Suspects in cold case murder freed on bond

Jack David Stovall

Two defendants in a 17-year-old capital murder case have been released on bond from the Calhoun County jail.  66 year old Jack David Stovall, and 50 year old Kenneth Earl Kemp, both of Anniston, were charged in March with kidnapping and capital murder in the 1997 death of Oxford resident Floyd Roger Hurst. They were released after Judge Brian Howell filed an order setting the bonds — $1 million for Stovall and $250,000 for Kemp.  According to motions filed by Kemp’s attorney, Fred Lawton, the break in the case came from a former girlfriend of Kemp’s, who said that she had accompanied Stovall and Kemp when they disposed of the body in some kind of wood chipper or shredder.  Lawton said Tuesday the girlfriend “just walked into Oxford Police Department and wanted to get it off her chest.” Lawton said the woman has two children in jail, and he believes she’s hoping to help them.  Hurst disappeared on Super Bowl Sunday in 1997. According to reports in The Star, Hurst told family members he was going to the Red Horse Lounge in Anniston, which Stovall had owned at one time.  Stovall’s indictment alleges he killed Hurst that day.

Oxford Police Chief Bill Partridge said Tuesday the investigation is ongoing and that he is confident that in another couple of months the investigation will yield a strong case.