By Julia Hunter, New Era Staff Writer

ELKTON, Ky. — Three weeks before the scheduled start of a 27-year-old cold case murder trial, the discovery of a single cardboard box may alter the trial for everyone involved.

During a status hearing Thursday in Todd Circuit Court, Logan Circuit Clerk Sherry Wilkins brought a shabby, brown cardboard box into the courtroom.

The box, carried to the witness stand, had the attention of Commonwealth’s Attorney Charles Orange, defendant Norman Graham and defense attorney Carol Johnson.

Its contents have the potential to change the upcoming trial for all of them. It contains the court stenographers’ notes from Graham’s first trial in 1981, which ended in a mistrial. Previously, court officials believed the case file was lost.

Graham, 61, a former Guthrie resident who now lives in Danville, Va.,was indicted in January and charged with capital murder and rape in the death of Janice Kaye Williams, 21, of Guthrie on June 30, 1980.

The grand jury returned the indictment after a Kentucky State Police detective presented new DNA evidence in the case.

William’s body was found in her Guthrie trailer, stabbed 27 times, her throat cut and her hands tied. Evidence showed that she had been sexually assaulted, according to police reports.

Graham was tried shortly after Williams’ death, but it ended in a mistrial. The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning charges could be brought again.

The transcripts of that trial had disappeared until Friday afternoon, when Wilkins ventured back into the attic of the Logan County Courthouse to search for them one more time after being contacted by the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office.

Wilkins had hunted for the documents nearly a year ago but couldn’t find them. She said during this trip to the attic she located the box, which was hidden behind others. Graham’s name had almost completely faded from a label on the box.

Since Williams’ death, many of the key witnesses have either died or cannot be located, Judge William Harris said in court Thursday. The transcripts have the potential to provide testimony of unavailable witnesses to be submitted into evidence during the new trial.

“It changes how the game is played,” Johnson said.

But as Wilkins pulled the materials from the box Thursday afternoon, it was clear the condition of the contents might make some of the records inadmissible.

Numerous steno pads, written in shorthand by a court stenographer, who died in 1985, several cassette tapes and other reports, such as lab reports and polygraph results, have been stored for more than 20 years in the attic of the courthouse, which is prone to extreme heat during the summer, said Wilkins. This could have warped the cassette tapes. It was also questionable whether the stenographer’s handwritten notes would be easily understood, Harris said.

“For all we know this stuff may be undecipherable, as far as the stenographer’s notes are concerned” Harris said. “And it is anybody’s guess what condition the tapes are in.”

Popping one of the tapes in a cassette player, Harris decided to determine whether the tapes would be usable, after getting the OK from both prosecution and defense.

A Kentucky State Police detective showed concern about playing the tapes, because according to his lab, if the tapes were in poor condition they may only be able to be played once, which would then destroy them.

However, shortly after Harris pressed play on a tape player, a squeaky, muffled, but audible testimony echoed throughout the courtroom. A recognizable voice — that of Johnson, who represented Graham in 1981 — came over the speaker.

Since the tapes were not apparently destroyed, Harris granted a motion requested by both prosecution and defense to postpone the trial date, which was originally set for Oct. 22.

“If you are going to try to reproduce evidence where it can be used in a trial, it’s going to take so long,” Johnson said.

A court stenographer in Christian County who is familiar with shorthand has agreed to attempt to transcribe the handwritten documents, Orange said. She will likely use the tapes to assist her.

“From what I understand, it is difficult to (transcribe) a steno book without listening to the tape,” Orange said. “Taken together (she) may be able to provide a good transcript.”

Graham remains out on bond.

A pretrial conference has been scheduled for 9 a.m. Dec. 7. The trial is set for Feb. 4, 2008 and is expected to last two weeks.

Harris was appointed as a special judge in the case after Circuit Judge Tyler Gill recused himself. His father had been the county attorney when the case was heard in the first time and he was concerned it could create a conflict of interest.

JULIA HUNTER can be reached at 887-3262 or by e-mail at jhunter@kentuckynewera.com.