MADISONVILLE-Grand jury proceedings are kept secret, but something presented in the case of Larry Hamilton prompted the jury to upgrade a charge against him from aggravated assault to an indictment of attempted second-degree murder.

It was the day before Halloween last year when Tellico Plains Officer Brian Millsaps said he went to Mecca Pike and was told by Travis Hamilton that his uncle, Larry Hamilton, had tried to shoot him several times with a handgun.

Millsaps said he ordered Larry Hamilton on the ground and found a small .25 caliber handgun in Hamilton's right jacket pocket. Millsaps said the gun had the safety off and there was one bullet in the chamber and three more in the magazine.

Travis Hamilton told Millsaps that the other Hamilton had waited for him to return on his tractor. Hamilton said he got off the tractor after Larry Hamilton threw coffee on him. Larry Hamilton said he had an "equalizer" and pulled the gun.

See full story in the Sunday, Feb. 24, edition of The Advocate & Democrat.