Accused murderer Chad Durbin has been found competent to stand trial for killing Robert Hayes on April 1, 2017.
A mental evaluation of Durbin was ordered by Grayson Circuit Court Judge Bruce Butler in late March, after Durbin’s attorney filed a motion requesting a mental evaluation. Earlier this week, it was announced that Durbin had been found competent.
Chad Durbin and his ex-wife Tiffany Durbin stand accused of conspiring to kill the 66-year-old Hayes, who was also Tiffany Durbin’s boyfriend.
Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Jeremy Logsdon said his office will try the pair as co-defendants in a trial that is scheduled to begin August 28, 2018.
Tiffany Durbin was originally charged with hindering prosecution or apprehension, tampering with physical evidence and abuse of a corpse. The hindering prosecution or apprehension charge was dropped by prosecutors in favor of the complicity to commit murder charge. In Kentucky, complicity to commit murder is considered the same as murder in respects to sentencing guidelines.
The arrest citation for 40-year-Chad Durbin says he admitted to shooting Hayes with a 9mm handgun around noon on April 1. He told police he shot Hayes in both the chest and face.
In her statement to police, 36-year-old Tiffany Durbin said she was at the home she shared with Hayes, located at 942 Coy Drane Road, when she witnessed Chad Durbin shoot Hayes multiple times. She then left the residence, with Chad Durbin saying he’d “take care of it,” intimating that he would dispose of the body.
Tiffany Durbin told police she returned to the Coy Drane Road location later that day and Hayes’ body was not there. She then told police that she had two “acquaintances” move a trailer that belonged to Hayes to her grandparents’ property on Frontage Road. It was at that trailer that Hayes’ body was discovered on April 19, 2017, nearly three weeks after he was killed.
Chad Durbin, who has three children with Tiffany Durbin, told police he shot Hayes “in order to protect his children’s mother.” No additional information was given regarding why Chad Durbin felt his ex-wife and children were unsafe.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com or 270-259-6000
