North Carolina Newspapers

J? Volume 103, Issue 95 102 years afeditorial freedom Serving the students and the Urmersity community since 1893 Testimony Under Way in Double-Murder Trial BY WENDYGOODMAN CITY EDITOR AND VICTOR D. HENDRICKSON STAFF WRfTER Double-murder suspect Wendell Williamson appeared unshaken as eyewit ness testimony about the Jan. 26 shootings on Henderson Street got under way in Orange County Superior Courthouse on Wednesday. Five witnesses who saw or heard Williamson’s shooting rampage took the stand after attorneys made opening state ments to the nine-woman, three-man jury. There were also morning motions to sup press statements made by Williamson at the hospital the night of the shooting. Orange-Chatham District Attorney Carl Fox told jurors in his opening statements that the shooting “was premeditated. ” Fox detailed the events of the afternoon of the shooting, foreshadowing future testimony. Fox said Williamson had an M-l rifle, 75 eight-rounds of high-powered ammuni tion in his bag and several other clips when he started up Henderson Street. During his opening statement, Fox pointed at Williamson and said he was “guilty of two counts of first-degree mur der, guilty of 11 counts of assault with a _ BiwvuUArowraoN Former Massachusetts Gov. Endicott Chuck'Peabody tells an audience Wednesday evening in Gerrard Hall that the United Nations is in peril. Athletics Official Reports $16,000 Gift to CAA; Congress to Investigate BY SHARIF DURHAMS 1 STAFF WRITER A day after the student body treasurer froze the Carolina Athletic Association’s funds due to ques tions regarding the group’s financial management, Associate Athletic Director for Business and Finance Martina Ballen said the Department of Athletics gave the Carolina Athletic Association $16,000 to fund CAA President ANTHONY REID said congress never asked about CAA’s generated funds account. athletic activities this year. “They made the request, and the athletic director has ap proved it,” Ballen said. On Tuesday, upon the rec ommendation of the Student Congress Finance Committee, StudentßodyTreasurerNathan Darling froze the CAA’s funds. During the congress meeting Wednesday night, Darling said that after examining the CAA’s account with the Student Ac tivities Fund Office “there were a few items worthy of further inquiry by the committee.” In October, congress allo- cated $4,000 to the CAA because CAA President Anthony Reid said the group had used all its funds. Reid claimed Homecoming would not happen if the CAA did not get more money. However, financial records from SAFO show that CAA’s generated funds fluctuated between $27,000 Hike at State: Faculty members approve a tuition \ increase, but not to benefit their own salaries. \ State and National News, Page 3 \ \ — * — £\ Keep the Beer Inside: Carrboro approves an \ \ interim ban without a public hearing. \ Field Hockey Makes History: UNC is now 17-0, \ Ami setting a school and ACC record. \ jjjjcjL/- \ Wether " mTUV c ..Halloween Hoopla: Today's Diversions highlights TO AY: Sunny; hi-70s. t(le h o lid a y happenings from clubs to Franklin Street. FRIDAY: Chance of showers; hi-70s. Diversions, Page 5 Get in good physical condition before submitting to bondage. You should be fit to be tied. Robert Byrne ®lir Daily ®ar Heel oday in Court . Excerpts from the first day of testimony in the Wended Williamson murder trial ■ The judge decided not to allow a statement Williamson made to a State Bureau of Investigation agent on the night of the shootings. ■ District Attorney Carl Fox said in his opening statement to the jury that It was premeditated.' ■ Public defender James Williams said in his opening statement to the jury that "Wendell Williamson was severely mentally ill, and the just verdict is not guilty by reason of insanity.' ■ Katherine Stove! a UNC graduate student testified that Williamson said 'Run away over there... so that I don’t shoot you.' ■ Joanna Morisey, a UNC senior, testified that from her house on Henderson Street she saw Williamson shoot Reichardt deadly weapon with intent to kill and guilty of two counts of discharging a firearm." Public defender James Williams said, “Wendell Williamson was severely men tally ill, and the just verdict is not guilty by reason of insanity.” Williams said Williamson’s mental problems could be traced back to an out break at the law school in September 1992 when he was “howling and beating himself in the face.” W illiamson had been diagnosed by sev and $28,000 throughout September and October. Reid said Wednesday night that CAA had not been asked about the generated funds account and had not tried to hide the funds. “I don’t want anyone to think we finagled or did anything illegal,” he said. “We went through the proper channels and we tried to work with congress and the finance committee.” Reid said he did not tell Congress about the gener ated funds account because he was told that it was a separate account. “What we get money from Student Congress for was Homecoming and ticket distribution, because the money we had in generated funds we already had planned for.” Reid said the money in the generated funds account would help subsidize campouts and a program for Olympic sports. The finance committee will meet Monday at 7:30 p.m. inT-2 Carroll Hall to conduct the inquiry. Former CAA President Jennifer Rasmussen said $20,000 was available for CAA’s use when she left office last year. “We have always been fiscally conservative,” she said. In the Monday meeting, the finance committee will have to set a date to lift the freeze on CAA’s funds and decide on a course of action. The committee will ask CAA officers to explain exactly where the money in the account came from and why the group requested funding from congress. Reid said that if the numbers for this weekend's ticket distribution for the N.C. State and Clemson games had not yet been printed, the group might have problems paying for the printing. “We will look to some alternative suggestions,” he said. Chapel HH. North Careha THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26,1995 eral psychiatrists as a paranoid schizo phrenic and as delusional, the public de fender said. Williamson also told people he believed he was telepathic, which is the alleged reason for the Jan. 26 events. “Williamson believed that the entire world was in danger and would be de stroyed if they did not acknowledge him as a telepath," Williams said. “He had to do something to save himself and the world... was hoping people would see him and say, ‘You are the telepath.’” Politician Commemorates U.N. Day BYERICA BESHEARS ASSISTANT STATE 6 NATIONAL EDITOR Former Massachusetts Gov. Endicott “Chuck” Peabody warned that although the world is celebrating the 50th anniver sary of the United Nations, it might be on the verge of attending the wake of the worldwide organization. Peabody made a speech in Gerrard Hall on Wednesday evening as part of the U.N. Day activities in Chapel Hill. Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of the first time the United Nations convened. In his speech, Peabody criticized Wash ington politicians who oppose the United Nations and are responsible for the United States owing $1.4 billion in dues to the United Nations. “The Congress lifted Will Turner. Kandyce Ellis and Alice Lincoln compete in the Twister Tournament on Mangum BYSCOTTBALLEW STAFF WRITER For UNC senior Joe Hensley, Wednesday afternoon’s Twister tournament marked the end of a long, grueling comeback. It had been three years since the Greensboro native had played the demanding sport of Twister. He had no way of knowing if he still possessed the drive, the skill and the coordination of his Twister tainted youth. “My basic strategy is to find a way to somehow throw my opponents offbalance, physically orpsychologically,” Hensley said. “I’m planning on slithering like a snake through my competition and winning. But obviously the luck of the spinner will be a factor.” Hensley had gone semi-pro at the game during high school— he even dabbled in a few matches of co-ed naked Twister with his classmates at the North Carolina School for Science and Math and wanted desperately to regain his past glory. But the dedication and strategizing of her competitor did little to phase fellow Twister player Hannah Stallings. His client walked directly into the line of gunfire and did not try to avoid the bullets because he did not believe he could be hit, Williams said. Orange County Superior Court Judge Gordon Battle decided to admit statements made by Williamson to Chapel Hill Police Detective J.B. Parks and Sgt. Marcia Gayle on the night of the shooting, but he upheld the defense’s motion to suppress statements Williamson made to State Bureau of In vestigation agent Tim Thayer. The defense argued that under the cir cumstances, Williamson was in no condi tion to waive his Miranda rights. He had been shot in both legs, was on morphine to kill the pain, was being prepared for sur gery and was handcuffed to the hospital bed, the defense argued. Fox argued that Williamson was read his rights, was coherent and understood the questions. Thayer testified that Williamson told him he had considered committing the same crime Jan. 25 at the Florida State- UNC basketball game at the Smith Center. He decided to wait until Jan. 26 so he could commit the crimes during “the light of day.” Parks testified that Williamson was “alert and coherent during the interview.” Dr. Seymour Halleck, professor of psy up defense armaments and cut in half our U.N. appropriations,” he said. Peabody admitted that the United Na tions needs reform and suggested it would be a more effective peacekeeper if it had a free-standing army. He also said Japan and Germany need more representation. “The world’s grown up in the last 50 years.” He reiterated the reasons behind the creation of the United Nations. “Some voices in Washington and across the coun try are questioning why we need the United Nations at all,” he said. Peabody explained the need for the or ganization by detailing the history leading up to the two world wars, which he said combined left 150 million casualties. “They tried to learn a lesson and create the League ofNations” after the first world The Luck of the Spinner 1 chiatry at UNC, testified for the defense that he did not realize until after the inter view that Williamson might not be compe tent to waive Miranda rights. During the interview, he said Williamson was “very tense.” Battle said the dismissal of Thayer’s statements was due to the amount of time elapsed between the 2 p.m. reading of the rights and the 6 p.m. interview. “Thelapse of time was too long under the circum stances,” he said. Several prosecution witnesses who took the stand had to choke back tears as they described the events they saw Jan. 26. Benjamin DeGrafinreidt, an employee at Northampton Plaza Apartments, where Williamson parked his car prior to the shootings, said he saw Williamson pull into the parking lot and was going to tell him he could not park there. However, DeGrafinreidt said he changed his mind when he saw Williamson “get out a big gun (that was) high-powered and an old army bag he put on his shoul der. ” DeGrafinreidt said he heard shots 20 minutes later. Millard Church, a housemate of the first victim, Ralph Walker Jr., and Gordon See TRIAL, Page 11 war, he said. Peabody said Woodrow Wil son, while campaigning for the League of Nations, said if the League faltered, there would be another world war within a gen eration. After World War 11, the United Nationswascreated. “We know if we have another world war, it’s not going to wipe out humans, it’s going to wipe out every living thing on the planet,” he said. “Fifty years later, we are not in a world war, we have staved it off.” Peabody said the United Nations has done more than police during the last 50 years. “Polio has been almost knocked out worldwide,” he said. “For population con trol, you turn to the United Nations; for nuclearproliferation.youtumtotheUnited Nations; for environmental control, you turn to the United Nations. ” He doesn’t scare me,” the sophomore Zebulon native said. “But I was very impressed with his toe strength when he wanned up.” “But I don’t have a real strategy, ” Stallings continued. “My main goal is just to not fall down and get something for free. I mean, I’m just here to have a good time.” But after the first of the three rounds of the Twister tournament, Stallings found herself on the sidelines, an obstacle to Hensley’s comeback that he wasted no time in removing. Stallings was not the only competitor who was pushed from the polka-dot playing field in the first round. Anna Edwards, a sopho more from Asheville who also found herself disqualified after the first round, thought her choice of clothdos became tiresome and boring to many of the 50-or-so tournament on-lookers. Many spec tators shouted at the athletes to go “faster” or said the judges should be more precise. “What they really need to do is to get some better judges,” UNC senior Jacob Bonenburger advised. See TWISTER, Page 11 News/Features/Aits/Sports Business/Advertising 01995 DTH Publishing Cap. AH rights reserved. Aid Office : Admits to i ‘Oversight’ ■ Financial aid office mistake means UNC won’t be exempt from federal rules. BY ERIC FLACK STAFF WRITER More than 100 universities, including three UNC system schools, have been ex empted from some student-aid regulations by the Department of Education, but be cause of an oversight in the Office of Fi nancial Aid, UNC-CH missed its opportu nity to get involved with the program. UNC-Chariotte, UNC-Wilmingtonand UNC-Greensboro are part of a five-year program allowing them to manage and distribute student aid as they see fit rather than following federal guidelines. UNC-CH was notified of the program, but according to Eleanor Morris, director of the Office of School and Student Aid, the memo was not given proper attention. “We didn’t see the memo, but I knew about it,” Morris said. “It is not something that we have given up on. It is something that did not come to our attention in April.” Morris, who blames the mix up on the installation of anew computer system at the time of the memo’s arrival, said that if the program is deemed beneficial to the schools who are currently participating, UNC will do its best to become involved later on. “When that letter was coming in, we were struggling with anew computer sys tem, and there had been no time to put effort into this,” Morris said. “We are going to try to find out if it is really benefitting the other schools. If there is anything we can do to improve things for our students, we will do it for next year.” The consortium of schools involved in See STUDENT AID, Page 2 9624)245 9621163