Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / May 8, 1986, edition 1 / Page 2
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Page A2-The Chronicle, Thursd Drayton: He By L.A.A. WILLIAMS Chronic^ Staff Write r Merritt William Drayton culminated a day-long preliminary hearing Monday by saying that he, Darryl E. Hunt and Sammy L. Mitchell beat a man to death with an ax handle in September 1983. District Court Judge R. Kason Keiger found probable cause to bind over the three to Superior Court to be tried for the Sept. 17, 1983, murder of 57-year-old Arthur Wilson. Wilson was found dead on that date in the 1700 block of Claremont Avenue at 2:30 a.m. He died of injuries to the head. Tlie three men were charged three weeks ago with the murder. After listening to the testimony of six state witnesses at the hearing, Drayton decided, against the advice of his attorneys, to take the stand and tell his story. "Everyone else is saying what happened, but I'm the one who's going to have to deal with it," he said. Drayton said he told Detective R. A. Spillman at the Forsyth County Jail on April 9 that he had witnessed a killing on Claremo nt Avenue. He gave two statements on April 11 to Detective Teresa H. Hicks. Earlier in the hearing, Ms. Hicks had read the two statements from Drayton saying that he, Mitchell and Hunt had robbed and beaten Wilson. Black voters David Drummond and former 21-year Kernersville Mayor Roger Swisher eased to victory. Drummond won 6,011 votes to Swisher's 5,535. Betty W. Crouse finished far back in third place with 3,098 votes. In the predominantly black 67th House District, black candidate Logan Burke maintained a comfortable lead throughout the night in downing Sears manager Jdhn D. Clark, fc^white u>aju .* 2,lWWTm: Burke will f*je n?idDiana^^W4itiamsHenry in November. __ The Republican races for the U.S. Senate and Congress appeared to contribute to the high 27.5-percent Republican turnout for the primary, which, uncharacteristically, nearly matched the 28.2-percent figure of Democratic voters. Long-time Rep. James T. Broyhill won the right to face Sanford in November as he humbled Congressional Club candidate David Funderburk, 6.342-4.140 Stuart -,- ? M - ? ? -KKV,SW?? topped Lyons Gray in the Sth District Republican primary, edging his opponent by only 352 votes. Epperson will face incumbent Democrat Stephen L. Neal in November. The race for five seats in the crowded field of 14 Democrats for city /county school board produced both suspense and certainty. Incumbents Beaufort O. Bailey and Nancy L. Wooten ran strongly throughout the county, assuring themselves of the top two spots, and leaving six others to vie for the other three. Incumbent Mary Margaret Lohr, Mary P. "Candy" Wood and Evelyn A. Terry grabbed the final three berths, distancing themselves by about 1,000 votes from the rest of the pack. Uofficially, Bailey totalled 11,320 votes, Mrs. Wooten 10,352, Mrs. Lohr 7,438, Mrs. Wood 7,321, and Mrs. Terry 7,194. Naomi W. Jones was next with 6,231, followed by William H. "Bill" Tatum with 6,169. The biggest surprises were the high Republican turnout, which usually runs eight to 10 percentage points behind the Democrats, and the defeats of Tisdale and Mrs. Woodruff. _ Supervisor olf Elections iCathie C. Cooper said signs of the Republican turnout were evident early in the day. "When we found that the igjMQl* absentee ballots between Republicans and Democrats were ' 0 my, May 8, 1986 , Darryl Hui Drayton wanted to clear his conscience, lay everything on the tabic and get it over with, Ms. Hicks said under cross-examination. Drayton said in the statement* that, on the night of the crime, Mitchell had gotten into an argument with Wilson at a Claremont Avenue drink house owned by Ezell Clowers. Mitchell was angry, Drayton said, because Wilson, who was flashing money and buying drinks for everyone, would not buy Mitchell and Hunt drinks. Mitchell and Hunt called him into a bathroom and proposed robbing Wilson, Drayton said. i-#- -t - - - israyion leu uic nouse with his common-law wife Anna "Mattie" Marie Davis to escort Wilson to another drink house on Claremont owned by "Red" Moscley, he said. Mitchell and Hunt followed them. Less than a block away from the house, Mitchell clotheslined Wilson and started to beat him with an ax handle, Drayton said. Hunt, he said, kicked Wilson to the head and body. Drayton said he hit Wilson three times at Mitchell's instruction, "to get him to move his arm." A Drayton said later under crossexamination that Mitchell beat Wilson for "about 10 minutes," until the blows sounded "mushylike." The three men ran when a car approached, Drayton said. He I/MJI A. UIMMC almost even, we knew the Republican turnout would be higher than expected," she said. Democratic absentee ballots exceeded Republican ballots 169 to 167. Tisdale's defeat came primarily at the hands of the black community. He led most predominantly white precincts but was trounced in East Winston. Tisdale's campaign acknowledged, that foU.X.1 f "the sttrof flfo tfMEn the black community was really surprising," he said. "It was very heavy as compared to past voting records. It's one thing to get beat by 100 or 150 votes, but when you lose by 300 to 400, it's hard to make that up. "Given the obvious problems we had all along, I thought we ran a great race." Alderman Virginia K. Newell was part of Sparrow's campaign committee. She said Tisdale got what he deserved. "Tisdale said he Hirin't ?*w mmm ?1 ? IIVVU the black vote," she said. "And that's what got him defeated. "People are saying they want justice and fairness, and Sparrow will bring a terrific amount of credibility to the office." Mrs. Newell said she was not happy with the school board and commissioners races. "I'm really disappointed that the black community did not get out like they should have," she said. "We should not have lost Mazie. She is a wonderful candidate and very responsive to her constituency." Mrs. Woodruff, whom many thought would lead the Democratic voting for commissioner, said some votes in the black community were given away. "The low turnout in the black community was the key," she said. "We gave my counterpart Profes Video' rsi - - - - omgers Models < We can make high-quali auditions to agents, tale or agencies. . wi ony v^VwNR wwwww Star Produc 760*120 it and Sammy H KV \ ; l Darryl Eugene Hunt t i said he and MitcheU then return ed to the drink house white Hunt 1 went to Mitchell's house. The incident occurred between 1:30 and 1:45 a.m., he said. Drayton said he was paid $25 by Mitchell when they returned to the drink house. He said a total of $105 was taken from Wilson. Drayton testified under crossexamination from Hunt defense lawyer James E. Ferguson II that . he had been "kind of persuaded" not to come forward about the crime. He said he started to come forward several times but changed his mind. He said he had also, changed his mind several times since giving the statement to the police. / He said he thought about not From Page A1 IMIHNfllllltttllltlflllllltlllllttllMtVtHllttlltlllllfll some votes. We cave awav n1#?n ty. You can't win in the primary like that." Mrs. Woodruff linked her campaign with Holleman's and Preston Oldham's for sheriff. Mrs. Woodruff said after the totals were in that if the numbers were there, she would call for a runoff. She was informed shortly thereafter that both Holleman , and Willard had tallied more that **?SO*?p?rcent of - the vote*- and, Willard, who served as a local radio newsman for 30 years, said his popularity was key to his victory. "I believe I was successful tvrauc* I'm en w m m mm m 0V " V1I_I\11V/ 11) 11^ said. "I've been here for 30 years in radio and TV and people have learned to trust me." Willard said he felt all along that he would either run first or second in the race. He said, however, that he expected Mrs. Woodruff to lead the voting. "I'm really disappointed for Mazie, but she just didn't get the turnout in the city precincts," he , said. One of the problems facing Sheriff Oldham is what to do with Barker now that the election is over. Barker took a leave of . absence as Oldham's chief of detectives to rim for the office. He will report back to work on Monday, Oldham said. i "It's going to be one of the hardest decisions I'm going to have to make," Oldham said at the Board of Elections after the results were in. "The issue now is, will his coming back create dissension in the operation of the department? I'll have to weigh that very carefully, seek some advice, clear my head and get away from everything for a couple of days. TKmi T?11 ??.. * ilVli A U 1UBKC tt UCCISIOII. sional | taping Dancers Actors ty videotapes to send as mt scouts Mitchell bea nk- < pr, jpr - M# J* C_JBL , , Sammy Lee Mitchell going through with it because he . feared for the life of Ms. Davis, who is one of the prosecution's witnesses. After police assured him that Ms. Davis would not be harmed, he decided to go through with it, he said. In the most bizarre part of his testimony, Drayton, under crossexamination from one of Mitchell's attorneys, George A. Beds worth, said he had written a letter to Ms. Davis from the jail saying that he wanted to die. "I told her I might die because of it (his testimony), but I wanted to do it anyway," he said. Drayton later gave Ferguson a letter out of his pocket that said that he had decided Monday that he would die. When Ferguson entered the letter as evidence, Drayton asked, "May 1 please have it back?" Drayton's defense lawyers objected but Keiger admitted it as evidence. Ferguson asked Drayton if one of the reasons he wanted to die was because Ms. Davis had told him she was leaving him. "Regardless," Drayton said, "I've made up my mind to live or die." Drayton insisted later that he ^ * i - was noi tooKing to make any deals with the district attorney EAST WINSTON iwmuV/C U. Model, phaffT)?cy I. ..Pic'N'Pay (Claccmont^, * ^ 3. Laundry Center (Claremont) 4. Brown's Beauty m 5. Etna Gas " 6. Great American Foods 3 7. Smith Cleaners 3 8. Reynolds Health Center 3 9. Sunrise Towers 4 10. Special Occasions 4 (Jetway Shop. Ctr.) 4 NORTHEAST 4 II. Merita Breadbox 4 12. Record Boutique 4 13. Minit Market (13th & Liberty) 4 14. Salem Seafood 4 15. Fairview Cleaners 16. Silver Front Cleaners TtoWinsW 49 17. Gulf Gas 50 18. Mama Chris 51 19. Jamal's Grocery 52 20. Chandler's 53 21. Westbrook's 54 22. Minit Market (27th & Liberty) 55 23. . Chick's Drive Inn 56 24. Mack's Grocery 57, 25. 3 Girls fNorthamotonl <fi 29. Joe s Shop Rite (Bowen) ^ 62. 30. Garrett's (311) 63. 31. Wilco Oas (311) 64. 32. Garden Harvest ^ 65. 33. Bernard's 66. 34. Jones' Grocery . 67. t Arthur Wils and was prepared to accept the death penalty. "I'm not scared," he told Ferguson. Detective Hicks also testified that Drayton led police to the stick that Mitchell allegedly used in the beating, during a consent search of Drayton's Claremont Avenue apartment. The stick has been sent to the State Bureau of Investigation lab in Raleigh for tests. Ms. Hicks also revealed under cross-examination that Hunt and Mitchell's name had come up in . the original investigation a* a result of an anonymous Crimestoppers tip. Police had interviewed three witnesses in the Avi<*<MMI J ? - . ? vu?iii?i investigation wno saw three black men beating Wilson while they were passing in an automobile. None of the witnesses could identify the assailants. Police Sgt. Michael V. McCoy, the state's first witness, testified, however, that three of the original witnesses have given different testimony in the last month. Hunt and Drayton were both in prison at the time of their arrests. | Hunt was serving a life sentence after being convicted in ' June of the August 1984 rape and ^ murder of newspaper copy editor , Deborah B. Sykes. A city j manager's review of Hunt's ar- j rest and prosecution for Mrs. Sykes' murder criticized the | department's murder case management, and led to the reinvestigation of eight unsolved ^ murders. Wilson's murder was j one of the eight. Drayton was in the Forsyth s County Jail after being arrested March 19 and being charged with . manslaughter in the death of ] Mary Annette Smith two days ^ earlier. y Many Hunt supporters were i among the more than 50 people on hand at the hearing. His sup- t tGBURN STATION ' '? l 69 I. Laundry 'Center (Old Rural Hall Rd.) , 70 f. Paragon fcooa Center 71 NORTHWEST 7 y 7. Etna Gas 74 8. N.W. Blvd. Pantry ^3. 9. Hazel's Beauty 76 0. Real Food Bakery 77 1. Ray's Fish 2. Joe's Shop Rite (Patterson) ?( 3. Great American Foods 4. A Cleaner World 78. 5. Brown's Produce 79. 6. Ervin's Beauty 7. Bojangles 8. Northside Fish Market ?.Salem QE 8Eto! Mj l .v -JtifijH v ^^ML# a * ^Pt I -t? ^Hp / tiBifi SL I L mT*". I mmhhhbJ 92. 83. 84. 85. 86. ccitcra urugs 87. >. 1 Stop Food (Akron Dr.) 88. Food Fair (Patterson Ave. Exit) Motel 6 Winn-Dixie D Tickled Pink Cleaners (Cherry St.) Food Lion (University Plaza) 89 Fast Fare (Cherry St.) 90 Maytag Laundry (Cherry St.) 91 "Forest Hills Curb Market 92, mwm t Super X Drugs 96. K&W (Coliseum) 97. Golden Comb K 98. Best Bookstore (Reynolda Shop. Ctr.) 99. Mr. T 100. Paw's Grocery 101. , t * * on to death porters maintain that Hunt, who* is black, was railroaded for the* death of Mrs. Sykes, who was* white. They maintain that the* new charges were part of District4 Attorney Donald K. Tis dale's attempts to improve his public im- * age on the eve of Tuesday's* primary elections. 1 t After hearing the opening' testimony of police Sgt. McCoy,, Ferguson asked for and had' Tisdale's four prosecution' witnesses taken out of the cour p ? ? . iiuum. rcrguson saia tne witnesses should be sequestered. and heard one-by-one so that __ . none could repeat the statements , of others. In the interest of' fairness, Keiger replied, the witnesses should be taken out. *. * Barbara Jean Bason, Ms.,. Davis, and Patricia Ann Williams all testified that they weret eyewitnesses to the crime, though ; none said they saw the other at, the scene. All testified they were present? in the drink house, and saw the, three defendants there. I x Ms. Bason said she heard the three talking in the house about J getting Wilson's money. She also _ said Mitchell had a stick with * black tape around one end. She said she was walking away from the house when she saw Mitchell ; hit Wilson with a stick, knocking 4 him to the ground. Hunt and / Drayton kicked Wilson repeated-;* ly, she said. She said she ran screaming " back to the house. Ms. Davis said she left the . >cene after she saw Mitchell push ; Wilson in the chest and knock ; lim down. CUn -"<id she did iee Mitchell vVilson with a itick, nor did she see Bason. Ms. Williams said she saw Mit shell hit Wilson with a stick, and iunt kicking Wilson while she vac cfanrlinn inrt in ff - 11 umnuiiig juji in uuiii ui inc louse. She said she did not see Drayton. All three women admitted that ; hey had been drinking heavily. ,* Amoco fPAufth & iftoad)1 ^ [" HpprJt^ (First. St.) . Food Fair (First St.) ?' * Baptist Hospital Amoco (Cloverdale) Kroger Hop'In (Stratford Rd.) Papers & Paperbacks (Hanes Mall) Crown Drugs (Hanes Mall). Forsyth Hospital ,?J OUTHSIDE c Rainbow News Crown Drugs (Peters Creek) * nnicle u* ^, ,?oil?blc at these locations: ; I W Marketplace * J Gulf Gas (S. Broad St.) Garden Harvest _ Post Office (Waughtown Station) v* ! Hop-In (Stadium Dr.) ? ' J Revco Drugs ^ J Belview House v- ? Gold Fish Bowl ' ? Joe's Shop Rite (S. Main) '* ! ; * ? I OWNTOWN % * Chronicle Office *' J Lincoln Barber "* Post Office *\ ! Benton Convention Center ! , Cecelia's (Hyatt House) - - J* . ' " V ; - ftcvco,r** "** V. " ' '[ J NCNB Building ' ) I Wachovia (Main St.) . RJR Plaza . J Brown's Restaurant J Forsyth Seafood % J Sanitary Barber Shop ' ! I
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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