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Volume 87 25c Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Wa./en, North Carolina Wednesday, July 18, 1984 Number 29
Pay liter's Truck Was Key
In Convicts' Dramatic Trip
By MARY C.HARRIS
Staff Writer
Thurman Paynter's 1979 Ford Ranger pickup
truck could spin quite a yarn if it could talk. Be
tween May 31, when Paynter parked it in the usual
place behind his Afton home, and June 8 when
driven by escaped prisoner Lem D. Tuggle it was
stopped in Vermont, that truck traveled some extra
ordinary miles.
During the early morning hours of June 1, four of
six death row prisoners who had escaped during the
night from a Mecklenburg County, Va. prison re
portedly made their second getaway in Paynter's
truck. They had earlier overpowered guards,
staged a bomb hoax, and driven to freedom in a
prison van, which they later abandoned at Mariam
Boyd School in Warrenton.
Evidence suggests that they then made their way
down Highway 401, searching for a vehicle to con
tinue their run. Paynter said, "They couldn't have
stopped at a better place. The keys were in the
ignition. The truck was in tip-top shape, full of gas,
new tires, new belts, ready for a long trip. I had just
serviced it because we were going to use it for
hauling hay."
And a long trip it took. Paynter has no way of
knowing the number of miles it traveled during that
week, but when his son and daughter-in-law, Macey
and Vivian Paynter, went to Vermont to bring it
home, the trip back registered 745 miles.
Before driving away on the two-tone blue truck,
the notorious visitors had apparently tried to start
an orange one-ton truck belonging to the younger
Paynter, who, with his family, lives next door. He
had hooked a set of bleachers to it the night before
and had planned to deliver them to Nashville in the
morning.
About 5:50 a. m., he discovered the truck's door
and vent open, the ignition torn out, and the
bleachers unhooked.
Needing to make the deliver}', he went to get his
father's truck, and it was then that the theft was
discovered. Upon calling the Warrenton Police
Department to report it, he learned that there had
been a prison break; but it was not until law enfor
ment officers rushed to the scene that he realized
the seriousness of the matter.
Thinking back, both Vivian and her father-in-law
remembered hearing dogs bark about 2:30 that
morning, but neither gave it enough thought to in
vestigate.
During the days that followed, the Paynters'
home was given careful surveillance by the officers
in the area. All-points bulletins were issued, some
with the mistaken descriptions of a blue and white
truck. The Paynters received several phone calls,
many from Franklin County, that the truck had
been spotted.
In reality, however, the truck was heading north,
carrying prison escapees James and Linwood
Briley as far as Philadelphia, Pa. and Willie Jones
and Lem Tuggle to Vermont.
Tuggle was captured in the truck during an 85
mile-per-hour chase following his robbery of the
Red Mill Gift Shop in Woodford, Vt., a town of 311
residents. He had spent several days camping and
partying on Green Mountain National Forest land,
across a pond from and within clear view of the shop
he robbed.
After the capture, the Paynters' first news that
the truck had been located came from a neighbor,
12-year-old Jeff Howard, who had heard the news on
television. About the same time, Macey heard the
report on his truck radio and drove to the manhunt
headquarters in Warrenton for confirmation. Later
that day, a Warren County sheriff's deputy called
the Paynters to verify the information.
The days which followed were a frustration as the
family tried to learn the whereabouts of their truck
and to determine how and when it would be returned
to them. After numerous fruitless telephone calls
and contacts, they received information that they
could go to Shaftsbury, Vt. to reclaim their truck. It
seemed to them that the truck which had earlier
been everybody's business had suddenly become
nobody's business.
On Sunday, June 24, Macey and Vivian went by
plane from Raleigh-Durham to Washington, D. C. to
Albany, N.Y., and then by bus to the Shaftsbury, Vt.
highway patrol station.
From there they were driven to a nearby service
station where the familiar truck, with license PEI-1
and two Levi Garrett bumper stickers, was wait
ing. Actually, it was not quite the same truck which
had left Afton some three weeks earlier. Accord
ing to Macey and Vivian, it was newly scratched,
and filthy, inside and outside. Part of the seatcovers
had been removed, there was a small hole in the
seat, and a two-way radio, later found behind the
seat was disconnected.
Before the Vermont State Patrol released the
track, Macey and Vivian were surprised to learn
that the police computers still listed the vehicle as
stolon. They were advised to stay overnight in
historical Bennington, Vt. and were given a letter to
vertf; their ownership of the vehicle should they be
stopped by authorities.
Before leaving the area, Macey and Vivian
visited the gift shop and met the lady whom Tuggle
had robbed of about $100 at knifepoint. H»y also
went to the campsite which had been Tuggle's
hideaway. There Macey recovered a pair of
trousers which later were identified as part of a
prison guard uniform.
Trying to make the best of the trip to Vermont, the
Paynters took photographs of the scenic landscape
and various points of interest. They were impressed
by the beauty of the mountains and plantlife and the
friendliness of the people in southwestern Vermont.
They arrived back in Afton, driving the much
publicized truck, on June 26.
"Daddy's glad to have his old truck back," said
(Continued on page 6B)
Thurman Paynter and his son, Macey, are
pleased to have again in their possession the 1979
Ford pickup truck recently taken as a getaway
vehicle by prison escapees from Mecklenburg
County, Va. (Staff Photo)
High winds toppled this old oak in the yard of
Travis and Sylvia Ormsby on Pluto Place in north
Warrenton early last Wednesday morning. The
tree, which fell during a storm about 1 a. m.,
narrowly missed hitting the home of Johnnie
Buckner, a neighbor of the Ormsbys. No one knows
the exact age of the tree, but Mrs. Onnle Harp, who
now lives on Main Street and at one time resided
where the Ormsbys live, said the oak was fully
grown when she moved there in 1910. (Staff Photo)
Court Term
Abbreviated
By Sickness
A jury last week in
Warren County Superior
Court found Curtiss Lee
Carrington not guilty on
a charge of possession of
stolen goods in connec
tion with a 1982 break-in
at State Line Gulf in
Norlina, hut before it
could render verdicts on
two other charges
against Carrington the
illness of the judge
forced a mistrial.
Judge Robert H. Hob
good of Louisburg
presided over Superior
Court on Monday and
Tuesday of last week,
but on doctor's orders
did not appear for court
on Wednesday.
Carrington is also
charged with breaking
arid entering and lar
ceny in the theft of 50
tires, miscellaneous
garage equipment and
30 cases of beer from the
service station.
However, the jury,
which began deliberat
f
Littleton Man Is Charged
In Connection With Thefts
A warrant was drawn
on a Littleton man Tues
day charging him with
his second count of
breaking, entering and
larceny in four days.
According to the
Warren County Sheriff's
Department, James
Fields, Jr., 17, of Rt. 2,
Littleton faces the most
recent charge in connec
tion with the theft of a
clock radio, cassette
recorder, and AM/FM
radio from the lake
home of John Abner
Godfrey on Laura Circle
at Wildwood Point. God
frey lives in Louisburg.
Two juveniles have
also been charged with
breaking, entering and
larceny in the incident.
Sheriff's Deputy
Thomas McCaffity was
the investigating of
ficer.
On Friday, Fields was
charged with the July 6
breaking, entering and
larceny at the residence
of William C. Nettles of
Hemlock Lane in Wild
wood Point subdivision
in which miscellaneous
fishing equipment was
taken, according to
Chief Deputy B. D.
Bolton, who was assist
ed in that investigation
by Deputy Lloyd
Newsome.
Fields has also been
charged with misde
meanor larceny in the
theft of a canoe from the
Hemlock Lane property
of Perry Spence of Rich
mond, Va. on June 19.
The canoe has been
recovered, as has one of
the radios taken from
the Godfrey home, ac
cording to a department
spokesman.
Fields had not been
served the most recent
warrant as of Tuesday
afternoon. He is free on
$500 bond in connection
(Continued on page 3B)
'Storytime' Being Held
"Storyume is being
held in the Warren
County Memorial
Library each Friday
morning through August
17.
Children who will be
attending kindergarten
this fall meet from 10:30
to 11 a. m. and those who
will be in first grade and
up meet from 11:15 a. m.
until noon.
Children in the third
graae ana up wno are
participating in the
library's Summer
Reading Program are
asked to oe in the
library by 10:30 a. m.
Monday, July 23, to hear
Dr. Ray Selby, rector of
Emmanuel Episcopal
Church and a native of
England, speak on the
settling of the Roanoke
Island as seen from the
British perspective.
Increased Demand Said Behind Outages
Recent electrical outages in areas of
Warren County were caused in part by in
creased demandi on lines as a result of growth
in the county, according to Mike Finney,
Halifax Electric Membership Corporation
(HEMC) general manager.
The majority of the outages, which have
lasted anywhere from a few minutes to
several hours, have been in the Embro, Ar
eola, Inef, and Parktown communities.
Finney estimated that between ISO and 900
new HEMC customers have been added in
those areas in the past year, outstripping all of
the HEMCs projections.
Changes are being made to eliminate a
large part of the problem, Finney said tMs
week, but the long-term solution involves the
replacement of equipment which will take
several months to complete.
"We know that these outages are a terrible
inconvenience to our members, and we
apologise for these occurrences," Finney said.
"However, the situation will Improve rapidly,
and we hope that our members will under
stand and will bear with us until we can
eliminate these problems."
A total of five outages have been reported in
the past month, Finney said. In two areas the
outages have been caused by incompleted
trimming of rights-of-way by HEMC's con
tractor! causing limbs to interfere with the
lima. That trimming it currently being com
pleted by HEMC crews, Finney added.
Harrington
Retains Seat
Veteran Sen. J. J.
(Monk) Harrington of
Bertie County, dean of
the State Senate, fought
off challenges from two
candidates Tuesday to
easily win re-election
from a newly con
stituted 2nd Senate
District.
In Warren County,
just as in the other coun
ties of the sprawling 2nd
District, Harrington, a
white businessman,
handily outpolled his
two black opponents. In
Warren the vote was
1,084 for Harrington,
with Dr. John B. Moore
of Weldon getting 347
votes and Ahoskie
lawyer Rob Lewis get
ting 155.
Harrington, who has
spent 22 years in the
State Senate, carried 11
of 12 Warren precincts.
Only in Roanoke was he
defeated.
Throughout the 2nd
District, Harrington got
7,755 votes or 57 percent
in the unofficial returns.
Lewis received 3,509
votes or 26 percent and
Moore got 2,287 votes or
17 percent.
Voters Tuesday cast
ballots in five Senate
districts and two House
districts in unusual pri
mary elections made
necessary by a court
challenge of North
Carolina's redisricting
plan.
In two Warren pre
cincts—Judkins and
Fishing Creek-State
D^Uas A^ord and
former legislator James
E- Ezzell, Jr., both of
Rocky Mount, sought
voter support. Alford
won in Warren County's
two District 10 pre
sets, 97 to 38, butEz
zell won in the district.
Here s how the vote
went in each of
Warren's 14 precincts:
R/VER _ Harrington
> Lewis 14, Moore 21.
SHOCCO — Harring
ton 63, Lewis 7. Moore
SIXPOUND — Har
rington 72, Lewis 1
Moore 11.
HAWTREE - Har
rington 121, Lewis 15
Moore 26.
SANDY CREEK
Harrington 59, Lewis 7,
Moore 39.
SMITH CREEK -
Harrington 48, Lewis 10,
Moore 4.
WEST WARRENTON
-Harrington 181, Lewis
31, Moore 89.
FORK - Harrington 52,
Lewis 1, Moore 15
ROANOKE - Har
rington 6, Lewis 12,
Moore 8.
NORLINa — Harring
ton 177, Lewis 18, Moore
EAST WARRENTON
^KINS-Alfortao.
fishing creek —
Alford 67, Ezzel] 24.
Student Transfer
Requests Denied
The Warren County
Board of Education
Monday night denied
three requests for pupil
transfer during a
routine session held with
all members present
In an hour-long execu
tive session, the board
denied requests from
Mrs. Angela Hyson that
her two children be
released to attend
school in Vance County,
from Eddie Clayton that
his grandson be allowed
to attend Mariam Boyd
rather than South
Warren, and from Mrs.
Paul Kearney that four
of her children be
allowed to attend
Mariam Boyd and
Hawkins rather than
South Warren.
The board also accep
ted the resignations of
four persons, all retiring
after devoting a total of
80 years to public educa
tion. They are Nancy P.
Blankenship, teacher at
North Warren School;
Eleanor G. Ellis,
teacher at South Warren
School; Rufus W.
Alston, custodian at
Hawkins Elementary
School; and Willie Bob
bitt, part-time food ser
vice worker at Mariam
Boyd School.
Three transfers
gained board approval.
They included James
Hargrove, custodian,
from Vaughan Elemen
tary School to Hawkins
Elementary School;
Audrey Davis, from
home-school coor
dinator to dropout
prevention counselor at
Warren County High
School; and Nancy
Townes, food service
worker, from John
(Continued oo page 3B)