The Grayson County Sheriff’s Office and Kentucky State Police have been investigating after a man was beaten, strangled and cut with a knife on Pearman Road, near Wax.
The investigation began Thursday night around midnight when Grayson County Deputies Rance Whobrey and DJ Newton arrived at a residence in the 1800 block of Broad Ford Road after a woman walked to the home saying her husband had assaulted her, and was going to kill her boyfriend, Bobby Cottrell (Cottrell only recently moved to Grayson County from Hardin County).
The woman told police that her husband, 30-year-old Curtis Potts, of Sonora, discovered she was having an affair with Cottrell, and abducted at knifepoint her from somewhere in Cecilia, demanding she take him to Cottrell’s residence so Potts could kill him. Potts was armed with a shotgun and knife, according to his wife.
While Potts and his wife were traveling to Grayson County, Potts beat her and sliced a large gash in her knee with a whiskey bottle.
Potts’ wife told authorities she directed her husband to Broad Ford Road in an attempt to protect Cottrell, who, she told police, did not live in the area.
When Potts and his wife arrived on Broad Ford Road, she told police that she asked Potts to let her out of the truck and that she would kill Cottrell. Again, the woman, with this statement, appears to be trying to protect Cottrell and herself from Potts’ rage.
It should be noted that Potts’ wife was not in possession of a weapon (ostensibly to be used to kill Cottrell) when contacted and questioned by deputies and state police early Friday morning, just after midnight. After refusing medical treatment and being interviewed by deputies and state police, a relative arrived and picked up Potts’ wife from the Broad Ford Road residence after 1:00 Friday morning. She was eventually taken to and treated at Hardin Memorial Hospital.
Fast forward several hours to approximately 5:30 Friday morning when police received a report of a vehicle parked in the back yard of a residence in the 12000 block of Grayson Springs Road, not far from Broad Ford Road.
Upon arriving at the Grayson Springs Road residence, authorities discovered it was Cottrell, who had been beaten, strangled and sliced with a knife or other sharp object. He was transported to Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center.
The Kentucky State Police arrest citation for Potts, who was taken into custody Friday afternoon in Hardin County, tells a different story than what Potts’ wife told police.
According to the citation, Potts’ wife led him to Cottrell’s residence on Broad Ford Road, and dropped her off. The citation reads, “Curtis made (his wife) show him where Cottrell lived. Curtis waited for Cottrell to leave the residence at which time he ran Cottrell off the road. After running Cottrell off the road, Potts began assaulting Cottrell in Cottrell’s vehicle. Cottrell attempted to escape from the vehicle before being subdued by Potts, during which time he was choked unconscious.”
According to the citation, the assault took place on Pearman Road, which intersects Broad Ford Road a few hundred yards from the residence where Potts’ wife was found and questioned by the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office and Kentucky State Police.
Presumably, after assaulting Cottrell, Potts left the area, with Cottrell apparently later regaining consciousness before driving to the 1200 block of Grayson Springs Road and hiding behind a residence in his vehicle.
Unanswered questions abound in this still developing case, such as why did Potts’ wife not tell police the truth while being questioned on Broad Ford Road? Based on the timeline of events, it appears that Potts’ assault of Cottrell — at approximately 11:50 Thursday night, according to the arrest citation — occurred while deputies were en route to the original call of Potts’ wife in distress at the Broad Ford Road residence.
Potts is being held in the Grayson County Detention Center where he’s been charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault (domestic violence) and terroristic threatening. The terroristic threatening charge arises from Potts threatening to “f— up” the police when he gets out of jail, according to the citation.
It should be noted that the address on Potts’ arrest citation says he lives in Sonora (as mentioned above). While social media pages are often not accurate, according to his wife’s Facebook page, she lives in a different part of Hardin County. Additionally, Potts’ wife’s status says she’s “separated.”
Kentucky State Trooper Brandon Brooks is leading the investigation.
K105 will update this story as additional information becomes available.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com or 270-259-6000
