Ky. man pleads not guilty in shooting death of doctor at rural clinic after being denied drugs

Ky. man pleads not guilty in rural doctor shooting

CORNETTSVILLE, Ky. — A patient charged with shooting a popular community doctor to death at a rural clinic hours after being denied narcotics pleaded not guilty Wednesday.

John Combs, 46, was charged with murder and was held on $10 million bail in the death of Dr. Dennis Sandlin, 57. Authorities said Sandlin, who had worked at the clinic for almost two decades, was shot in the head while he stood in a hallway outside exam rooms, apparently filling out a medical chart.

“He was shot in the head,” Perry County Coroner Jimmy Maggard said. “He had a pen in his hand.”

Police don’t yet have a motive, Kentucky State Police Trooper Tony Watts said. He said Combs had been a patient of Sandlin’s earlier in the day, returned with a gun and fired at the doctor.

A Perry County sheriff’s deputy said Combs had asked the clinic for narcotics but was required to give a urine sample, which he refused to do.

“From that point, he got real angry, he just went crazy, and he made a threat he was going to come back and blow up the building,” said Deputy Sam Mullins, who responded when the clinic called about the threat.

Clinic officials didn’t want to press charges, Mullins said, so the deputy left.

“They didn’t think he was going to follow through,” he said. “I asked did they want to press charges, because it was a terroristic threat, a very serious one. We see threats all the time. This is one of those occasions, someone followed through with a threat.”

Combs was arrested at his home in the Redfox community in Knott County. Watts would not say what type of gun was used and did not know how many shots were fired at the Leatherwood-Blackey Medical Clinic in the southeastern area of the state.

Watts said Combs spotted Sandlin in the doctor’s treating area, which is separate from the waiting room, and fired. Patients were at the clinic, but Watts did not know how many because they had cleared out by the time police arrived.

Watts said he had no knowledge of Combs pointing the gun at anyone else.

An autopsy was scheduled Wednesday morning at the Kentucky State Medical Examiner’s office in Frankfort.

Sandlin was well-liked and know for charity work as well as for his health services.

Estella Brashear, coordinator for volunteers at Appalachian Regional Healthcare hospital where Sandlin used to work, said he donated lots of money for Christmas gifts for children in the community, but was frank and direct with patients about what their needs were.

“He was a community-minded person who really cared about his patients. He would tell you what it was and that may have happened here.”

Kathy Haney, night manager at Ramey’s BP gas station and convenience store a few blocks from the clinic, said everyone was talking about the shock of the shooting.

“I’ve had grown men stand here in tears,” Haney said of her customers. “I’ve had people tell me, ‘He helped my mother stay alive for 30 years.’ It’s been the talk of the store all day long.”

Malcolm Neace said his wife used to be a patient of Sandlin’s and the shooting came as a shock.

“If you aren’t safe at a doctor’s office, where are you safe?” Neace said.

Michael Caudill, CEO of Mountain Comprehensive Health Corp., which runs the clinic, described the shooter as “a disgruntled patient” but did not elaborate. Caudill said Sandlin had worked as a primary care physician at the clinic since 1990.

Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo, also a physician in Perry County, knew Sandlin.

He said if the killing had to do with the doctor refusing to give the patient prescription pills then “this drug problem is tearing the fabric of our communities, of our society, and I’m angry.”

About two months ago, officials in eastern Kentucky arrested hundreds of people accused of selling illegal prescription drugs, a problem in the area.

Sandlin graduated from the University of Louisville medical school and had been a doctor in Kentucky since 1978. His practice focused on older patients with chronic illnesses and he was active in Hospice, Caudill said.

Mountain Comprehensive’s Web site says the nonprofit corporation’s clinic is one of the largest rural health centers in Kentucky.

Associated Press Writers Beth Campbell, Brett Barrouquere and Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Roger Alford in Frankfort, and Joe Edwards in Nashville, Tenn., contributed to this report.