Former KY Republican State Rep. Allegedly Murders Fiancee, Attempts Suicide

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Nunn’s father, Louis Nunn, was the governor of Kentucky in the late 60s and early 70s. He died from a heart attack in 2004 at the age of 79. 

Steve Nunn tried to follow in his father’s footsteps, in 2003. But Louis Nunn, then in his late 70s, wasn’t averse to total dick moves even at that late stage in life and he held a fund-raiser for his son’s opponent, Ernie Fletcher. Fletcher won the race.

Nunn had already made the news in Kentucky this year after he had to leave a position with the current governor’s administration in March. He’d assaulted his former fiancée – Amanda Ross. Court documents cited by the Louisville Courier-Journal indicated that Nunn, who’d been deputy secretary of the Health and Family Services Cabinet for just over a year at that point, had “punched Ross in the face four times and then grabbed her arms and pushed her against a wall during an argument.” The same documents said Nunn also “intentionally broke a lamp and threw a cup of bourbon at Ross.”

In August Nunn copped an Alford plea in the case. This meant he would not admit guilt, but the court probably had what it needed to convict him of the charge. He received community service and assessment and treatment of an alcohol addiction.

If Steve Nunn allegedly killing his former fiancée is used as political fodder in some way, articles like this one at Kentucky.com will not help. A few quotes:

Attorney Astrida Lemkins, who said she is a friend of Nunn’s and was co-counsel for Nunn during a court hearing about the domestic violence order, said the issuance of the order “caused all the problems.”

“It caused Steve Nunn to lose his job, reputation and drove him to slit his wrists,” she said.

“If there does turn out to be a relationship between the death of Amanda Ross and Steve Nunn, it is not because the DVO failed, but rather because the DVO was issued,” said Lemkins.

Lemkins said Ross should have also been held accountable for her role in the domestic violence incident.

“Things are not black and white,” she said. “There’s a lot of gray in there.”

Eaton said the domestic violence case was deeply embarrassing to Nunn. “You could tell he was real concerned about his case and what people were thinking about him,” he said.

No matter how you slice it, the preceding shows a couple of overt – and frankly disgusting – instances of blaming the victim for her fate.