Kentucky woman arrested in dismemberment case now charged with murder, animal torture
Editor’s note: This story contains details that some readers may find disturbing.
A Kentucky woman accused of dismembering her mother and cooking her body parts inside a Robertson County home last week has been indicted on additional charges of murder and animal torture.
Torilena May Fields, 32, of Mount Olivet, was arrested Oct. 10 after police found her mother’s dismembered body behind the mother’s home. Body parts were found in several places on the property, including in the oven.
According to the indictment, between Oct. 8 and 9, Fields shot her mother, Trudy Fields, in the head and stabbed her several times. The state medical examiner has not made a positive identification as of Tuesday, according to state police.
Fields is accused of then “decapitating, dismembering, eviscerating her mother’s corpse and placing her head, feet and forearms in a pot in the oven and heating them until they were charred,” the indictment reads.
The indictment says she also tortured and killed a dog.
Fields was initially charged only with obstructing governmental operations, tampering with physical evidence and abuse of a corpse. A grand jury on Monday added charges of murder and animal torture.
She was indicted in circuit court, and her bond was set at $1.5 million.
Fields was arraigned Monday at the Robertson County Judicial Center before District Judge Charles Kuster Jr. She remains in custody at the Bourbon County Detention Center, according to online jail records.
Kuster entered a not-guilty plea on her behalf and requested Fields be appointed a public defender.
Fields did not appear on the Zoom call and was not in the courtroom. Court officials said Fields has not been served her indictment, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Oct. 23.
Fields’ not-guilty plea was expected ahead of her Monday appearance, as felony defendants are not able to plead guilty at their first appearance in district court because district judges don’t have the jurisdiction to accept a guilty plea for a felony.
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Laws said he could not comment due to pending litigation.
What police found at Fields’ residence
The body was found in the 3500 block of Brierly Ridge Road in Robertson County, near Mount Olivet, by men hired by the mother to do work on the property.
The man who called police to report the body said both the mother, Trudy, and her daughter, Torilena, were at the house the previous day when the men first visited. The man told police Torilena was “casting spells” and acting “confrontational” toward them.
When the two men returned the next day to work on the property, Trudy Fields was not there.
They followed drag marks to the back of the house and found her dismembered body, according to the citation. Police said her arms, legs and head had been removed. They also found a blood-stained mattress near her body.
It was folded over, and several body parts were inside.
After trying for several hours, police finally got into the home and found Torilena Fields with blood on her face, hands and clothing, according to the citation.
Police also found a pot in the oven that they said contained cooked body parts.
Robertson County, about 50 miles northeast of Lexington, is the smallest county by area and population in Kentucky, with just under 2,200 residents, according to U.S. Census Data.
Mount Olivet, the county seat, has around 300 residents. The county has one K-12 school, with 435 students enrolled.
This story was originally published October 14, 2024 at 1:04 PM.
