BOURBON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — The 19-year-old man charged with murder in Bourbon County is back in court for a pre-preliminary hearing, where testimony involving new details from that night is shared.
We've been sharing with you the story of Christopher Taulbee, who is charged with murder in connection with the killings of 20-year-old Dixie Brainard and 24-year-old Charles Callaway. Police say Taulbee allegedly killed Brainard and Callaway in the early hours of April 3 at a rural Bourbon County home.
On Wednesday, Taulbee was back in court for a preliminary hearing where testimony was heard from Kentucky State Police Special Operations Sergeant William Howard.
The Brainard and Callaway families were also in attendance at today's hearing.
"We're gonna let him know that we're here and we're not going away. Dixie or Charles, that's not gonna be their legacy. That's not how they're gonna be remembered," said Daniel Brainard, the father of late-Dixie Brainard.
In his testimony, Sergeant Howard says Taulbee saw Brainard and Callaway in a Chevy pickup together with Brainard's four-month-old son, who Brainard's parents say she shares with Taulbee, in the backseat.
"He walks up to the driver's side door of the Chevy pick up and fires a round into the drivers side window striking Dixiana," details Howard.
Sergeant Howard says Callaway got out of the truck and ran. Detectives say Taulbee allegedly followed Callaway into a field and stabbed him in the neck.
"And which at some point Charles receives a couple," Howard said. "He receives a laceration to the neck area and it appeared he had a small punctured wound to the chest."
Sergeant Howard further explains that Taulbee left to pick up a friend, Tyson Reynolds, in Carlisle and brought him back to the home, where they found Callaway still breathing. Police say Taulbee then hit him with a baseball bat, killing him.
Tyler Norman, Callaway's brother, believes Taulbee should get the death penalty.
"I think ultimately hearing that my brother was still alive when he decided to come back," Norman said. "You took two innocent lives and ultimately, you forfeited your own. You don't deserve to live."
Sergeant Howard says Taulbee moved Brainard's and Callaway's bodies into a bedroom. It is not known if Reynolds helped Taulbee. Detectives say that at the time of Taulbee's arrest, they found blood-covered clothes, a knife, and a baseball bat with blood on it in Taulbee's vehicle.
Sergeant Howard says in his testimony that Taulbee went to his parents home around 10 p.m. on Wednesday, April 2 to get money from his dad, Jeremy Taulbee. Police say it’s believed Taulbee took a handgun from his parents home before going to Dixie’s home. Howard says Taulbee told detectives he threw the gun somewhere on US-60 between Bourbon and Carter counties, police have not found the gun.
Howard says Taulbee told detectives him and Dixie Brainard had an on-again-off-again relationship that was rocky.
"He took two parents. He didn't just take two people," Daniel Brainard said. "He didn't take a daughter, he didn't take a brother, he didn't take a son, he didn't take a sister. He took two parents: a mother and a father. And as far as I've heard from Charles family they took a good parent and as far as Dixiana, she was a wonderful parent so."
"We have to unite and show Chris that we're here and we're not going away," said Crystal Brown, Callaway's sister.
Taulbee's bond is set at $2 million and his case will now move to the grand jury.
