Jury selection begins Monday in murder trial
Pulliam charged in 2018 case stemming from property dispute
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in the trial of a Heth man charged with murder over three years ago.
The trial for Travis Pulliam, 48, is set for next week at the St. Francis County Courthouse. He is charged in the Sept. 2, 2018, death of Donald Dishon, 52.
Although originally charged with capital murder, Pulliam will be tried for first-degree murder after the charge was amended this week, according to court officials.
Court records show Pulliam and Dishon were involved in a property dispute and on the afternoon of the murder, Pulliam had hired three men to clean out a trailer in Heth where Dishon and his fiancé had reportedly been living.
The men said that while they were working, Dishon, who they said was armed with a handgun, arrived at the trailer and threatened them, telling them to leave the property before he left. One of the men called Pulliam, who arrived at the property about the same time as Dishon came back.
Pulliam told investigators he notified the St. Francis County Sheriff’s Department while he was en route to the trailer.
Witnesses told police they saw both men armed with handguns before running away and hearing gunshots.
During an interview with officers, Pulliam said he and Dishon exchanged gunfire, and when he saw the man lying on the ground injured, walked over to him. Pulliam said Dishon attempted to raise his hand when he shot him in the head, court documents show.
The State Medical Examiner reported Dishon was shot five times – once in the back, once in each hand and twice in the head.
When police arrived, Pulliam was sitting in his truck and taken into custody without incident.
Investigators recovered numerous spent shell casings at the scene from both .40 caliber and 9mm weapons.
Pulliam, who has been free on bond since Dishon’s murder, was arrested again in April this year on charges of stealing from an elderly woman after her family began questioning purchases she made for Pulliam and money she loaned to him.
The family told officers the woman suffers from symptoms affecting her memory and they believe Pulliam was trying to exploit her condition.
In that case, Pulliam is charged with abuse of an endangered or impaired person.
Pulliam was originally ordered to be held on a $1 million
(Continued from Page 1) million cash bond in the most recent case, but during a court proceeding soon after that charge was levied, his bond was reduced to $250,000, which he posted, allowing him to be released again from custody.
This will be the second murder trial to be held in SFC this year.
First Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Christopher Morledge will preside over the trial.