A man who stood atop a shed and threatened Warren County deputies with a meat cleaver a decade ago has been found with a woman’s body in his car following a high-speed chase and fight with lawmen in Franklin County.
The suspect, Robert Troy Whipple, 46, is being held without bond in Franklin County under suspicion of murder after officers found the body of Bridgette Haley, 46, in the passenger seat of his car. Her body has been sent for autopsy to determine her cause of death but homicide is suspected.
It was during the traffic stop Whipple reportedly stabbed a Franklin County deputy during the fight that ensued once he was stopped early Sunday morning on Chase Bend Road in Franklin County. The deputy, Sgt. Milton Binkley, suffered a knife wound to his right hand and wrist.
Binkley gave chase because he suspected Whipple was driving under the influence. The high-speed chase traveled through the Estill Springs area until Binkley and highway patrolmen were able to get him stopped around 1 a.m. Sunday.
His involvement in the apparent homicide comes just over 10 years after he held Warren County deputies on a five-hour standoff while standing on top of the roof of a shed on Poss Lane in November 2003. Whipple still has family members in this area.
Officers went to his residence to arrest him on outstanding warrants. He ran to the roof of the three-story shed and held off officers with a meat cleaver, knives and a pitchfork.
Given the height of the roof, members of the local SWAT team used tactical measures to sneak up behind him. They were able to get close enough to hit him with a taser before he could turn the weapons on them or jump to his death.
Whipple ended up getting five years in prison when he entered guilty pleas to charges of felony assault and evading arrest in June 2004.