The NEWS RECORD
StRVINQ THE PEOP 3, *' "'"MlfTY SINCE 1901
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Vol. 85 No. 43
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Lions, Patriots Win
- Sloriet Qn 8-9
Hearing Tonight For
Challenged Marshall Voters
The Marshall Board of Elections will hold a public hearing
tonight at 7 p.m. in Town Hall. The board will hear challenges
to registered voters during the meeting.
Marshall Mayor Betty Wild issued challenges to 61 voters
listed on the town's voter registration rolls earlier this month.
Letters informing the challenged voters of the hearing were
mailed out earlier this month. ?
Halloween Party Is Planned
The Ladies Auxilary of American Legion Post 317 in Mar
shall wil host a Halloween party for children at 6 p.m. on Oct.
31 at the Legion Hal on Back Street.
Laurel VFD Turkey Shoot Set
The Laurel VFD will sponsor a turkey and ham shoot on Oct.
26 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the fire station. Proceeds from
the shoot will benefit the fire company.
Patriots Host Mt. Heritage Friday
The Madison Patriots will host Mountain Heritage H.S. in a
Western Highlands Conference battle Friday night at 8 p.m. in
O.E. Roberts Stadium. The important conference game is the
5-2 Patriots final home game of the season.
Walnut Creek CD Club Meets
The Walnut Creek Community Development Club will hold a
meeting on Oct. 28 at 7:30 p.m. in the Enon Baptist Church
fellowship hall. Everyone is invited to attend.
Grand Jury
Indicts 11
The Madison County grand jury
relumed true bills of indictment
against It defendants Monday in
Marshall. The grand jury did not con
sider four other cases due to be
presented because the prosecution
witness was unavailable to testify.
Those indicted include two men
who are facing armed robbery
charges in Asheville and murder
charges in South Carolina The
Madison County grand jury indicted
Ronnie Howard and Dana Ricardo
Weldon on charges of possession of
weapons of mass death and destruc
tion.
Howard and Weldon were arrested
in Marshall on Sept. U bv Sheriff
E.Y. Ponder following the armed rob
bery of a Pizza Hut restaurant in
Asheville. At the time of the arrest.
Sheriff Ponder discovered a 12-guage
sawed-off shotgun and a .30 caliber
sa wed-off rifle in the suspect 's rented
car.
After learning of the robbery, the
sheriff approached the suspect's car
as it was attempting a U-turn in front
of the county courthouse. Ponder ask
ed the two men if they needed help,
and they reported that they were lost.
The sheriff then told the suspects.
"Pull vour car over to that red
building, and we'll get you straighten
ed out." The suspects then drive the
rental car up to the jailhouse door and
were placed under arrest and held for
Asheville police.
Sheriff Ponder qlso discovered a
.357 Magnum under a front seat of the
car. but the weapon was not included
in the indictments handed down on
Monday.
Also indicted on Monday were:
Travis Reggie Rowell. charged with
larceny of a firearm; Phyllis A. Ed
wards. charged with conspiracy:
Charles W. Massey, charged with
manufacturing a controlled
substance; Donnie Joseph Rice,
charged with leaving the scene of an
accident ; and Dale Buckner. charged
with false pretense, forgery and ut
tering.
The grand jury also indicted
Dillard Shelton on two counts of arson
in connection with the July 19 fire at a
storage. building in Walnut.
Ishmael B. Massey was also in
dicted on two counts of manufactur
ing a controlled substance. The first
count stems from 16 marijuana
plants found growing near his home.
The second count relates to some 20
plants found in Massey s barn
'trooper Muraer ou^pects
Arraignment Postponed - ; ' , j
Rios Makes Brief Court Appearance
By ROBERT KOENIG - ? ?
Arraignment proceedings against the two men accused in
the Sept. 14 murder of State Trooper Bobby Coggins were
postponed Monday in the Madison County Superior.
One of the suspects, Jimmy Dean Rios, made a brief court
appearance accompanied by his two court-apointed attorneys.
The second suspect, William Bray, is currently in the
Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh undergoing psychiatric ex
aminations. Rios did not speak during his brief court ap
pearance.
Rios' attorneys, Eldridge Leake and Forest Ball, asked the
court to order a similar psychiatric examination for their
client. Superior Court Judge Joseph Pachnowski signed the
order sending Rios on to the Raleigh hospital for evaluation.
The judge declined to set a date for the araignment hearing
until Rios can be returned from the Raleigh hospital.
Following the brief court appearance, Rios was returned to
the Madison County jail where he has been held without bond
since his capture on Sept. 17.
The two men were indicted by the Madison County grand
jury earlier this month. Both men are charged with murder,
attempted murder, breaking, entering and larceny and
larceny of a firearm. Trials for the two men are not expected
to begin until early next year.
JIMMY DEAN RIOS
In Superior Court
11 Yancey County
Drug Cases Are Heard
Eleven drug-related cases involv
ing Yancey County residents were
heard during the session of Madison
County Superior Court which opened
Monday morning in Marshall. The
cases stemmed from an undercover
investigation in the Burnsville area
earlier this year.
Each of the cases heard Monday
morning involved a plea bargain ar
rangement worked out between the
defendants and District Attorney
Tom Rusher. Assistant DA James
Baker said the cases were heard in
the Madison County court because a
Yancey County Superior Court ses
sion is not scheduled until late
December.
Brothers Randv Forbes. 22. and
Scotty Alan Forbes. 20. of South Toe
River, entered guilty pleas to a felony
charge of possession of a controlled
substance with intent to sell. Randy
Forbes was charged with the March
19 sale of a bag of marijuana valued
at $12.50. Scotty Alan Forbes was
charged with the sale of dex
troproboxythene. an amphetamine.
Both men received two-year suspend
ed prison sentences and were ordered
to serve three years supervised pro
bation. They were each fined $500. In
addition. Judge Pachnowski ordered
Randy Forbes to attend classes to ob
tain his high school equivalency
diploma
. Larry Fox pf Burnsvijk' enlemi.a
XUiity plea to a charge of possession
of a controlled substance with intent
to sell and also received a suspended
two-year prison sentence. Fox was
fined $1,000 and ordered to serve
three years supervised probation as a
result of the conviction.
Burnsville police chief Gillespie
told the court that officers discovered
two pounds of marijuana in a building
owned by the defendant.
Todd Fox. a 17-year old Mountain
Heritage H.S. student, entered a guil
ty plea to a charge of selling a con
trolled substance. Testimony in the
case revealed that Fox sold a $30 bag
of marijuana to undercover agent
Mark Perry on May 22 of this year.
Fox was fined $1,000 and received a
suspended two-year prison sentence.
He was also ordered to serve three
years supervised probation and re
main in high school.
Gregory Barrus. 19. entered a guil
ty plea to a felony charge of posses
sion of a controlled substance. Barris
was charged with possessing cocaine
He was fined $3,500 and received a
suspended three-year prison
sentence. He was ordered to serve
supervised probation for four years
Allen McKinney, 19, of Gre^nmoun
tain entered a guilty plea to a charge
of sale and delivery of a controlled
substance and was fined $1,000
McKinney also received a suspended
two-year prison sentence and waS
ordered to serve three years proba
tion and complete training for his
high school equivalency diploma.
Testimony revealed McKinney sold
marijliana and amphetamines to an
undercover ageny.
Rai Handy. 19. pleaded guilty to the
sale and delivery of a controlled
substance and also received a $1,000
fine and two-year suspended prison
sentence. He was also ordered to
serve three years probation.
A husband and wife also entered
guilty pleas during Monday's session
of the court. Both Chris Troxell and
his wife. Cheri. were charged with the
sale and delivery of a controlled
substance. Both were fined $1,000 and
received suspended two-year prison
sentences and were ordered to serve
three years probation.
During the afternoon session, the
court heard Bobby Penland enter a
guilty plea to a single charge of
possession of a controlled substance
with intent to sell and deliver.
Penland was fined $2,500. refceived a
suspended three-year prison sentence
and was ordered to serve supervised
probation for four years.
The court also accepted guilty
pleas from Danny McMahan. 18. of
Spring Creek. McMahan pleaded
guilty to two charges of breaking and
entering homes in the Spring Creek
area late last year. In exchange for
his plea, the prosecution dropped
three counts of larceny and an addi
tional breaking and entering charge.
McMahan received a suspended
three-year prison sentence and was
ordered to serve supervised proba
tion for five years
The court also heard arguments in
the extradition of John Gahagan II.
Judge Pachnowski ordered Gahagan
turned over to Tennessee authorities
The court also completed jury
selection for the trial of Bertie Gen
try. charged with five counts of
assault. A jury of five women and
seven men were scheduled to hear
testimony in the case beginning on
Tuesday morning.
Brown
Named
The North Carolina Department of
Motor Vehicles has named James D.
Brown of Mars Hill as the branch
agent contractor for the Madison
County license plate office. An
nouncement of the appointment was
made last week by James Rhodes,
director of the department's vehicle
registration agency.
?Continued on Page Z
n Receives Life Sentence
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The WaynesviHe Mountaineer
Billy Denton McQueen, convicted o( the April murder of
a state trooper, was sentenced to life In prison last Wed
nesday oy a seven-woman, five-man Haywood County jury
The jury returned the verdict about 2 : 30 p.m . Wednesday
The jury had been deadlocked at 11-1 after hours of
deliberation.
Jury foreman Tyree Klaer told Superior Court Judge
John Friday at noon today that jurors were knotted at 1 1 to
1. That impasse comes after 7V4 hours of deliberations,
which began Tuesday morning.
Friday Instructed Kiaer not to reveal if the majority of
the jurors was leaning toward life imprisonment or the
death penalty.
to sentence McQueen himself.
State law allows a judge to impose a life sentence in a
murder case if Jurors have deliberated for more than a
reasonable length of time without reaching a decision,
McQueen's attorney, Reid Brown said.
Friday said this afternoon that he did not know how long
he would allow the jury to continue its deliberations, and
said he would probably ask jurors at about 4 p.m. today if
they were making any progress.
Brawn has asked Friday several times to declare the
jury "Irrevocably deadlocked," but Friday each time
denied the motion.
Jurors deliberated for five hours Tuesday before going
home overnight. They resumed their deliberations at ?:30
a.m. today.
Jury members returned at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to
after serving as few as 20 years.
Brown said the jury's inability to make a quick decision
did not necessarily make him feel good about McQueen's
chances of receiving a life sentence .
"I think if they were going to give this young man life,
they would have already done so," Brown said. "Usually,
if they're going to benefit a defendant, they'll go ahead and
do it right away."
Before adjourning court Tuesday , J udge Friday warned
spectators in the courtroom about harassing or threat
ening witnesses.
Friday also instructed deputies to escort jurors to their
vehicles Tuesday, and from the parking lot into the roart
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"Justice cries out Justice cries out from every moun
taintop in Haywood County. Justice demands retribution
in this case Justice demands vindication for law and
order ? not tor Giles Harmon because Giles Harmon
cannot be helped ? but for you and me tor the other people
in your town, your county and your state," he said.
Buchanan called "absurd" the defease argument that
McQueen was a victim of "battered child syndrome," and , ?'?
that he became a violent adult because, as a child, lie was