Hot Springs murder trial begins

POLSON — As the Leader went to press on Tuesday, the second day of Melvin Madplume’s murder trial had concluded with no verdict yet determined.

Madplume is accused of deliberate homicide and sexual intercourse without consent in the alleged rape and murder of his cousin, Laurence Kenmille, at Wild Horse Hot Springs in May 2013.

In his opening statement on Monday, county attorney Mitch Young argued that Kenmille’s death had not been an accident, but that he had “drowned as a result of a violent, premeditated sexual attack.”

Young described in detail the sequence of events leading up to the incident. Court documents reflect that Madplume had originally said that Kenmille slipped and hit his head, but an autopsy found multiple blunt force injuries to Kenmille’s head that were not consistent with a single fall.

Further examination of Kenmille’s body at the State Crime Lab revealed anal lacerations and rectal bruising described as happening “at or around the time of his death.”

Besides addressing alleged inconsistencies in Madplume’s story and behavior, Young also explained to the jury that Madplume had allegedly made unwelcome sexual advances toward another male cousin at Wild Horse Hot Springs the week before Kenmille’s death.

In their opening remarks, Madplume’s defense countered that there has been a “rush to judgment” and suggested that the Lake County Sheriff’s Office mishandled its investigation of the incident as it evolved from a presumed accident to a suspicious death to a full-blown murder case over the course of several months.

With the crime lab indicating that Kenmille’s blood alcohol content had registered at .268 on the night of his death, Madplume’s legal counsel argued that the combined effects of alcohol, marijuana and the room’s hot tub would have been “a significant impairment on [Kenmille’s] coordination and cognitive function” and could have caused him to drown accidentally.

Stay tuned to the Leader’s website for more details as this story develops.