Trial begins in Whitwell pawn shop arson, murder trial

Angela Denise Kilgore, 51, of Whitwell, is charged in connection with the death of pawn shop owner Jerry Don Ridge, according to TBI officials. Ridge's body was found May 17 after firefighters extinguished a fire at Valley Pawn Brokers on State Route 28 in the small Marion County town.
Angela Denise Kilgore, 51, of Whitwell, is charged in connection with the death of pawn shop owner Jerry Don Ridge, according to TBI officials. Ridge's body was found May 17 after firefighters extinguished a fire at Valley Pawn Brokers on State Route 28 in the small Marion County town.
photo Angela Denise Kilgore, 51, of Whitwell, is charged in connection with the death of pawn shop owner Jerry Don Ridge, according to TBI officials. Ridge's body was found May 17 after firefighters extinguished a fire at Valley Pawn Brokers on State Route 28 in the small Marion County town.

JASPER, Tenn. - A jury evenly split between men and women was seated in a Marion County courtroom late Monday in the trial of the 53-year-old woman charged in the 2016 arson and slaying of a Whitwell, Tennessee, pawnshop owner.

Jurors on Tuesday morning will hear state testimony in the murder case against Angela Denise Kilgore in the slaying of 72-year-old Valley Pawn Brokers owner Jerry Ridge, whose body was found inside his State Route 28 business on May 17, 2016.

Kilgore, 53, was charged in October 2016 with first-degree murder, felony murder, especially aggravated robbery, employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, aggravated arson, theft, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

Ridge had been shot and stabbed, and Kilgore was a person of interest early in the investigation.

State Senior Judge Don Ash, from Rutherford County, is presiding over the case. Ash was appointed to the case after 12th Judicial District Judges Thomas W. Graham, J. Curtis Smith and Justin C. Angel each recused themselves from the case citing conflicts.

The jury of 14, including two alternates who will be dismissed when deliberations begin, will be sequestered for the duration of the trial, Judge Ash ordered.

Assistant District Attorneys Steve Strain and Sherry Shelton, representing the state, and Public Defender Jeff Harmon and Assistant Public Defender Norm Lipton, representing Kilgore, started the day with more than 100 potential jurors filling the gallery. The lawyers used a questionnaire and direct questioning to winnow down the large panel to those that will try the case.

Foul play was immediately suspected in the fatal blaze officials said was started with "accelerants." Whitwell firefighters had to break through a locked door to extinguish the fire.

Ridge had operated the shop for 17 years.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Kilgore killed Ridge during a robbery at the business and set fire to it "in an effort to destroy potential evidence in the case."

Authorities said the only items missing from the pawn shop were weapons.

Kilgore had more than a dozen handguns in her vehicle when she was arrested on a separate warrant for violating terms of her federal release from a previous incarceration.

The guns were later tied to the pawn shop.

The trial in Jasper will begin at 8:30 a.m. CDT in Marion County Circuit Court.

Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton or at www.facebook.com/benbenton1.

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