Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / Nov. 23, 1988, edition 1 / Page 2
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Page 2-A?THE BRUNSWICK BEACC Shallotte Wi Still Up In Tl The status of unfortified wine sa town and county representatives e: referendum held two weeks ago. At their regular meeting last w ask the town attorney, Mark Lewis, Meanwhile, the Brunswick Coi sometime after this week to discuss1 table wines, or unfortified wines, i measure passed by a margin of 293 Jim Wallace, chief of the elect general's office, said the referendu state statute that prohibits alcoholic after the first Monday in Novemb noted that there was no local lei Assembly to allow the local electior In defense of local officials w referendum, however, he said the pr ed in provisions of state law regardii miss. "Whoever didn't catch it just did everybody." Wallace said there is no restric another referendum. If one is desi must conduct it between 60 and 120 Lawmen Find Satanism In 1 BY RAHN ADAMS In an attempt to squelch widespread rumors, the Brunswick County Sheriff's Department last week continued investigating what so far have proved to be groundless reports that a Southport girl's death was linked to Satanism. "The only tiling we've got now are unfounded rumors," Sheriff John C. Davis said Monday. The 15-year-old sophomore at South Brunswick High School was found dead Nov. 12 at her Old Bethel hutch Road home. Authorities ruled that the death was an apparent suicide, but could find no immediate motive. "It appears to be just a very unhappy child .. . She left no note," Crime Prevention Officer Don Gates said Monday, adding that the death could be termed a "stress suicide." Interviews with family members, friends and school officials, and a search of the teen-ager's belongings turned up no clues to explain the death, said Davis. The sheriff added that there was "no indication at all" that the death was linked to either Satanism or a suicide pact. Gates said, however, that a "aeneral hvsterio" in the Southnort area over the girl's death quickly spread to other sections of the county, with the unsubstantiated rumors being that a satanic cult is active locally. "It's all over the county now," Gates said Monday. "We've had calls from every district in the county, and they're basically asking, 'Is it true?'" He also noted that rumors have circulated concerning two other teen suicides which were said to have occurred in the past week in the I/jng Beach and Shallotte areas. However, those reports also have proven false, he said. Still, county investigators are checking out the rumors they continue to hear. Gates said lawmen found nothing when they checked an undisclosed site in the Iceland area Friday night, after hearing that a Commissioners (Continued From Page 1-A) system's second phase. Other Business In other matters at Monday's meeting, commissioners: Heard a brief report on The Brunswick Hospital and the status of upcoming appointments to the hospital board from its chairman, Donald Noe. Okayed Tax Administrator Boyd Williamson's recommendation to establish a permanent tax listing system for real estate. Williamson said no changes in pr ocedure will result immediately, except that owners of real property would not be charged it) percent late listing penalties. Awarded a $122,630 hid for the purchase of 10 cars to low-bidder Jones Ford of Shallotte. Nine of the cars will be assigned to the Brunswick County Sheriff's Department; one will be assigned to Social Services. Agreed to seek new bids on an industrial backhoe loader after receiving only one bid on Oct. 25. Approved the first reading of a proposed cable television franchise agreement with GWC Communications Co., which plaas to serve the Sandy Creek and Northwest areas. flAmviinfpH Arthur Knnv of Roll via. George CleiniiHifis nf I .eland and Li ?N, Wednesday, November 23, 1988 ine Sales \ he Air les in Shallotte remains in limbo as camine options following an illegal \ eek, Shallotte Aldermen agreed to to investigate the town's options, inty Board of Elections will meet (he Nov. 8 referendum on the sale of 'or off-premises consumption. The to 145. ions branch for the state attorney m was invalid in that it violated a beverage elections on the Tuesday er of an even-numbered year. He gislation enacted by the General . i- -t 110 lane piace. ho called for and held the illegal ohibition, enacted in 1985, is includlg elections and is relatively easy to In't catch it," he said. "It just got by lion on when the town can call for red, the county board of elections days after it is requested. No Links To reen's Death satanic black mass was to be held there. "If there was, nobody showed up," Gates said. The officer said that although he believes Satanism, in one form or another, is present in Brunswick county, 11 apparently is no more than a few individuals "dabbling" in the occult. "I would say there is (Satanism here), but not to the degree that the rumors are indicating," Gates said. "And I don't believe it's an organized thing." He added, however, that the department's ability to check out certain rumors is limited. "You can't investigate Satanism," he said. "It's a religion protected by the Constitution. What we're doing is trying to prevent the unfounded rumors." Neither Gates nor Davis said they were aware of any major incidents in the past involving true Satanism in Brunswick County. r~ ?_ \ m xl 1 rair vvearner Is Forecast Typical autumn weather is on tap for the Thanksgiving holiday in the Shallotte area, according toShallotte Point meteorologist Jackson Canady. Temperatures over the next several days are expected to range from the mid 40s at night to the mid 60s during the day, Canady said. Rainfall should measure about onehalf inch. For the period of Nov. 15 through 20, the daily average temperature was 62 degrees, which Canady said was seven degrees above normal. The daily average high temperature was 73 degrees, and the average daily low temperature was 51 degrees. The maximum high temperature during the period was 80 degrees, occurring on Nov. 17. The minimum low temperature was 38 degrees, occurring on Nov. 18. Canady measured .28 of an inch of rainfall during the six-day period. Allocate Funds Tom Uwens ot Caswell Beach to three-year terms on the Brunswick County Health Board. Knox and Clemmons were reappointed; Owens replaces fellow pharmacist Fred Lesh, who has served a maximum number of years (nine) on the health board. Granted $2,000 in emergency f iir\Hc t A (hn Rninouitnl/ Pnim f*? 1UIIUW vvr VIIV Wl UilOincn V/UlUlkJ Literacy Council, on Commissioner Poole's recommendation. I JL I /8HALLOTTE ^CLEANERS MONDAY-FRIDAY 7-6 SATURDAY 8-1 DOWNTOWN SHALLOTTE 196" IHi BH'JNSVVIC* H( AC OH \ Deaths J< (Continued From Page 1-A) forward," he said. Meetze Murders Davis recently released additional information concerning the deaths of Marion E. "Cowboy" Meetze, 48, his wife, Ginger R. Meetze, 32, and her daughter from a previous marriage, Michelle D. Arnold, 10. Found Oct. 14 at their home on N.C. 87, the three had been shot to death. According to autopsy reports released earlier tliis month, the . woman and child both suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Mrs. Meetze was shot nine times in the back, back of the head and forehead. The child suffered six gunshot wounds to the chest, hand, abdomen and leg. The man was shot once in the back. Both adults were found lying on a large S-shaped lounge chair in the den of the brick, ranch-style house. The girl was found in bed in a front bedroom. The interior of the home was damaged in a fire that apparently was set to destroy evidence but burned itself out. The bodies were not burned. Davis said investigators speculate that Mrs. Meetze was the first of the three to be killed and that the child was shot last. Due to the locations of her wounds and bullet holes in her bedclothes, the girl might have been hiding under her covers when she was killed, he added. 'Hie sheriff said lawmen have been unable to determine a possible motive and identify any suspects despite extensive interviews here and in western South Carolina, where the family lived until moving to Brunswick County in March. j uiir.i a i : * 1 r?c re nui leaning lowaru l anything other than we think it was someone they knew," Davis said, i when asked if investigators think the 1 murders could have been random 1 killings. "There was no sign of forced i sntry into the house." Lawmen believe at least two s perpetrators?possibly from outside \ 3runswick County?were responsi- 1 pie for the murders. He added that he incident apparently happened r petween 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 12 and f f:15 a.m. the following day. The I podies were found Oct. 14 by one of 1 Weetze's co-workers from the B.F. i Goodrich Plant in Wilmington. Although several weapons were ( missing from the home, robbery lias ( been ruled out as a prime motive, Davis said. Mrs. Meetze's pocketbook, which contained $190 and was lying in full view on a table, was un er>ing W^^t) T?uJ* "We fit gft LADIES APPAREL, AC f---i CLOSED Tt Mon-Thurs 754-7300*Twin Crec oin Five Oth touched. "The main problem is no one saw anything in the neighborhood," Davis noted. While having no witnesses is a common situation, he continued, the problem is compounded in a rural area such as Winnabow. Davis said Detective Gary Shay has interviewed the family's relatives, including Mrs. Meetze's former husband, in South Carolina. None of them eemain suspects. The Meetzes, who moved here from Gray Court, S.C., had no criminal histories, Davis added. Also, Shay has said no links have been established between the murders and Meetze's former business as a gun dealer in Anderson, S.C. Freeman Slaying Although authorities have reported similarities in the Meetze murders and the September slaying of Shallotte area businessman Darwin Kingsley "King" Freeman, Davis said the two cases apparently are unrelated. Freeman, 74, owner and manager of Anchor Lumber Company on U.S. 17 near Grissettown, was found dead in an office building at his business, where he lived in an efficiency apartment. His body?bound hand and foot?was found by firemen who had been called to extinguish a small blaze that lawmen believe also was set by the killer. The fire did not reach the body. An autopsy indicated that Freeman died of a single .22-caliber gunshot wound to the head about 30 minutes before the fire was reported at approximately 3:30 a.m. by a newspaper carrier. "There were just certain similarities at first that alerted us," Davis said, "but really it is not inusual for someone to try to burn a scene to destroy evidence." Also, Davis said ballistics tests ;hmvpri that Hiffprpnt 99-pnlihor veapons were used in the King and VIeetze murders. While a $5,000 reward offered last nonth by the governor's office has ailed to yield substantial leads in the 'reeman case, the sheriff said awmen are "a little closer" to solvng it than the Meetze case. "There's more to work on locally in the Freeman murder)," Davis ;xplained. Other Unsolved Cases Five other murders dating back to 1979 remain under investigation by the Brunswick County Sheriff's >?#?,, Lu your lifestyle" .CtibUKItb, JtWfcLRT, GIF HANKSGIVING DAY 10-6 Fri & Sot 10-8 ;k (Food Lion) Plaza, Shallotte er Unsolved / Department. Davis described all but I one of the investigations as "very ac- I tive." i "There's no sign that any of them I are connected with the other," Davis added. He noted that no new information I has been received in the past two years concerning the June 1979 shooting death of Benny Eugene Smith, 25. of Tabor City. Smith died ! at a Wilmington hospital one day after he was shot in the head while riding his motorcycle on Pea landing Road off U.S. 17 at Thomasboro. Davis said rewards ranging from $2,500 to $5,000 are still offered in the separate, unsolved murders of three Brunswick County residents: Matthew D. Spaulding, 51, of Winnabow; Thomas Gilbart Summer, 32, of Yaupon Beach; and Beverly Potter Mintz, 23, of Leland. Spaulding was found shot to death July 12, 1985, after he apparently went to his stables to feed horses and Driver Suffers I Attack Before j Authorities say a Shallotte area woman apparently suffered a fatal heart attack prior to a weekend car crash near Shallotte. The victim was Marie Eissler Gore, 67, of Route 6, Shallotte, according to Highway Patrol Trooper D.B. Harvell. She was alone in her 1983 1 Chrysler at the time of the accident. < ( Harvell said no other vehicles were I involved in the week, which occurred Saturday at 3:30 p.m., two miles south of Shallotte on U.S. 17. Gore's auto was headed north when it crossed the center line, then ran off the left side of the road, Harvell said. T(ie car traveled 361 feet on the left shoulder before striking a ditch bank and overturning. Damage to the car was estimated at $1,000. The trooper noted that an eyewitness reported that Gore appeared to be sitting upright when the car ran off the road. However, there was no physical evidence to indicate any reason for the wreck other than the apparent heart attack, he said. The woman was dead when emergency personnel and lawmen arrived on the scene, Harvell said. Her body was transported to The 1 ?effc>, It becoming a Holiday f* ' H i?. ?ii. i im ? i - i ,. fnH^ ^Bk'fM looks so white suit. ^doy?hdy V ?use f 1 Aurders Failed to return when expected b family members. He suffere several ,22-caliber gunshot wounds i the back. Summer, who was Davis' son-ii law, was found stabbed to death i his work van on Dec. 30, 1986, in a icnlofoH arnn nnar thp Ortnn Plants IJV1UIV.U Wt Vl? ??V?? ? "' v tion entrance. The murder apparenl ly was drug-related, since tw pounds of marijuana and a ledge were found near the body. Ms. Mintz was stabbed to deal Feb. 23,1987, at her home on Villag Road off U.S. 17 near Iceland. Ther. were no signs of forced entry, am neighbors reported seeing nothini unusual around the time of th< murder. The sheriff said investigators alsi continue to receive information oi the April 8 shotgun slaying of Jame: Thomas Smith, 38, of Nakina, whosi body was discovered on the shouldei of N.C. 904 about 21/fe miles from th< Columbus County line. :atal Heart ^uto Mishap Brunswick Hospital near Supply then to the regional medical examiner's office in Jacksonville foi autopsy Monday, according tc Brunswick County Coroner Greg White. White said the autopsy indicated that Gore died of the heart attack and not from any injuries suffered in the :rash. He added that Gore did not lave a history of cardiac problems. THE BRUNSWICKftBEACON | Established Nov. 1, 1962 Telephone 754-6890 Published Every Thursday At 4709 Main Street Shallotte. N. C. 28459 SUBSCRIPTION RATES IN BRUNSWICK COUNTY One Year S10.30 Six Months $5.50 ELSEWHERE IN NORTH CAROLINA One Year $14.80 Six Months $7.85 ELSEWHERE IN U.S.A. One Year.. $15.95 Six Months S8.35 Second class postage paid at the Post Office in Shallotte, N. C. 28459. USPS 777-780. r~ ^ f J r L % & Ion g >o rty PeC'ol ^ W
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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Nov. 23, 1988, edition 1
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