Grand jury to get case against man charged in fatal Loudon County shooting

LENOIR CITY (WATE) - The case against a man charged with a fatal shooting in Tellico Village in April was bound over Wednesday to a grand jury.

Norman Bren Whitton, 69, is charged with the second degree murder of Larry Butcher, 74.

During Whitton's preliminary hearing Wednesday, a tape of his interview by investigators was played. 

In it, Whitton admitted shooting Butcher, but he said, "I wasn't trying to hurt the man. I was trying to repel him."

Whitton said Butcher cut him off at an intersection, jumped off his golf cart and attacked him in his car.

"All I remember is both hands through the window around my throat and then what happened, I had my revolver on the seat," Whitton told investigators. "I wasn't aiming, just trying to get his hands away from my throat."

Whitton said his revolver was on the passenger seat of his car and he used it in self defense, firing one shot into Butcher's chest.

If Whitton is indicted, officials say his trial would take place next year.

Whitton is free on a $250,000 bond.