Home Defense in Kentucky

RUSH, Ky. - A member of the Kentucky Turkey Hunters Hall of Fame fatally shot an alleged intruder in his home early Saturday, Nov. 12, Kentucky State Police said. Roland Burns, 65, of Rush, told investigators that he awoke shortly before 12:30 a.m. EST to find the man in his home in rural Boyd County, Trooper Ed Ginter said.

Shannon Scott Conley, 32, of Rush, was pronounced dead at the scene. No charges have been filed in the case. State police are investigating.

Relatives say Conley had grown up in the house where Mr. Burns and his family now live. They say the former Marine, actor and model, was bi-polar, and that, as a child, his father had told him there was hidden treasure in the house. They also say Conley was obsessed to the point of madness to get back into his family's former home. Ginter said Burns told investigators that he was awakened by a vehicle in his driveway. He said he went to investigate and found the alleged intruder in his house. Burns told police he returned to his bedroom for a gun. "Mr. Burns ordered the man to leave the home," Ginter said in a press release. "A struggle ensued, and Mr. Conley was fatally wounded."

Burns, who was inducted into the Turkey Hunters Hall of Fame in 2003 by the Kentucky chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, was not injured, Ginter said.

Boyd County Commonwealth's attorney J. Stewart Schneider says it is unlikely he will charge Burns with a crime. He said Tuesday that it looks like Burns acted within state law when he shot and killed Conley.