The News Record
SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY
ft
I
80th Year No. 18
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL, N.C.
THURSDAY, April 30, 1981
15c Per Copy
JAMES LEDFORD, county commissioners
chairman, (center) listens to a taxpayer dur
ing the Board of Equalization and Review
hearings on Monday in the Tax Supervisor's
office in the courthouse. County commis
sioners will be sitting on the board through
Friday, May 1 from 10:30a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in
order to hear taxpayers who have questions
regarding the valuation of property in the
county. This is the only time commissioners
have the authority to change valuation of
real estate.
In Hot Springs Grave Robbery Trial
Lewis Sentenced To 20 Years
By NICHOLAS HANCOCK
Editor
Three men received active sentences
and one a suspended sentence in the Hot
Springs grave robbery trial which was
concluded early Saturday evening in a
special session of Madison County
Superior Court presided over by Judge
Lacy Thornburg of Webster.
Stanley Lewis, of Hot Springs, the on
ly defendant to plead not guilty to two
counts of grave robbery and one of con
spiracy to rob a grave was sentenced to
20 years in the state's penal system.
Luther Aikens, 24, of Hot Springs,
was given a 10-year active sentence;
Lewis Bollo, 19, of Jacksonville, Fla.,
was sentenced to five years; and Kevin
Sams, 18, of Greeneville, Tenn., receiv
ed a 10-year sentence suspended for
five years.
The jury of three women and nine
men deliberated approximately one
and a half hours before rendering a ver
dict of guilty about 7 p.m. in the Lewis
trial.
Lewis, 50, went to trial last Thursday
afternoon after the jury was selected
for the special court session. Most of the
Thursday and Friday sessions was used
to hear the testimony of Aikens, Bollo
and Sams who had pleaded guilty to the
charges and appeared among the pro
secution witnesses. Sams identified
several objects recovered from the
June 14, 1960 disturbance of the graves
in the Safford mausoleum in Hot Spr
ings, and he testified that Lewis had
told the three there were $4,000 to $8,000
in gold in the crypts and that he ( Lewis )
would have the gold melted down and
would divide the money profited from
the sale of the gold among them.
Aikens, the final witness of the day,
said he did not recall what happened in
the incident.
When court resumed Saturday, Lewis
took the stand and denied having ever
robbed a grave and having any connec
tion with the robbery carried out by the
younger three men. He denied knowing
Lewis Bollo and said he only knew
Sams and Aikens because he had hired
them to do some work on his property
last June.
Lewis said he recalled shortly after
June 14 that Aikens and Sams were on
his back porch making hammering
noises and when he went to investigate
the racket, he saw them removing gold
from some skeletal teeth and saw
several gold teeth laying on the porch
floor. "I told them to get the hell off my
back porch," Lewis told the court.
Lewis said he didn't know who was
buried in the private cemetery located
up a hill behind his house. The
desecrated mausoleum belonged to the
once wealthy Safford family of Hot Spr
ings.
At one point during the Saturday
afternoon proceedings, an emotional
and tearful Lewis told the prosecuting
attorney James T. Rusher, "I have
never robbed any graves. Good God,
No."
I
Lewis was arrested on October 20,
1980 after reporting to Madison County
Sheriff E.Y. Ponder what he had
witnessed concerning the gold teeth and
the three younger men on his back
porch.
"Reporting it to Sheriff Ponder was
the biggest mistake I ever made in my
life," Lewis said.
Stanley Lewis
Democrats Elect Zeno Ponder County Chairman
in t I *- . y u ?
rnoios oy n. nincoc*
Zeno Ponder... new county chairman
By NICHOLAS HANCOCK
Editor
Approximately 100 Democrat
officials and supporters turned
out for the Democrat County
Convention Saturday at Mar
shall and elected Zeno Ponder,
long-time Madison County
political kingpin, as county
chairman of the party for the
next year.
Ponder will replace retiring
county chairman W.T. (Bill)
Moore who has served in that
capacity for two years. County
Democratic Party chairmen
and first vice-chairmen cannot
serve more than two con
secutive terms, according to
the party's plan of organiza
tion.
Moore assured party
members that he "by no means
is quitting the Democratic Par
ty. I'm only taking a different
seat," he said.
Moore told the convention to
never doubt his loyalty to the
party, and added, "When I
retire from the Democrat Par
ty, you can come see me at the
funeral home."
Moore recommended Ponder
as a nominee for the chairman
ship, and the convention
unanimously voted to have
Ponder lead the party for the
next year.
With Ponder at the helm, the
convention got down to
business by electing a new slate
of officers for the coming year.
All officers were elected
unanimously; 1st vice
chairman ? Debbie Ponder
Baker, Madison County School
Food Service director; 2nd
vice-chairman ? Bobby Jean
Rice, Madison County School
Supervisor; 3rd vice-chairman
? Wayne McDevitt, director of
the Governor's Western Office
in Asheville; secretary ? Jena
Lee Buckner, register of deeds;
and treasurer ? David
Caldwell, county finance of
ficer.
Outgoing party secretary,
Debbie Baker, seated the
following delegates at the con
vention (by precinct): South
Marshall ? Paul Gurewitz, Bill
Roberts, Mike Bradley and
Barbara Hensley; Spring
Creek ? Joe Justice, Sue
Pangle, Larry Plemmons, Billy
Crowder and Sandra Fowler;
North Marshall ? Roger D.
Haynie, Christine Lunsford,
Mrs. Jim Baldwin, Zeno
Ponder, Mrs. Zeno Ponder,
Sammy Lunsford, Jim
Baldwin, Teresa Banks, Coy
Haynie, Mrs. Arthur. Banks;
Grapevine ? Bobby Jean Rice,
T.D. Coates; Laurel ? Emery
Wallin, Fronia Genter; Sandy
Mush ? Mrs. Hughes Tread
way, Jo Ann Sprinkle; Walnut
? Robena Adams, David
Caldwell, Teddy Tody, Tom
Wallin; Beech Glen ? Levi
Hunter, Robert Carter, Gene
Boone, Dewayne Thomas,
Marie Anders, Judson Ed
wards; Mars Hill ? J.O. Rice,
Continued on Page 2
Bill Moore... outgoing chairman
Bill Seeks Tax Relief
A large majority of North
Carolina small-business
owners support a repeal of the
state inventory tax, according
to a spokesman for the state's
largest small-business
organization.
David Stephenson, director
of North Carolina governmen
tal relations for the National
Federation of Independent
Business (NF1B), based Ms
conclusion on a recent survey
of NFIB's 9,050 North Carolina
Members. Sixty-six percent of
the respondents voted in favor
of repealing the state inven
tory tax paid by retailers and
wholesalers. Twenty-one per
cent supported a tax credit
rather than a repeal, and Ave
percent favored keeping the
subsequently be taxed year
after year,'' said Stephenson.
"Unfortunately, a repeal of
the tax does not seem likely at
this point in the legislative ses
sion since no such bill has been
proposed."
To provide some relief from
the burden of inventory tax,
S.B. 329 has been introduced
by Sen. Marshall Rauch
(D)Gaston) The bill, now in
the Senate Finance Commit
tee, would give a tax credit to
wholesalers, retailers and
manufacturers for inventory
taxes paid. Small-business
owners ? moat of whom are
reUikrs and wholesalers ?
support S B. 3M over H.B. 127,
said Stephenson, because the
latter would provide a tax
H B. 312 and S.B. 156, would
make the liberal exemptions
provided by this law
unavailable to the state's
residents, said Stephenson.
"The federal law has made
bankruptcy a profitable alter
native. If the federal exemp
tions are unavailable to North
Carolina residents, all
bankruptcy exemptions in the
state would be provided for
under the more striagent
allowances contained in state
law."
An overwhelming majority
<>f survey respondents. 83 ner
ccnt, favored utcudins veto
power to the Administrative
Public Meetings
The Madison County Board of Commis
sioners will meet Friday, May 1 at 7:30 p.m.
in the courtroom at the courthouse in Mar
shall.
The Madison County Board of Educa
tion will meet Monday, May 4 at 10:30 a.m.
at the courthouse in Marshall.
Marshall's Town Council will meet
Monday, May 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the Marshall
Town Hall on Main Street.
The Mars Hill Board of Aldermen will
meet Monday, May 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the
Mars Hill Town Hall
Half Of State's Bridges Unsafe
immy D. Lee, head of the
bridge maiiuenanc
ItatbeN.C. Department of
?W r?o?nH>
and Financing revealed that
MHO of North CarottliftJMW
wBt ?'
Crime Commission
Lists Seven Priorities
Crime Control and Public
Safety Secretary Burley Mit
chell and Governor s Crime
Commission Chairman James
R. Van Camp have announced
the priority areas of study for
the Governor's Crime Com
mission during the coming
year.
Each issue will be studied
and a report will be made to
Gov Hunt and the North
Carolina General Assembly
containing specific mean
tire process from case screen
ing with law enforcement to
scheduling witnesses in court
to calendaring of criminal
cases and reporting case
dispositions.
Reducing juvenile delin
quency with particular em
phasis on the violent Juvenile
offender (ages IS and under)
and youthful offenders (ages
it-SB).
Improving arrest rates by
Considering ways to impi^
ment deferred prosecution
with various approaches sucfi
as community service restitu
tion
The priority issues
chosen from a group of <
issues considered to be
the criminal Justice system i
North Carolina