Grand jury declines charges in strangulation death

BENTON, Ky. - A Marshall County grand jury has declined to indict a man in the strangulation death of his neighbor.

According to The Paducah Sun, grand jurors issued a "no true bill" in the July 18 death of 39-year-old Howard J. Baier of Aurora. The commonwealth's attorney had sought a manslaughter charge against Jimmy Filbeck.

Filbeck had told police he heard a disturbance outside his home the night of the incident and that Baier jumped him when he went outside. Filbeck's wife called police. Filbeck said he restrained Baier with a neck hold. An autopsy revealed Baier died of manual strangulation and traumatic asphyxiation.

The prosecutor said the fact that Baier was intoxicated during the altercation played into the grand jury's decision.