HARDIN CO.—According to sources within the Hardin County Sheriff’s Department, appointed sheriff Joyce Cullison, who ascended to the position following the death of her husband Lloyd, had been warned repeatedly that at least one inmate had been breaking into the evidence locker for some time to get drugs.
Appointed sheriff Joyce Cullison
And now, a total of three inmates have been named in an evidence locker heist there, including Lil Raymond W. Dutton, III; Jerry Hicks and Skylar Ramsey.
Cullison had also been warned about the danger of allowing inmates to run freely in the department with tools.
“She had been told of Dutton’s drug use and history and that as long as he had been in jail, if he wasn’t showing any signs of withdrawal, he had to be getting them from somewhere,” the source told Disclosure. “But she just wouldn’t listen.”
Wanting to listen or not, Ms. Cullison is said to have been paying very close attention when on Monday, May 21, investigators from the Illinois State Police rolled into town, roped off the sheriff’s department with crime scene tape, transported all the inmates to Harrisburg in Saline County and/or Metropolis in Massac County and began going through the trash dumpster outside the department as well as what was left of the evidence room.
Sources also indicate that Cullison couldn’t move her sizeable carcass quick enough when investigators started asking about missing weapons and wanted to see documentation on weapons taken into evidence over the years.
“She almost looked like she was having a seizure,” the source said. “She stood around a lot with her eyes bugged out and her mouth open not saying much of anything.”
A rifle identified by state police late Tuesday, May 22, as having gone missing from the evidence locker has now been identified as the .22 caliber rifle taken from Lil Raymond Dutton following an April 17 incident for which he has been charged with holding his wife and child hostage.
As of our last report, Dutton, Hicks and Ramsey have all been charged with removing the hinges from the evidence locker (with tools Cullison allowed them to have) and using a large quantity of drugs.
It is unclear what, if any, charges have been filed in connection with the missing weapon or an undetermined amount of pills identified by state police as missing.
Ms. Cullison is said to have given orders to everyone in her department that if they are caught giving information to Disclosure she would have their job.
It appears her warning has gone unheeded.
Late last week, prior to the evidence locker heist drawing the attention of the state police, there was a disturbance at the village board meeting which ended with numerous resignations and trustee Sandy “Sandbags” Conkle throwing accusations around about others on the board gaining access to restricted areas only she had the pass key numbers for.
There have been questions for some time now about the whereabouts of weapons seized and “otherwise obtained” by the county over the years.
Some believe Conkle has the “pass key numbers” to that question as well.
Still others think the resignations are a sign of the electorate jumping the sinking ship before they end up in prison.
One thing Ms. Sheriff may want to start worrying about with her buddy Sandbags is how they are going to explain to authorities why inmates would have stolen sheriff department files.
The drugs and the gun are understandable, but the files seem more like something someone in the department, with something to hide, would want to come up missing.
Keep checking back… this doesn’t appear to be over by a long shot.