Vol. 87 No. 16
RECORD
28753 >ple Of Our Communities Since J 901
Thursday, April 16, 1987
GENERAL DELIVERY**
MARSHALL NC
Jury : Chandler Guilty
ASHEVILLE ? A Buncombe
County Jury found Andrew "Junior"
Chandler, 29, of Madison County
guilty late Wednesday afternoon of 12
child sexual abuse charges.
The jury deliberated for 2V4 hours
before returning with the guilty ver
dicts in Chandler's second trial on
charges that he sexually abused seven
Marshall Day Care Center students,
aged 2 to 5, last year.
Superior Court Judge Douglas
Albright sentenced Chandler, a
former van driver with the Madison
County Transportation Authority, to
two consecutive life terms in prison,
and tacked on 21 years in additional
sentences.
Chandler sat with his head upon a
table, often wiping his eyes with a blue
handkerchief, as each juror con
firmed the guilty verdicts on six
counts of taking indecent liberties
wiih a minor, five counts of first
degree sexual offense and one count of
crime against nature.
Jurors found Chandler not guilty of
two counts of first-degree sexual of
fense, one count of taking indecent
liberties with a minor and one count of
crime against nature.
Albright had some harsh words as
he handed down Chandler's sentence
and ordered him taken to Buncombe
County Jail, where he was held pen
ding transport to Central Prison in
Raleigh.
"No civilised society can permit
anyone to lay hands upon defenseless,
little children to degrade and shame
and humiliate and to gratify immoral
and depraved passions," Albright
said.
"No one can foresee or foretell what
nightmare will re-occur or what scars
? what lifelong scars ? have been
burned into their innermost thought,
their innermost being. That man
there," he said, pointing at Chandler,
"has sown in the hearts of little girls
thorns where roses should grow."
A woman in Chandler's family
yelled out, "He's not guilty," as
Chandler was led away by deputies .
The verdict came on the 11th day of
Chandler's retrial on charges stem
ming from January to May 1966. The
first trial ended in a mistrial when a
Madison County jury failed to reach a
verdict in February. The second trial
was moved to Buncombe by Superior
Court Judge James A. Beatty because
of security problems and threats.
Chandler had no comment (or re
porters as he was taken to the Bun
combe County Jail. His attorney,
Talmadge Penland, also had no com
ment, as did the parents of the chil
dren.
Assistant Attorney General Ellen
Scouten, the state's key prosecutor in
both trials, said the verdict and sen
tence "sends a very strong message to
child molesters and those who would
be child molesters. "
Scouten praised the parents of the
abused children for going through two
long, painful trials. "They turned to
the system, and the system didn't let
them down."
Penland served notice that he would
appeal the case to the N.C. Supreme
Court.
BILL STUDENC PHOTO
Andrew "Junior" Chandler is handcuffed following his con
viction on 12 child abuse charges Wednesday.
Man Charged With Assault
On New Hot Springs Chief
By BILL STUDENC
Editor
Newly appointed Hot Springs
Police Chief Terry Getman fired a
single shot into the tire of a vehicle
after it allegedly tried to force his van
off N.C. 209 in Spring Creek early Fri
day morning.
The incident, which came just three
days after the Hot Springs Board of
Aldermen approved Getman as the
town's highest ranking law enforce
ment office, was a rude welcome for
the new police chief.
"I'd been welcomed with open
arms, until this happened," Getman
said earlier this week.
The Madison County Sheriff's
'I'd been welcomed with open
arms, until this happened.'
Terry Get man
Hot Springs
Police Chief
Department and the N.C. State
Bureau of Investigation are looking
into the incident.
"We are in the process of interview
ing the people involved," Bill Mat
thews, assistant director of the SBI's
Asheville office, said Tuesday.
Matthews said he would not com
ment on Getman's handling of the in
cident until after the investigation is
complete.
Authorities have charged the
driver of the car, Billy Joe Moore, 26,
of Spring Creek, with assault on a
police officer with a deadly weapon
(an automobile), reckless driving
with intent to endanger, following too
closely and passing on a double-solid
line.
Three passengers in the vehicle
have not been charged, and addi
tional charges are not expected
Getman said he was driving in his
personal vehicle - a blue van - at
about 12:05 a.m. Friday after his
Thursday evening shift when a 1973
?Continued on Page 9
Madison School Board Say8
Walnut Teacher To RenJn
By BILL STUDENC
Editor
The Madison County Board of
Education, during a lengthy behind
closed -doors session Thursday, found
no reason to take action against a
Walnut Elementary School teacher
following an alleged altercation with
a student.
The board took statements from 20
people before finding insufficient
cause to transfer or dismiss the
teacher, Larry Wyatt
Ernestine Rice, mother of the stu
dent involved in the incident, had cir
culated petitions in the Walnut
Marshall area calling for the removal
of Wyatt as a teacher at the school.
Rice, in executive sessions April 1
and April 6, told school board
members that Wyatt had choked her
son during a soccer game March 13 at
Walnut School.
The school board obtained
statements from the school's prin
cipal, two teachers, a school
employee, six parents and 10 students
before agreeing Thursday that it had
found no reason to take any action
against Wyatt.
"After hearing all available ac
counts, the Madison County Board of
Education has determined that
nothing of such consequence occur
red which would warrant the
teacher's transfer or dismissal, and
therefore considers the matter clos
ed," said Jim Baker, newly elected
school board chairman.
Board members had called the
special meeting to gather informa
tion concerning the alleged incident
involving Wyatt and Rice's son, Bob
by Dean Rice, an eighth-grade stu
dent.
"This is not a trial or anything like
that," Baker said in opening the
special meeting. "It is a meeting for
the purpose of gathering information.
We want to give both sides a chance
to provide us with the information
they feel we need to know. We're not
going to put people on the stand and
cross-examine them."
A total of 12 people, including
Wyatt, Rice and her son, filed one-by
one into a back room of Madison
County Courthouse to talk with the
school board about the incident. The
board met in executive session for
four hours and 15 minutes before
returning to the main courtroom.
Baker read the following state
ment:
-Continued on Page 6
Party Seeks
Major Change
In Elections
Reese Steen
. . .'this is a real mistake'
Zeno Ponder
. , .favors district proposal
By BILL STUDENC
Editor
Members of the Madison County
Board of Commissioners would be
chosen by district and their chairman
would be picked by voters in a coun
tywide election, under a proposal en
dorsed Saturday by the Madison
County Democratic Party.
Under the proposal, the number of
chairman.
Democrats also endorsed a con
troversial plan calling for Madison
County to withdraw from the 24th
Judicial District and align itself with
Buncombe County.
The two proposals were among
several resolutions approved during
Saturday's Democratic county con
vention at Madison High School.
Party delegates overwhelmingly
approved a plan to divide Madison
County into four equal districts, with
each district to select during the May
primary a Democratic and
Republican candidate for a county
commissioner to represent that
district.
The two candidates from each
district would then go head-to-head in
a countywide election in November.
? Both parties would also select a
nominee for the chairman of the / I
board, who would be elected in the
regular county election. (
The proposed tittog.es would in
crease the number of commissioners
from three to Ave, and would allow
voters to select the board chairman.
Currently, the commissioners select
the chairman among themselves
after taking office.
The plan, presented by Richard
Kingston, also calls for the commis
sioners to serve staggered terms.
Under the plan, three commissioners,
including the chairman, would be
elected to serve four years. Two
years later, two additional commis
-Continued on Page 9
Mars Hill Considers Chamber
By ANNE KITCHELL
Staff Writer
A regional movement to boost the
area's sagging economy has spread
to the town of Mars Hill.
Concerned residents and business
people in the Mars Hill area heard
Black Mountain Chamber of Com
merce chairman Andy Andrews
speak last Tuesday on ways to
establish and maintain a healthy
chamber of commerce.
"There are numerous ways to
generate interest in your
community," Andrews said. "Just
remember, volunteers are the
backbone of any chamber organiza
tion."
Andrews appeared before a packed
Town Hall at the request of several
Mars Hill business owners who are
considering establishing a Mars Hill
Chamber of Commerce.
The group is interested in hearing
ideas for forming a chamber from
towns where chambers have been
successful.
Andrews joined the Black Mountain
Chamber of Commerce six years ago
when there were a handful of
businesses. The organization has
grown to a membership of more than
250.
Andrews recommended that a
chamber of commerce organize with
-Continued on Page <
Sheriff's Office Charges Marshall Police Not Doing Job
By BILL STUDENC
Editor
Th? Madison County Sheriff's
Department is not satisfied with the
performance of the police in the town
of Marshall.
That was the word given the Mar
shall Board of Alderman by Madison
County Chief Deputy Dal Peek during
a special meeting last Wednesday.
Peek told the board that Marshall
police are not doing their Jobs proper
/iy, which makes things difficult for
the sheriff! office.
"I have four deputies to cover the
whole county, 24 hours a day, seven
days a week," Peek said. "That
spreads me a little thin. I spend 70
percent of my time working in the
town of Marshall. I don't think that's
hardly fair for us, with them working
under our certification."
Two of Marshall's three officers
are certified through the sheriff's
department under a mutual aid
agreement because the N.C. Criminal
Justice Division, which usually cer
tifies town officers, says they don't
'These guys draw their money. What do yoa want them to do
for It? Jast patrol and check buildings to see if they've been
broken into?'
Chief Deputy Dal Peek
have proper training.
Peek's main concern is vandalism,
public intoxication and disorderly
conduct on the U.S 25 -19 Bypass.
That area it within the Marshall town
limits, Peek said, but the sheriff's of
fice frequently has to answer calls on
Uw bypass.
"I need help on the bypass," he
said. "They have the Jurisdiction to
go one mile outside the city limits
given to them by the state. I don't
have the manpower to stay in the
ana and work on Uw bypass."
Marshall Mayor Anita Ward said
that downtown merchants have com
plained that police were spending too
much time on the bypass and not
enough time downtown.
"Our problem is that there have
been a number of break-ins here in
town also and a lot of merchants have
complained, saying that the police
have not been in town," Ward said.
"We have told our policemen not to
stay oa the bypass, but to stay in town
as much as possible and check the
stores They do patrol up there, bat
they're not suppoaed to stay up
there." . J
Peek said he had no problem with
the amount of time Marshall officers
spend on the bypass. It's what they
are doing while they are there, he
said. , 3
Ode officer had been working far a
year without writing a single ticket
until Peek talked to him, Peek said.
The others have written very few 1
tickets, he said . . 1
Commissioners May Hire Firm
To Handle County's Garbage
By BILL STUDENC
Mike Griffin of I
tainor made that offer to
Board Of
light < |
iriffin toM
*ny would otter employment to i
t'L
If there's an interim period bet
ween the time your current landfill is
closed *nd the time a new one it open
ed, we will haul your garbage at no
charge to whatever county win ac
cept it." he said. ?.
Mad? . n County would have to pay
? MPI *?*? ?
county oOfcUls are look.ng at the
1
? ,k.?
Steen R
To Rusher's
Li .? *
Mwttaon County Commiaaiooer
Rms e Stwn has drafted a
carefully worded letter to Mth
?tudinal District Attorney J.