Wilcox released from hospital, now in jail
Published 11:04 pm Saturday, June 6, 2009
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — He’s spent the last month as a hospital patient; he is now officially a jail inmate.
Tom Wilcox, 38, of Ironton, was released from a Louisville, Ky., hospital Friday but taken immediately to the Louisville Metropolitan Detention Center by police in that city, Lawrence County Sheriff Jeff Lawless said.
Wilcox, facing multiple charges in connection with the assault of his estranged wife, Amy, and the arson at her residence in late April, will likely have an extradition hearing before Jefferson County, Ky., District Judge Donald Armstrong Monday, Jefferson County court officials said Friday.
Wilcox will be brought back to Lawrence County after the matter of extradition is resolved.
He had been under Louisville Police supervision while he was hospitalized.
Lawless said he has not decided if Wilcox will be housed at the Lawrence County Jail or sent to another facility.
Caring for a prisoner with medical issues (Wilcox burned himself in the fire at Amy Wilcox’s house) will be a burden Lawrence County may be ill-equipped to handle.
“It’s going to be a huge burden on us,” Lawless said. “We don’t have the type of facility that can deal with issues like that. We don’t have a hospital in this county. The type of medical needs he has will depend on where he is kept.”
Wilcox is charged with arson, aggravated burglary and attempted murder. Lawrence County Prosecutor J.B. Collier Jr., said recently he plans to present the Wilcox case to the grand jury early this month.
Lawrence County Common Pleas Court Presiding Judge Charles Cooper has asked the Ohio Attorney General’s Office to prosecute the Wilcox case, since two members of the local prosecutor’s office represented the Wilcox couple in their divorce.
Amy Wilcox, 38, of Perry Township, remains in a Cincinnati hospital recuperating from injuries she sustained in the April 30 incident.