Police charge Clarkson woman with murder, as she becomes fourth person charged in Tromain Mackall homicide investigation; victim found dead in toolbox in Spring Fork Creek

melanie-howard-01-20
melanie-howard-01-20

On Friday night, a Clarkson woman became the fourth person charged in the murder investigation of the Ohio County man discovered in a toolbox in Spring Fork Creek in August 2016.

The arrest warrant for 59-year-old Melanie Howard, whose address is listed as North Patterson Street, states that she was “instrumental and complicit in every way” in the murder and disposal of 29-year-old Tromain Mackall’s body.

Howard, who was arrested on a Kentucky State Police warrant by Clarkson Police Chief Buck Meredith and Grayson County Special Deputy Mark Stanton, has been charged with murder, kidnapping, tampering with physical evidence, and unlawful imprisonment. She is being held in the Grayson County Detention Center.

Howard’s husband, 49-year-old William Howard Jr., was arrested on March 14, 2017, and charged with murder, kidnapping and tampering with physical evidence. On November 30, 2017, authorities arrested Chris Hill, of Owensboro, and saddled him with the same charges placed on William Howard. Then, on December 6, 2017, police charged 29-year-old Marcus Boyken, of Greensburg, with tampering with physical evidence.

William Howard and Hill are being held in the Daviess County Detention Center. Boyken was lodged in the Kentucky State Reformatory at La Grange on unrelated charges when he was charged in the Mackall investigation.

Mackall, who moved to Ohio County from Maryland only a short time before he was killed, was found, strangled to death, in a large tool box in Spring Fork Creek, near Short Creek, on August 2, 2016.

K105 will have more information on this story in the coming days.

William Howard Jr.
Christopher Hill

By Ken Howlett, News Director

Contact Ken at ken@k105.com or 270-259-6000