Hours after his ex-fiancée was found murdered in Lexington, former Republican gubernatorial candidate and lawmaker Steve Nunn was in state custody Friday morning after authorities say he had slit his wrists near his parents’ graves. Advertisement Nunn, 56, is being treated at the Bowling Green Medical Center where a medical center spokeswoman said he was in fair condition Friday afternoon.
Kentucky state police say Nunn has been charged with six counts of wanton endangerment of police officers for pointing or “at least brandishing” a gun at officers who found him at the Cosby Church Cemetery in Hart County. He will be jailed on the charges once he is released from the medical center, they said.
Nunn's ex-fiancée, Amanda Ross, 29, was pronounced dead Friday morning at Lexington's University of Kentucky Medical Center after she was shot in a parking lot at 541 W. Short St., just before 6:30 a.m. Friday morning, according to Lexington police and the Fayette County coroner.
The Lexington/Fayette County Metro Police Department contacted state police in Bowling Green to look for Nunn, “a subject whom they wanted to question concerning an earlier homicide this date in Lexington,” according to a statement from state police.
Barren County Sheriff Chris Eaton said Lexington police called his office Friday morning, asking him to look for Nunn.
Eaton said when he did not find Nunn at his house, he headed for the old Nunn family farm where Steve Nunn grew up. That's when he said he got a call that Nunn had been found at the Cosby Church Cemetery where his father, former Gov. Louie B. Nunn, and mother, Beula Nunn, are buried.
He said Nunn was found between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. (Central) at the Cosby Church Cemetery. He was bleeding from wounds to both wrists, Eaton said.
Eaton said he saw a handgun on the ground about 10 to 15 feet from Nunn and that Nunn said he had tried to shoot himself. However, Eaton — who accompanied Nunn in an ambulance to the medical center— said he saw no gunshot wound.
Nunn was alert as he was treated and taken by ambulance to Bowling Green Medical Center, Eaton said. Advertisement
Nunn's blood pressure was very low, Eaton said, but that problem was stabilized while in route to the medical center, Eaton said.
Eaton, who said he is a friend of Nunn, said Nunn's mood was “solemn to a point” and “at that time didn't make any comments” about any events of earlier in the day.
Eaton said Nunn was found near the back of the cemetery, not at the graves of his parents. But Eaton said Nunn told him he had been to the graves.
“He said he made peace with Gov. Nunn. … He went to the grave to make peace with is dad,” Eaton said.
Eaton said Nunn told him he had been at the cemetery for a while, and had called his two daughters on his cell phone while he was there.
In March a judge ordered Nunn to have no contact for a year with Ross, a division director for the Kentucky Department of Insurance, because of a domestic-violence incident in February.
Nunn pleaded guilty Aug. 3 in Fayette County to a misdemeanor domestic violence assault charge and was ordered to undergo diversion.
According to court documents, Nunn and Ross were arguing Feb. 17 when Nunn punched Ross in the face and then grabbed her arms and pushed her against a wall. Nunn intentionally broke a lamp and threw a cup of bourbon at Ross.
The protective order against Nunn prohibited him from possessing a firearm during the yearlong term of the order.
The order was amended in August after Ross asked a family court judge to hold Nunn in contempt of court for allegedly tampering with photos of Ross.
The amended order required Nunn to return to Ross all photographs of her and to take steps to destroy photos outside of his possession but provided by him to a third party.
Documents state that Ross and Nunn lived together from at least May 2008 to Oct. 20, 2008, and became engaged on Oct. 10, 2008. During that time, the couple received mail as “Mr. and Mrs. Steve Nunn,” shared expenses and had a sexual relationship, the documents state.
Nunn, the son of former Gov. Louie B. Nunn, ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2003. He recently served as Gov. Steve Beshear's deputy secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. He resigned from that position in the wake of the domestic-violence incident with Ross.
In a statement, Gov. Steve Beshear said: “What happened this morning was an indescribable tragedy. A young life lost so soon is always heartbreaking. My thoughts and prayers are with the family of Amanda Ross and all others affected by this tragedy.”
“He had cut himself and he was pale, but he was alert,” Eaton said. “He knew who everybody was. ... He never was unconscious.”