Newspapers / The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.) / May 22, 1986, edition 1 / Page 1
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:OLflTV LIBRARY ' GENTRAL DELIVERY pARSHAU IMC - mftLr ? ? ? : ..,? . v;_ . . nu^. \ . . Patriot Athletes Receive Awards ?? ? ; $ ? ? Story , Pictures On Page 7 Community Calendar c Memorial Day Parade Set For Saturday World War II hero Edward F. Rector, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and Marshall native, will be the guest of honor and featured speaker at the second annual Memorial Day observance. This year's ceremonies will be held on Satur day beginning at 10 a.m. Rector won fame and numerous decorations as a member of the 23rd Fighter Group of the 14th Air Force, better known as the "Flying Tigers." In combat action in the Pacific, the "Fly ing Tigers'* accounted for more than 20,000 Japanese casualties. Col. Rector received military decorations from the U.S., British and Chinese forces for his heroism. He was an original member of the American Volunteer group in World War II and as a member of the China Air Task Force may have put in more combat time overseas than any American soldier. The Memorial Day activities begin at 10 a.m. with a rum mage sale on the American Legion parking lot on Gudger (Back) Street. Proceeds from the sale will be used at Christmas time to purchase gifts for needy local children. Local craftsmen will also have booths set up in the parking lot across from the Bowman Funeral Home on Main Street. Members of the Ladies Auxiliary will also have food available. The Memorial Day parade gets underway at noon. The parade will be led by a color guard from Johnson City, Tenn. Bands, floats and local public officials are also expected to take part. Following the parade, there will be a memorial service held in the gymnasium of Marshall Elementary School. Rep. Bill Hendon, Speaker of the N.C. House Liston B. Ramsey and Col. Rector will be the guest speakers. The Memorial Day observances are being sponsored by the American Legion and Ladies Auxiliary of Post No. 317 in Mar 9h?' - Commissioners To Meet Tuesday The Madison County Board of County Commissioners will < meet on May 27 at 1 p.m. to discuss the 1986-87 county budget. ' Mars Hill Bd. Meets June 2 t . The Mars Hill Board of Aldermen will meet on June 2 1^7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall. News Record Closed On Monda^f In observance of the Memorial Day holiday, The News Record office will be closed on Monday, May 26. Deadline for all legal and classified advertising to appear in the May 2?) edi tion is Friday at 5 p.m. News stories for next week's edition will be accepted on Tuesday, May 27. All local post offices, banks and county offices will also be closed on Monday for the holiday. r <i. mm*" OF MADISON COUNTY SINCE 1 90 J Thursday, May 22, 19M Jury Finds Bray Guilty Of Murder After hearing three days of testimony, a Buncombe County jury required less than four hours of deliberation to convict William Bray, 23, of first degree murder in Superior Court in Asheville on Monday afternoon. The jury of eight men and four women convicted Bray late Monday afternoon following the close of testimony and arguments by defense and prosecution attorneys. Bray sat quietly as members of the jury were polled by Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens. The same eight men and four women began deliberating Bray's fate in Buncombe County Superior Court on Tuesday as the sentencing phase of the trial began. The state is seeking the death penalty in the case. Earlier on Monday, Bray's court-appointed attorney, Joe Huff of Marshall, asked the jury not to convict his client. Say ing "This man is guilty of horrible judgement," Huff argued that the shots Bray admitted firing at State Trooper Bobby Lee Coggins were not the ones that caused the trooper's death at an overlook near Hot Springs last Sept. 14th. District Attorney James T. Rusher urged the panel to con vict the 23-year old escaped convict in an emotional appeal during his closing argument. Rusher told the jury, "It's a ter rible thing that happened. This inquisitive officer did his job well, and for that he had to die." Testimony in the case began on May 14th after six days of jury selection. During the first day of the trial, a tape recor ding of the final conversation Trooper Coggins had with Highway Patrol dispatchers in Asheville was played for the court. Coggins had called the dispatchers after stopping a stolen pickup truck being driven by Jimmy Dean Rios on N.C. 209. The slain trooper stopped the truck when he suspected the driver was intoxicated. Rios, who accompanied Coggins back to his patrol car, gave the trooper a fictious name, Eric Clark. Bray stood outside the patrol car on the passenger side while Coggins spoke by radio with the dispatchers. The Asheville dispatcher radioed that the truck was believ ed to have been stolen and that the pair were considered arm ed and dangerous. Coggins' last words to the dispatcher were "Stand by. Everything's 10-4 right now though." The next words the dispatcher heard came some seven minutes later when a passing motorist, Lee Phillips of Ten nessee, picked up the microphone and said, "Hello! Can anyone hear me out there?... There's a cop been shot in the head." State Trooper Rick Terry, the first officer to arrive at the murder scene, also testified during Wednesday's session. -Continued on Page 10 y Bray: I Don t Know Why I Shot Him Convicted murderer Willam Bray told the jury which will decide his fate that he's sorry he shot State Trooper Bobby Lee Coggins at an overlook on N.C. 209 last September. Bray apologized for his deadly actions dur ing Tuesday's sentencing hearing in the Buncombe County Superior Court. Bray said he didn't intend to kill the trooper. He acted, he said, after being told to shoot Coggins by his co Jefendant, Jimmy Doaa dfUoe. The jury of eight men and four women #ho found Bray guilty on the first degree murder trial was expected to decide if he will be executed for the crime on Wednesday. A Bray did not take the stand in his defense during the four-day trial which concluded on Monday. His ap pearance on the stand during Tues day's session were his first public remarks since his capture in Spring Creek on Sept. 17 of last year. The 23-year old, described by police as an escapee from an Arkansas prison, told the court, "Rios just started yelling, 'Shoot him! Shoot him!', I just stuck the gun inside the car? I putted the triggejr, yes. l didn't, intentionally shoot him, no. I didn't aim. I remember firing once." In response to a question from his defense attorney, Joe Huff, the con victed murderer said he was sorry. Bray's professed remorse con tradicts testimony presented by Bun combe County Jailer Luke Bigelow, who told the court that Bray bragged of the shooting to cellmates in the Buncombe County Jail on May 9. The jurors also heard testimony by Di~. Anthony Sciarra, an Asheville forensics psychologist who examined Bray at the request of defense counsel. Sciarra described the defendant a$ ?to/derline mentally retarded" District Attorney James T. Rusher discounted the psychologist's testimony, describing Sciarra as a "gun for hire" who had testified on -Continued on Page III WILLIAM BRAY Three Are Charged With Child Abuse By ROBERT KOENIG Two Marshall men and a women have been charged with taking inde cent liberties with children as a result of complaints filed by the parents of children enrolled at the Marshall Day Care Center. One of the men, Andrew L. Chandler Jr.. is an employee of the Madison County Transportation Authority. The other two suspects, l.athern Hensley and Pam Coli, are clients at the Mountains of Madison project in Mars Hill. Hensley, also known as Buddy Norton, and Coli were both frequent passengers on the county van driven by Chandler, who is commonly known as Junior Chandler. The two men were first arrested by authorities on Monday morning following a complaint filed by the parents of a four-year old boy enroll ed at the Marshall Day Care Center. Chandler was released on a $5,000 bond posted by Madison County com missioner Ervin Adams. Chandler was named in a second warrant issued late Tuesday night, however, and authorities told The News Record he would be rearrested on Wednes day. Both warrants charge the driver with taking indecent liberties with children. Coli was also arrested late Tuesday night following the issuance of a war rant for her arrest. She and Norton remained in the Madison County Jail on Wednesday morning in lieu of bail. Bond for Norton was set on Monday at $5,000. Coli was scheduled to have a bond hearing on Wednesday after noon. A report in Tuesday's edition of The Asheville Citizen incorrectly stated that "two men who transport mental ly retarded handicapped children to the Unaka Center in Hot Springs were charged." The children who were transported by Chandler were enroll ed at the Marshall Day Care Center. Chandler also transported clients of the Mountains of Madison project in his van along with the day care children. No one connected with the Unaka Center has been implicated in the charges. -Continued on Page > Mars Hill College Graduates 1986 Class Dr. John H. Hewett. pastor of Asheville's First Baptist Church, told Mars Hill College's 130th graduating class Sunday that the new Southern Baptist "College of Cardinals" is "codifying a latter day law which makes Pharisaic Jerusaleum look like Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood." Hewett addressed the 220 members of the class of 1906, their family and friends, and faculty and staff during the U a.m. Baccalaureate services, a traditional time for guest speakers during Mars Hill's commencement activities His address, entitled "The Spirit and the Forms of Freedom," revolv ed around the day of Pentecost, which was also observed Sunday. Pentecost is the day, SO days after Easter, when the spirit of God came to the 12 Apostles, endowing them with the power to speak in different languages In addition to the story of . Hewett took as his theme. 13:17, "Where the spirit of Quoting Martin Luther, when Luther nailed his theses to the door of Castle Church, Hewett stated, "let the architects of the ecclesiastical and academic inquisition now ap pearing on the horizon hear this clearly and unmistakenly : Here we stand! Only the Spirit can move us." "Salvation is not a matter of being born into a specific race or tribe," Hewett said, explaining that membership in the family of God is not a matter of lineage. "God would have many children, but no grand children." "Hie righteous life has to be freely chosen, or the gate to the kingdom can not be entered." Hewett noted. Finally, he told the group that it was time to stop preaching and start celebrating. "It is time to walk out of here empowered by the liberating spirit of God," he urged, asking the seniors that when they remembered their college days, "remember who and what you were when you C8iri? here and who and what you became in
The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.)
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May 22, 1986, edition 1
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