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Volume 103, Issue 104
102 years of editorialfreedom
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
Williamson Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity
■ The former UNC law student will return to
court Dec. 27 to determine how long he will
stay in Raleigh’s Dorothea Dix Hospital.
BY LAURA GODWIN
ASSISTANT CriY EDITOR
An Orange County jury found Wendell Williamson not guilty
by reason of insanity on all 15 charges stemming from the Jan. 26
shooting spree in which Williamson killed two people and seri
ously wounded Chapel Hill police officer Demetrise Stephenson.
Family members of Williamson's two victims Chapel Hill
resident and restaurant manager Ralph
Walker Jr. and UNC sophomore la
crosse player Kevin Reichardt —gath-
ered in the courtroom to hear the ver
dict.
Three jury members wept openly
while Orange County Superior Court
Judge Gordon Battle reviewed the jury’s verdict forms. Williamson
showed no emotion when Battle announced the not guilty by
reason of insanity verdict and only shook his head “no” when
Battle asked Williamson if he had anything to say.
Members of Walker’s family were visibly shaken by the ver
dict, and Battle said he knew the verdict was hard on the families
“I wish I knew some appropriate words to say to all you good
people,” Battle told the families.
See WILLIAMSON, Page 2
Andresen, 3 Incumbents
Snag Seats in Hotly
Contested Council Race
BY JENNIFER ZAHREN
STAFF WRITER
Responding to issues of development
and experience, voters elected incumbents
Joe Capowski, Mark Chilton and Pat
Evans, and former member Julie Andresen,
to the Chapel Hill Town Council Tuesday.
“This was definitely a referendum vote, ”
front runner Capowski said. “Residents
are tired of all the rah, rah, rah associated
with pro-growth leaders. Chapel Hill citi
zens would rather see reasonable growth
in specific areas done in a well-planned
manner.”
Capowski said voters reacted to the fact
that he, Chilton and Evans all opposed the
Meadowmont development. “Because of
the intense emphasis on growth, the key to
this election was Meadowmont,”
Capowski said. “The results really de
pended on how much the Meadowmont
situation meant to rank and file voters.”
Capowski also said Andresen made her
opposition to the plan widely known.
Two-term veteran Andresen said the
vote clearly reflected the town’s concerns
with future growth and development. “I
think people in general are concerned that
the town can do a better job of managing
growth,” she said.
Both Capowski and Chilton said their
election to the council did not come as a
great surprise. “I thought I would do well, ”
Capowsirisaid. “Leadingtheticket,lknew
it would be myself and Mark Chilton
not necessarily in that order. I am ec
static!”
Chilton, a law student at N.C. Central
University, also said he expected to keep
his seat on the council.
“This is about what I would liave
guessed, ” Chilton said. “Fourth place was
the big question. I am very pleased with the
results, and especially the prospect ofwork
ing more with Capowski in the future. We
both worked hard and deserved to come in
one and two.”
Chilton also said that as a member of a
very diverse council with many interests,
he would add much-needed balance.
Waldorf Passes Foy to Take Chapel Hill Mayor Post
i*- * '
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DTH/CANDIIANG
Rosemary Waldorf speaks to reporters Tuesday evening after her election to
the Chapel Hill mayor's seat. Waldorf defeated Kevin Foy in a tight race.
The only thing we team from the new elections is we learned nothing from the old.
American Proverb
®ltf Sailu ®ar Mrrl
Double Murder
Case Depicted lu k
Step By Step
Timeline
See Page 2
Ef
Town Council Results
I
Y jl Joe Capowski
Pm! 5,124 17%
Mark Chilton
ki 4,819 16%
0 Julie Andresen
4,561 15%
Pat Evans
3,334 12%
All of the re-elected council members
made the point that they would do their
best to stick with the course outlined in
their campaign rhetoric.
“My primary goal is maintaining the
superb quality of the town we have,”
Capowski said. “Chapel Hill is a wonder
ful town, and we have to keep it going that
way.”
Chilton said he was anxious to tackle a
number of the projects he outlined prior to
election day. “What I want to get to work
on immediately is the establishment of a
solid waste management plan and afford
able housing, as well as the overhaul of the
development ordinance and development
review process,” he said.
While much of the election results
seemed to stem from the volatility of future
See COUNCIL, Page 6
Karl Reichardt, father of slain UNC student and lacrosse player Kevin Reichardt ™ PtREL
hugs Brooks Brown, his son's former roommate.
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DTH/MURRAY DAMERON
Carrboro Mayor-elect Michael Nelson celebrates his election victory Tuesday evening at Main
Street Travel. Nelson said he planned to get working on his campaign promises immediately.
. BY LAURA GODWIN
ASSISTANT CITY EDITOR
After a campaign marked by heated
development debates, Rosemary Waldorf
was elected to the Chapel HiU mayor’s
office, making her the first woman to fill
the mayor’s seat.
She attributed her victory to her exten
sive town government experience. “I think
that it’s very likely 1 won because I have
been working in the town and for the town
for a very long time,” she said.
After taking a narrow lead in early re
ports, Waldorf pulled away from her oppo
nent Kevin Foy by a commanding margin.
Waldorf said the hard choices she had
made in her two years on the Town Coun
cil and on other committees were examples
of the leadership abilities she brought to
the office. “I think that I have demon
strated my competence and that ultimately
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8,1995
Nelson Wins Mayor
ElEMtiiT; Bf
Chapel Hill Mayor Results
Rosemary Ingle
jm'xj Waldorf
BMj 4,310 54%
n Kevin Foy
3,624 46%
the citizens recognize that I demonstrate
my leadership by my service, actions and
willingness to make hard decisions.”
Current Mayor Ken Broun said he had
Families of Victims Say
Justice Was Not Served
BY WENDY GOODMAN
CITY EDITOR
Family members and friends of the vic
tims have sat silently for the past two weeks
listening to testimony in Wendell
Williamson’s double-murder trial. But the
silence they had maintained during the pro
ceedings came to an end at 10:15 a.m. Tues
day, following the reading of the jury’s ver
dict.
“He’s just going to get out and do it
again,” said Iris Walker, the sister of slain
restaurant manager and Chapel Hill resi
dentßalph Walker, through her sobs imme
diately following the reading of the verdict.
The phrase “not guilty by reason of in
sanity” were words the families of the vic
tims said they had expected to hear for
nearly 10 months. But die family members
said hearing the verdict brought them no
UNC Grad First Openly
Gay Mayor in Carolinas
BYSUZANNEWOOD
ASSISTANT CITY EDITOR
After months of campaigning door-to-door and phoning regis
tered voters to discuss issues like the environment and town
growth, second-year Carrboro Alderman Michael Nelson was
chosen as Carrboro’s next mayor Tuesday night.
The issue that determined the outcome of the race was town
growth, not the fact that Nelson will be the first openly gay mayor
in the Carolinas,
Nelson said. “I
don’t think most
voters cared one
way or the other
(about my being
gay),” he said. “It
was all about
growth.”
Nelson beat out
Alderman Randy
Marshall and
Charles Riggsbee
for the mayor’s
seat.
Nelson said the
environment was
the other key issue
that won him the
election. The
people of Carrboro
want a mayor who
will work to protect
the environment
while bringing in a
balance of productive growth to the community, he said. This
balance of growth and environmental protection were the focal
points of his campaign, he said.
“You try to protect the things that brought people to the
community in the first place,” Nelson said of his campaign.
Nelson said first on his agenda was to get some rest, then said
he would immediately work to follow through with working on
the issues addressed in the campaign.
“I’ll get a good night’s sleep,” he said. “It’s been such a long
hard campaign. Then I want to focus on the issues that got me
elected (primarily) growth. I want to follow in Ellie’s (Mayor
Eleanor Kinnaird) shoes.”
Nelson attributed his success to the hard work of his campaign
See CARRBORO MAYOR, Page 6
confidence in the new mayor. “I feel very
good for Rosemary," Broun said. “I think
that she ran a good campaign, and I believe
that she will be a superb mayor. I think that
she has real integrity, and I believe that is
her hallmark.”
Waldorf said when she officially took
office, she would stick to promises she
made to voters during the campaign. “As
always, I try to do when I’m elected what
I promised during my campaign, ” she said.
“I’m a strong advocate for an agenda for
the school system ... We need to concen
trate on a good budget and safety programs
as well as programs that will serve the
community as a whole.”
The campaign had taken a tone Waldorf
did not like, she said. “I think that there
was a lot of negativity in this campaign,”
she said.
See CHAPEL HILL MAYOR, Page 6
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© 1995 DTH Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.
relief. In fact, many said it stined emotions
they had held back for the past two weeks.
“I feel that we as a family were already
given one sentence by Kevih being killed,”
said Carol Reichardt, the mother of UNC
sophomore lacrosse player Kevin Reichardt,
who was Wendell Williamson’s second vic
tim in the Jan. 26 shooting spree. “And now
we are given another sentence to follow
Wendell Williamson the rest of our lives.”
The verdict only served to enhance the
feelings the families of the victims had when
they learned of the shootings, Iris Walker
said. She said it was as if a part of them was
being ripped away all over again.
“I didn’t get the chance to know my
father, and (Williamson) took it away from
me,” Walker’s son, Ralph Walker 111 said.
“I want to know if (Williamson) is sony for
See REACTION, Page 2
ELEBt;;.h J B(
Carrboro Mayor Results
Mike Nelson
J' | 1-272 49%
£ 1| Randy Marshall
'.f 699 27%
Charles
Riggsbee
600 24%
etSc lHMB§
Carrboro Board ef Aldermen Results
Page 3
Chapel HilkCarrboro Board at
Educatioa Results
Page 3
Turnout High Despite Weather
Page 4
Campus Turnout Lemur Thao Eipuetud
Page 4
♦
Weather
TODAY: Cool; high in the 50s.
THURSDAY: Cool, sunny; high in
the 40s.