By Tracy McCue and Shane Farley, Sumner Newscow — The jury trial of Dennis “Wade” Farley kicked off this morning at the Sumner County Courthouse.

Farley is being charged with murder in the second degree over the death of Lane Hallman, 23, of South Haven.

Dennis Farley

Farley is accused of distributing Fentanyl, leading to Hallman’s death on Sept. 15, 2020. The charge is considered an off-grid felony and could carry life imprisonment if Farley were to be convicted. He is also charged with:

•distribution of a controlled substance causing death, a level 1 felony;

•murder in the second degree (reckless), level 2 felony.

Lane Hallman

The case finally came to trial, five years, four months, and 19 days after Hallman was found dead inside his newly purchased silver Ford F250 pickup on 100th St., north of South Haven.

Twelve jurors were seated at 9 a.m. this morning, with Sumner County Attorney Larry Marczynski calling on four witnesses before lunch break. Farley, wearing a white long-sleeved plaid shirt, was seated to the left with defense attorney Jesse Hoeme.

The trial was nearly declared over before it hardly began as Hoeme called for a mistrial due to the “gross negligence of the Sumner County Sheriff Department detectives who did not do their jobs.”

At issue was an interview with Farley on April 18, 2023, involving two Sumner County Sheriff Deputies. Hoeme said there is no recording of the interview; therefore, it impeded his ability to adequately defend his client.

This led to a 30-minute discussion in which the jury was cleared from the courtroom.  Both attorneys discussed the matter with District Court Judge William Mott, who ould eventually rule against the mistrial motion, but allowed Hoeme to use the lack of recording evidence while he is building his case in front of the jury.

In the early afternoon, Rodger Church, one of the sheriff’s detectives who interviewed Farley that day, testified that a tape recording had been made, but it is now mysteriously missing. Marczynski said at the time of the April 2023 interview, it was considered more of a fact-finding interview than “custodian” – i.e., meaning essential documentation to the case. The judge agreed and denied the defense’s second attempt to call for a mistrial.

In his opening remarks, Marczynski described Hallman as a young farmhand who was excited about the purchase of his new pickup. But on that evening, he did not come home, and his mother, Katrina, called 911. Hallman was eventually found dead in the front seat of the pickup truck by his best friend, Seth Brown. The initial investigation proved to be fruitless and, for a while, was a cold case.

Marczynski said that was until February 2021, when he was told that Stephanie Dixon had called Katrina. Dixon then spoke to the Sumner County Sheriff’s office.

He said Dixon told them that Hallman and Farley were together that night and eventually disappeared. She got nervous after the two had been gone for a long time. She even sent a message on Facebook, Hallman, asking where they were. Between 12 and 1 a.m., Marczynski said she got a call from Farley who appeared to be intoxicated. He told her that they were intoxicated and Hallman had passed out on the side of the road. She needed to come get him.

Dixon, according to Marczynski, drove to the county road and found Farley passed out and under the influence of something. She then saw Hallman, who was in the truck but still breathing. She tried to wake him, but he wouldn’t respond. He eventually quit breathing. Marczynski said Dixon found a bag of drugs in the center console and put it in her pocket. She told officers she had thrown the drugs away.

“Law enforcement has never found the drugs because of her actions,” Marczynski said.

He said Dixon then pleaded with Farley to call 911. And he repeatedly said ‘no.’ She pleaded with him in the car ride home, and he said ‘no.’ And when they got back to the house, he told her never to mention it again, Marczynski told the jury.

Hoeme, in his opening remarks, described the story differently. He said the two were good friends who were in the throes of drug usage when Dixon showed up to the scene.  Hoeme described Dixon’s actions as erratic, including getting rid of the drugs.

“Why would she do it?” Hoeme asked the jury rhetorically. “It doesn’t make sense to me. It doesn’t make sense to anyone.”

Hoeme said the reason why she may have not called 911 was that Dixon was a drug user herself. He said the jury needs to ask: if she had a phone, why did she not make the call immediately? Hoeme also said Dixon’s story has changed every time she had an interview with the sheriff’s office. Dixon had skipped the initial interviews with law enforcement.

Katrina Hallman was the first witness called to the stand. She said the Hallman family is close-knit and lives on the same city block in South Haven. She did not know Lane had a drug problem at the time of his death.

Seth Brown then testified about being good friends with Lane and serving together on the South Haven volunteer fire department. He, too, didn’t know Hallman had any drug issues and was surprised by it. He then described how he discovered Hallman on the side of the road, dead.

Sheriff Deputy Keith Lloyd would follow, describing the initial death scene.

Lee Patterson, the sheriff detective, would then testify. He described how there was a water bottle on the ground, keys in the dashboard, a “loogie” that contained mucus and blood on the side of the truck, and a cell phone. He then emptied Hallman’s pockets and laid various items in the back of the truck.

A slideshow was presented to the jurors, showing the scene from various angles. One picture was of a cell phone on top of Hallman’s hand, as if it were perched there. The defense asked Patterson whether that appeared to be a natural position for a phone to sit. Patterson responded that he didn’t think it was. But, at the time, it didn’t occur to him.

The defense then focused on a gold tire valve stem remover that was allegedly in Hallman’s pocket and placed in the back of the truck. Hoeme said its tubular nature made it possible that Hallman could have used it to consume drugs.

During the lunch break, Hallman family members expressed outrage, saying that the tire changer tool is one Hallman has used at various times in his job and he kept in his pocket regularly. There is no way it could be used for drug use because it was closed on one end, not to mention it was very small, they said.

The trial is expected to resume at 9 a.m. tomorrow.