A Harrodsburg doctor accused of killing his wife by running over her with a pontoon boat told police that he accidentally struck her as he was trying to scare her. But witnesses told police that it was an intentional act, according to a citation filed Monday in Danville.
Dr. Steven C. Hall, 46, is scheduled to be arraigned at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in Boyle District Court on a murder charge in the death of his wife, Isabel, 49.
Kentucky State Police arrested Hall about 11 p.m. Friday, after an altercation and death were reported about 4:30 p.m. that day on Herrington Lake near Gwinn Island Resort and Marina in Boyle County.
Investigators say they found Steven Hall in the boat with his wife in the water. They said he tied a rope around her arm to keep her from floating away.
According to a report written by state police Detective Bill Collins, Steven Hall "admitted that he and his wife were in a physical altercation and he threw her off of the boat into the lake."
The report says that Hall also told investigators that he drove the boat toward his wife "to scare her and accidentally struck her."
However, "five independent witnesses" told police "that this was an intentional act," the police report says. The document does not identify the witnesses.
Police have said Isabel Hall was run over by the pontoon boat and struck by its propeller. An autopsy report from the state medical examiner's office confirmed that she died of massive head trauma.
Steven Hall remains in the Boyle County jail; no bond had been set as of late Monday afternoon.
A preliminary hearing in his case might come as early as Thursday in Danville. At that time, a Boyle District Court judge will hear evidence to decide whether there is probable cause to send the case to a grand jury for possible indictment.
Steven Hall practiced family medicine with Drs. Nick Dedman, Rick Angel and Michael Geile. Hall and his wife had moved to Central Kentucky from Canada 12 years ago, Dedman said.
"Obviously this is a terrible tragedy," Dedman said Monday. "Our hearts go out to the family of Steven and Isabel Hall. Our prayers are with them. At this point now, we're just taking it day by day."
The office where Hall practiced is next to but not affiliated with James B. Haggin Memorial Hospital in Harrodsburg. Tony Patterson, chief financial officer for the hospital, said the death "was a tragic situation. Our prayers are with the family. It was a shock."
Leonard Steele said he's known Hall since he came to Harrodsburg and has occasionally been to him as a patient when his regular doctor wasn't in.
"I just don't believe it," Steele said. "Never seen a mean look in the man ... I don't believe the man has it in him."
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The Halls lived in a quiet neighborhood on Harrodsburg's northeast side. Court records in Mercer County contained no records of any domestic strife.
The couple had been married for 21 years. Isabel Hall was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia. The couple had two sons, David Malcolm and Matthew Duncan, whom Isabel home-schooled, according to her obituary.
Her funeral is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday at United Presbyterian Church in Harrodsburg.
Memorial donations may be made to an educational trust fund for the two sons at Farmers Bank in Harrodsburg. Ransdell Funeral Chapel in Harrodsburg is in charge of arrangements.
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