the boys about 11
a.m.
Sunday in a room on the 10th floor of the Tower Knights Inn on Triplett
Street
in Owensboro. According to police, Havener did not know the boys or
their
mother, and a motive for the attack remained unclear Tuesday.
The Hakola family moved to Kentucky from the Erie area a few years ago,
according to Paulette Hagg of Erie, who watched the boys throughout the
summer.
The children's father, Christopher Hakola, lives in Harborcreek. He and
his
wife, Patricia Hakola, are separated.
The boys stayed with their mother in Kentucky, but spent summers in
Harborcreek
with their father, who returned to the Erie area after he and his wife
separated, Hagg said.
Brandon Hakola remained in stable condition Tuesday in the intensive
care unit
of Owensboro Mercy Health System, according to the hospital.
Mary Havener, the defendant's mother, told the Kentucky newspaper that
she had
tried for years to get help for her son, who she claimed is
schizophrenic and
suffers from a chemical imbalance. Her son also has a criminal record
for
theft, she said.
Barry Havener is being held in a Kentucky detention center, authorities
said.
Patricia Hakola was not in the motel at the time of the beatings,
Wethington
said. He said she was at a mobile home cleaning it in preparation for
moving
her family. The children had been left with a babysitter, Wethington
said.
Authorities said a maid discovered the Hakola boys in the room about
11:55 a.m.
Sunday and went to notify authorities. The maid returned to the room a
short
while later and saw Havener trying to reenter the room, Wethington said.
The maid told police Havener had blood on his hands and,when he saw her
he ran.
Police arrested Havener in the hotel's lobby.
Wethington also told the newspaper there was "blood all over" the toilet
tank
lid and chair legs found in the room. Owensboro police have said that
Havener
has confessed to attacking the boys.
Daviess County, Ky., Coroner Bob Howe said Christopher Hakola died of
trauma
with multiple head fractures, apparently inflicted by a blunt
instrument.
September 08, 1999
------------------------------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of the 9/7/99 online edition of The
Erie
Morning News newspaper:
Area boy, 10, beaten to death
Story Created: 09/07/1999
By SCOTT WESTCOTT
Staff writer
Paulette Haag spent the summer watching over brothers Christopher Jr.
and
Brandon Hakola. They'd play video games, go swimming and ride bikes
around
Mindi Trailer Court in Harborcreek.
Late Sunday night, Haag, 43, was trying to come to grips with the news
that
10-year-old Christopher was dead. His little brother, Brandon, 8, lies
in a
Owensboro, Ky. hospital bed, reportedly drifting in and out of
consciousness.
Police in Owensboro said Barry Lynn Havener, 40, allegedly confessed to
beating
the two boys Saturday with a blunt object in a extended-stay motel where
they
were reportedly living with their mother. Havener, who is not related to
the
boys, faces charges of murder and attempted murder. He is being held in
a
Kentucky detention center awaiting a Wednesday arraignment.
Investigators in Owensboro did not indicate whether the boys' mother,
Patricia
Hakola, knew Havener.
"When you find out how these two boys were hurt you just feel empty and
angry,'' said Haag, who watched the brothers throughout the summer.
"These boys
were small in stature. How a grown man could beat them with an object, I
just
don't understand it. Not those two.''
The brothers had been staying at the Tower Knights Inn with their
mother,
Patricia Hakola, according to an article in the Owensboro
Messenger-Inquirer.
Their father, Christopher Hakola Sr., lives in Mindi Court in
Harborcreek.
Haag said the Hakola family is from the Erie area. Several years ago,
they
moved to Kentucky for better job opportunities. Haag said Christopher
and
Patricia Hakola recently separated and Christopher moved back to the
Erie area.
His sons stayed with their mother in Kentucky, but spent the summer in
Harborcreek with their dad.
With the school year approaching, they had returned to be with their
mother in
Kentucky about three weeks ago.
Haag described Christopher as a "typical 10-year-old. Sweet. Bright. He
loved
video games and riding his bike.''
Brandon, who on Sunday was in stable condition at Owensboro Mercy Health
System, "is just sweet.
"He loves to hug everybody. He loves to hug people and go swimming --
and
eating peanut butter and butter sandwiches,'' said Haag.
The boys' father an employee of Harrison Machine Co. on Station Road,
left
Harborcreek Sunday to be with Brandon and make funeral arrangements for
Christopher Jr.
"He did everything for his boys,'' said Haag of Christopher Hakola Sr.
"His
boys are his life.''
September 07, 1999
------------------------------------------------------------
The followiong appears courtesy of the 9/9/99 online edition of The
Owensboro
Messenger-Inquirer newspaper:
Man pleads innocent to beating death
Prosecution, defense may both seek psychiatric evaluation
9 September 1999
By John Martin
Messenger-Inquirer
The man charged with beating a 10-year-boy to death and seriously
injuring the
boy's younger brother at an east Owensboro motel pleaded innocent
Wednesday
during his initial court appearance.
Barry Lynn Havener was arraigned from the Daviess County Detention
Center on
video. Standing beside his court-appointed lawyer, Stephanie Baisden,
Havener
was silent as District Judge Gene Lanham explained his rights to remain
silent
and to legal counsel.
"We wish to plead not guilty," Baisden said to Lanham.
Lanham set Havener's bond at $300,000. He scheduled an evidence hearing
for
Sept. 15.
According to Owensboro police and Commonwealth's Attorney Jay
Wethington,
Havener bludgeoned Christopher Hakola, 10, and Brandon Hakola, 8, with
the lid
of a toilet tank and with the legs of chairs Sunday at the Tower Knights
Inn,
1926 Triplett St.
The boys had been staying at the motel with their mother and sister
while
waiting to move to a new mobile home. Havener was also staying at the
motel.
Christopher Hakola died Sunday afternoon at Owensboro Mercy Health
System.
Brandon Hakola remained in serious condition at OMHS Wednesday.
Owensboro
police arrested Havener Sunday afternoon shortly after discovering the
boys in
a blood-covered room at the motel.
Wethington said that in the next few days he will likely ask the court
to
approve a full psychiatric evaluation of Havener, 40, at the Kentucky
Correctional Psychiatric Center in LaGrange.
Baisden said she will argue that Havener undergo a psychiatric
evaluation by an
independent agency. Dr. Eric Drogin, a clinical and forensic
psychologist from
Louisville who works with clients in the public defender system, has
evaluated
Havener previously and is familiar with his condition, Baisden said.
"I will be asking for Dr. Drogin to continue with his assessment or
evaluation," he said.
Baisden said she doesn't know yet what role, if any, Havener's mental
condition
will play in the defense. She said she was appointed as Havener's lawyer
only
Wednesday and needs more information about the case against him.
"Most of what I know, I read in the paper," she said.
Havener has a lengthy criminal history, and, according to his mother and
to
court records, a history of mental disability.
Western State Hospital, a state-run mental health facility in
Hopkinsville, has
diagnosed Havener as having schizophrenia, bipolar and a chemical
imbalance,
his mother, Mary Havener, told the Messenger-Inquirer Monday.
Barry Lynn Havener was examined earlier this year by Drogin after being
indicted on felony theft charges December 1998 for allegedly stealing
two
vehicles. In an Aug. 5 letter to Jerry Johnson, a public defense
attorney who
was representing Havener at the time, Drogin said that Havener has
"diminished
cognitive capacity" and noted evidence of disorientation,
distractability,
calculation difficulties and short-term memory defects.
Drogin found Havener to have "elementary grade level" reading, writing,
arithmetic and vocabulary skills. But he found Havener's condition to be
stable.
Havener pleaded guilty Aug. 10 to a lesser charge, unauthorized use of a
vehicle. He also has prior conviction for first-degree promoting
contraband and
assault.
According to Wethington, Havener didn't have a relationship with the
mother of
the two boys, Patricia Hakola. He said Patricia Hakola wasn't home when
her
sons were beaten. The boys have an older sister who is about 12 years
old.
Baisden said that she wants the evidence hearing scheduled next week to
go
forward. Wethington suggested that the hearing might be waived, sending
the
case straight to a grand jury.
"I will have to receive a lot more information from the commonwealth's
attorney
and from our own investigation before deciding to waive that hearing,"
she
said.
Meanwhile, the Safe Children Foundation and others are planning a
community
memorial service for Christopher Hakola.
A meeting to plan the memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. today at
the Safe
Children Foundation office, 415 St. Ann St.
"When there's a real tragedy in any community, there is a need for the
people
in that community to mourn," said Christy Kramer, the foundation's
director.
Kramer said the foundation has been involved with organizing grief
counselors
for peers of the Hakolas. Christopher Hakola was a pupil at the
Owensboro 5-6
Center. "There are a lot of children affected by this who played with
these
children."
Cindy Clark, a former neighbor of the Hakolas, is helping plan the
memorial
service. She said her son played with the Christopher and Brandon, who
she
called "the huggingest little guys I've ever seen."
"They would hug you when they came and they would hug you when they
left,"
Clark said.
The outpouring of sympathy for the Hakola family extended to Havener's
defense
counsel.
"We want to offer all of our prayers and condolences to the Hakola
family,"
Baiden said. "Regardless of what our investigation finds, there has been
a
tragedy here."