HUTCHINSON, Kan. – A Hutchinson man who served time in prison for a 2007 crash involving a mobile meth lab was arrested Friday on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder involving the alleged stabbing of his father.
The Reno County Sheriff’s Office said in a release Sunday that deputies had been sent early Friday morning to a residence on 95th Avenue north of Hutchinson for a welfare check on Jane Stotts. This was initiated after her husband, Larry, had been dropped off at a McPherson convenience store with stab wounds.
The person who dropped Larry Stotts off told employees of the Loves Travel Center at I-135 and US 56 that Larry needed medical attention and then left the area. He was transported to a Wichita hospital and is reportedly recovering from his wounds.
While deputies were at the Stotts’ residence, where Jane was confirmed to be okay, Hutchinson Police were dispatched to a suspicious vehicle on West 2nd which appeared to have blood inside of it. That vehicle is registered to Larry and Jane Stotts.
Paul Stotts, Larry and Jane’s son, was taken into custody Friday afternoon and booked into the Reno County Correctional Facility on a $500,000 bond. He is expected to make his initial court appearance Monday.
Paul served approximately 11 years in prison in connection with a 2007 chase that ended northeast of Hutchinson when his car, in which there was a mobile meth lab, collided with another vehicle, critically injuring its driver.
While Paul had initially been given a 292-month prison sentence, a re-sentencing was ordered in 2017 after he had filed a habeas corpus petition alleging his attorney in the case, since disbarred on other grounds, failed to inform him of a plea offer extended by prosecutors that would have substantially reduced his sentence.
Stotts, who also served prison time for convictions in Saline County, was released from post-release supervision by the Kansas Department of Corrections on January 30th.
