Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C., Thursday, January l?, 1984
WEEKLY
25 CENTS
Now
She's
Got
It!
Heather Leicester, the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Edward Leicester of
Hertford, took advantage
of a wanner day Sunday to
try out her luck with roller
skates.
After a few trial and error
attempts Heather finally
got the hang of skating and
took off like a pro.
May Primary draws new
candidates for local Board
. %
By JANK WILLIAMS
Filing for candidacy (or the May 8,
1984 Primary Election began on
January 3 with seven candidates
tossing their hats into the political
arena in Perquimans County.
; Perquimans County Commissioner
Charles H.Ward, who currently
serves as a commissioner from
District II which is comprised of
Parkville and Bel vide re Townships,
lias filed for the sest of Lester H.
Simpson, Commissioner from
District I made ap of Bethel and
Hertford Townships.
* V* V* ../
?Ward previously gained per
mission to serve on the hoard after
Us move from District II until the
niaxt election.
Heart Assoc.
names officers
? The following officer* have been
?elected to serve u officer* tor the
Serqaimans County Unit of the
American Heart Association for
' ? President aad Fund Raising
iGhairman, Elisabeth Thach;
Secretary, Mary Dale Lape;
treasurer aad memorial Fund
Chairman. Roy Chappell Jr.; Public
Information Chairman. Juaaita
Bfvers; Rural Chairman, Paige
Underwood; School* Chairman,
tUlae Pritchard; Businesa Days
Oiaiffn *n II 11 rrlaH
vD?iri^3?i ?* vOQ?rO?
Simpson hai also filed for re
election to the District I seat.
With Ward out of the running for a
seat for District II, Perquimans
County Commissioner Chairman Joe
Nowell will face opposition for the
two available seats in that district
from Thomas Nixon, a former
commissioner, Arnold Everett
White, a Belvidere farmer and
Wayne Winslow, a salesman for
Winslow Blanchard Motor Co.
Area vegetable
meeting slated
According to Bill Jester,
Perquimans County Extension
Chairman, the second annual Area
Vegetable School will be held
Tuesday, January 24 at the
Albemarle Commission Building
(ARPDC Building) on Church St.
KxL in Hertford,
i ? ?' '* ?? ?
Registration will begin at 1:40 a.m.
and the program will start at 10:00
a.m. Registration fee will be $1.00. A
barbecue lunch will be served.
Jester said that horticultural
displays and exhibits wil be provided
by several agribusiness represen
tatives for this meeting.
Exhibits will Include topics such if
drip irrigation, ag-computers and
others.
The program schedule will be as
10:05 ? Drip and Overhead
Mgatioa by Doug Sanders. Ex
teaMoa Horticultural Specialist and
11:00 ? Nematode Control by Cole
Knotts. Washington County
Agricultural Exte niton Agent.
12:00 ? Lunch.
1:00 ? Selling Vegetables by
Computer by Tom Campbell,
Pasquotank Agricultural Extension
Agent.
1:45 ? Sprayers and Their
Selection by Rich Bonanno, Ex
tension Weeds Specialist
Horticulture Crops.
3:15 ? Control at Sweet Corn In
sects by Tommy Harrell,
Perquimans County farmer.
"Thia meeting was well received
teat year and I believe that we haveti
program this year that will be useful
and educational," Jester Mid. "Start
the year off right by attending ?
meeting that will help yon in yeur
farm operation."
Anyone interested in attending this
meeting Is encouraged to attend.
Singletary trial continues into
second week of testimony
Hertford Attorney James D.
Singletary took the stand in his own
defense this week and denied
testimony stating that he had told
Douglas "Luckle" Cartwright how to
burn down the Elliott House near
Tyner.
Singletary also said that
statements made to SBI agents in an
interview on April 28, 1983 were taken
out of context and were made in
response to hypothetical questions.
Singletary is charged along with
four other men in connection with the
June 2, 1982 burning of the Elliott
House on N.C. Highway 32 near
Tyner.
Singletary is charged with con
spiring to burn and burning an
uninhabited dwelling, conspiring to
burn and burning a building under
construction and conspiring to burn
and burning a building for fraudulent
purposes.
According to a spokesman at the
courthouse testimony, which began
last Wednesday, was exepected to
end by late Wednesday and the case
should go to the jury by Thursday
morning.
In earlier testimony Cartwright
told the court that he had been in
volved in an insurance fraud prior to
the Elliott House fire, after losing
money in a marijuana deal.
Cartwright said that he and
Singletary had staged a fake
burglary of his own house, and stored
the "missing" items in Singletary's
house, then filed an insurance claim.
Cartwright told SBI officials in
Marph of ,1982 that he, Singletary*
" Mitchell Duke Ivey, Larry Wayne
Sanders and Peter Rosenthal were
Involved in the fire.
Two SBI agents testified late last
week that Singletary admitted that
he had instructed Cartwright on how
to burn the Elliott House without
getting caught.
Agent Walt House <tnd Bill Godley
testified that on April 28, 1983,
Singletary admitted in an interview
that he "knew Luckie was taking me
seriously" when he gave him the
instructions.
The interview occured after
Singletary had failed to pass a
polygraph test at the Chowan County
Sheriff's office in Edenton.
House gave testimony
corroborating Cartwright's
statements that Singletary had
represented successfully a client in
another arson case.
House said Cartwright had con
fessed on March 3, 1M3 that
Singletary Instructed him not to use a
flammable liquid when setting the
fire, and to set the fire in the early
morning hours when no one would be
around to see it.
Cartwright said Singletary also
told hiip to board the windows of the
house so that no one would be able to
see the fire until it was too late and to
leave some back windows open to
create a draft to fan the flames.
House added that Cartwright, in an
interview on March 15, 1983, said he
and Singletary walked through the
house and that Singletary picked a
piece of wood off of the staircase
bannister and threw it to the base of
the stairs.
Cartwright told House that
Singletary said: "If I were going to
start the fire, if I were going to do it,
that's where I'd start it.
House then testified that Singletary
admitted, with agent Godley present
that he had instructed Cartwright
how to burn the house down without
getting caught.
Godley said that Singletary ad
mitted he had prefaced each remark
he made to Cartwright with the
words "If I were going to do it," when
he instructed him on how to burn the
building.
In testimony on Monday Singletary
said that he and Cartwright went out
to the house to discuss renovations
betag done there. On the way there,
Cartwright asked him about a case in
which Singletary had successfully
represented a client in an arson trial.
Singletary said that he had told
Cartwright U had been a "stupid
case" and he had declined com
ment any further.
Singletary testified that he knew
the house's electrical system was
outdated and dangerous and that it
was then that he told Cartwright to
remove any flammable liquids from
the house.
He also denied throwing a part of
the stairwell bannister down to the
base of the stairs and suggesting that
a fire be started at that point.
Singletary said he saw that the
bannister spindles were coming
loose, pried one off and threw it
downstairs, indicating that the
spindles had to be removed and
thrown away.
Burning an uninhabited house and
a building under construction carry a
maximum sentence of 30 years, while
all three conspiracy charges carry a
maximum of three years each.
Burning a building for fraudulent
purposes carries a maximum sen
tence of ten years.
Investigation
continues in
week-end robbery
A Perquimans County man
was hit on the head with a
stick and robbed of ap
proximately $500 to $600
Saturday night at his store in
Forestburg, between New
Hope and Hertford.
According to Perquimans
County Sheriff, Julian
Broughton, Rob Turner,
owner of R.W. Turner's Store,
was alone at the store on
Saturday evening when a
black male entered the store
between 7 : 15 and 7 : 30, hit him
over the head with a stick and
took his wallet that contained
between $500 and $600. The
thief then ran out of the store
to a car that was waiting
outside, without attempting
to take money from the cash
register.
Turner was not seriously
injured.
The incident is under in
vestigation by the
Perquimans County Sheriff's
Department.
Surprised Honoree
Hertford Mayor Bill Cox
wu hoDcod at a banquet
gh ran by his friends last
Thursday night at
Angler's Cove. Cox Is
admittedly taken by
complete surprise upon
entering the door at the
restaurant He is shown
here being greeted by
Gerrt Carney. (See related
story on Page 4.)