Kentucky Prosecutor Accused of Murdering Wife

A Kentucky prosecutor has been charged with murdering his wife more than two years ago and tampering with evidence. According to an indictment filed last week, 52-year-old Donald Kyle Deskins killed Judith Dawn Deskins, 46, on April 24, 2021 “with the intent to cause her death or under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life wantonly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death,” Law & Crime reports. The indictment states that she died of blunt force trauma, reports Mountain Top Media.

Deskins is a former Pike County assistant county attorney currently serving as the city attorney in Elkhorn City, WYMT reports. According to the indictment, he “destroyed, mutilated, concealed, removed, or altered physical evidence” at his home on the day of his wife’s death. He also allegedly tampered with evidence on July 28, 2021, the day he turned his laptop over to investigators, reports NBC News.

On the day before he gave investigators his laptop, friends congratulated Deskins on Facebook after he announced that was in a relationship with another woman, reports Law & Crime. Deskins has been held without bond since his arrest last week. His case will be handled outside the county, with Johnson County Commonwealth’s Attorney Floyd “Tony” Skeans serving as special prosecutor. (Read more Kentucky stories.)