By Stephen D. Bowling

There it was, right on the front page of The Jackson Times Star.

A blurry picture of Bjorn Faulkner’s body, lying on the sidewalk in a pool of blood, was sprawled out across the page.

In bold print, the headline announced the start of the trial of Karen Andre in an “Infamous Murder Trial” scheduled to begin in Breathitt Circuit Court after the gruesome murder in Lexington.  She was accused of pushing Faulkner from the balcony of Kincaid Towers.

The headline caught the attention of the people of Breathitt County, and state newspapers took note of the fervor.

The only problem was that it was all a hoax—a clever one, but a hoax nonetheless.

All of the clues were there, but the people of the county read what they wanted. 

The telephone started ringing in the A. Dale Bryant’s office shortly after the first copies of The Jackson Times hit the street.  Bryant told The Lexington Herald that he was concerned that the high-profile case, which he had never heard of, would displace an important case he had scheduled for trial. 

The Lexington Herald-Leader reported that Tom Gross, the newsman at WEKG-WJSN, began writing news copy to be broadcast on the radio before he realized what was happening.

The talk from the diners and coffee drinkers at the White Flash was nothing but the details of the terrible murder and the upcoming trial. 

According to Louise Hatmaker, a visitor from Lexington told the staff at the paper that he had heard of the murder and thought it was “just awful.”

Bob West, speech and drama teacher at Lees College, smiled when he heard about the visitor from Lexington.  “It’s amazing the way people put on the spot like that try to appear like they are up on everything.”

And Bob would know- he helped perpetrate the hoax.

West was the co-director of a new play scheduled for a performance in Jackson.  The page inserted in the back section of The Jackson Times was nothing more than a clever ruse designed to promote the upcoming dinner theatre production of “The Night of January 16” by the Red Masque Players. 

The play was scheduled for four nights, from November 12 to 15, 1980, and would be held in the Breathitt Circuit Courtroom at the Breathitt County Courthouse.  The cast, a mix of community performers and Lees College personnel, would present the play in front of a “jury” selected from the audience.

When the play was written, author Ayn Rand included place names from her home in New York.  “Most of these folks don’t know anything about New York,” co-director John Gambill said in an interview.  “So, we localized it in Lexington.”

That small change caught the attention of everyone in Breathitt County. 

Despite some glaring issues with accuracy and the stretched and re-imagined details, the story was plausible. In fact, it was pointed out by some that Kincaid Towers did not have a balcony from which the victim could have been pushed, and there was no Circuit Judge Stew who lived in Lexington or in Kentucky.

“We wanted to really arouse the curiosity of the public,” Bob West said.  “We are just glad the editor of The Times was willing to go along and help us promote the play.  I am sure this all helped probably more than we realize.”

The Red Masque Players were organized at the Breathitt County Public Library on October 31, 1978.  West led the creation of the group and helped get the group off the ground.  They performed their first production in December 1978, “Miracle in Cell Block 67,” a Christmas-based play.

The group, comprising community members, several students, and staff from Lees, continued to present theatrical productions at the college and in the back of the Breathitt County Public Library.  By 1980, the Red Masque Players had a loyal following that helped sell out their shows and supported the arts through their generous contributions.

As the news of the “murder trial” spread, so did the interest in the play when Breathitt Countians learned the real nature of the store.  When the first performance arrived on November 12, the courtroom was packed.

“I guess it all worked,” Hatmaker said.  “If they wanted interest, they got it.”

The crew included: Artistic Director, Bob West; Co-Director, John Gambill; Assistant Director, Lisa Halsey; Costume & Props Chairpersons, Debbie Banks and Peggy Minix; Sound Chairpersons, Jim Eslinger, Bob West; Set Chairperson, Jeff McSwain; House Managers, Virginia Meagher and Thomas Little, Jr.; Public Relations, Dalhia Haas; Business Manager, Martin Douthitt; Ushers, Sharon Neace and Vickie West.

The cast included: Prison Matron, Lisa Hasley; Bailiff, Bob Eslinger; Judge Heath, Jonnie Blair; District Attorney, Jim Eslinger; His Secretary, DyAnn Cole; Defense Attorney, Jan Hensley; Her Secretary, Sachiko Furuya; Clerk of the Court, Jeff McSwain; Karen Andre, Molly Hentchel; Dr. Kirkland, Buford Howard; Mrs. Hutchins, Carol Chamberlain; Homer Van Fleet, John Gambill; Elmer Sweeny, Bill Shepherd; Nancy Lee Faulkner, Karyn Doan; Magda Svenson, Ellen Bicknell; John G. Whitfield, Jerry Charles; Jane Chandler, Dawn Brown; Siguard Jungquist, Charles Hansel; Larry Regan, Joe Haas; Robert Rennsselaer, Grace Warrix; Stenographer, Etta Napier; and Breathitt County Sheriff’s Deputy, Bob Cole.

The comedy/drama ran for three nights and was given “high praise” for its production.  A reviewer in The Jackson Times said it was a work of “excellent acting, costuming, make-up, appropriateness in selection of persons for each of the roles.”

 For many years, the Red Masque Players staged productions in Jackson and encouraged other artistic performances, including the Lee College Performing Arts Series.  By the early 1990s, the Red Masque Players were working to convert the old City Jail site into a performing arts center.  Unfortunately, that effort failed, and the Players faded.

Their 1980 play, The Night of January 16th, and the media blitz that surrounded its promotion remained in the minds of the people of Jackson. Hatmaker was more cautious about the “fake news” she printed in the paper in the years that followed. She still had her occasional fun, but played it a little more low-key.

For those who performed in the show and those who watched, the Kincaid Towers murder trial remains a notable high point in Breathitt County’s theatrical production history.

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© 2025 Stephen D. Bowling