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No. 34 Vol. 96
; & Hoke: County
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
Veterans Day observed, patriotism honored
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Clockwise from above: VFW Post 7930’s Freddie McPhaul with Hoke High
students Andrew Hicks (left to right), Zach Crawford, Thomas Manning, Tiffany
Ross, Jessica Hanson and Kristin Franklin, local winners of an essay contest on "My
Commitment to America’s Future. They were recognized during Hoke’s Veterans
Day ceremony Tuesday at the Hoke Courthouse; Floyd McNeill, VFW Post 10
salutes for the National Anthem; the placing of memorial wreaths; VFW Post 7930
and members of JROTC at Hoke High School demonstrated proper disposal of the
American flag during a ceremony recently at East Hoke Middle School.
Prosecutors
detail checks in
McPhatter trial
By VirroRiANA Summers
Staff writer
A Cumberland County jury remained riveted for almost seven hours of
testimony on Monday in the trial of former Hoke county manager Bernice
McPhatter. She’s charged with embezzling $269,00 of county money.
In testimony, prosecutors linked cars and homes purchased by her to
county funds.
Several jurors took notes throughout the day of proceedings while
three Raeford bankers and one State Bureau of Investigation agent
tracked the financial records of McPhatter.
Testimony for the prosecution resumed today after a day off to observe
Veterans Day. Commissioner James Leach, former chairman when
McPhatter was county manager, and County Manager Mike Wood,
MePhatter’s former boss, are tentatively scheduled to testify today.
McPhatter allegedly forged Leach’s signature on county checks 48 times
either by stamp or signature.
In alleged straight theft indicated on Monday, Hoke District Attorney
Kristy M. Newton showed the jury where McPhatter had allegedly used
unauthorized county funds, totaling slightly more than $25,000, as a
down payment for property. McPhatter reportedly used the proceeds to
purchase a real estate tract off Wayside Road in November 2000. The
four-plus acre property included two doublewide mobile homes valued
at approximately $150,000.
SBl Agent Janie Pinkston produced documents that showed McPhatter
purchased a cashiers check made payable to Raeford Attorney Harry
Southerland for $22,900. The official bank check was used for a portion
of the down payment to purchase the local real estate, Pinkston said.
After Southerland reportedly deposited the check into his trust ac
count, he handled the real estate transaction for her, according to
Pinkston.
Jurors reviewed hundreds of documents — check-by-chcck, exhibit-
by-exhibit — presented by Newton in what she referred to earlier in the
trial as pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Documents presented into evidence
appeared to substantiate that McPhatter wrote county checks to herself
(See MCPHA TTER TRIAL, page 9A)
V
%
Pow Wow honors
Dial, Locklear
bilge 1B
Diane Richardson
earns national award
page 3A
Bucks almost
pull it off
itaue 7A
Births...
3B
Business/Farm...
4A
Calendar...
2B
Classifieds...
7-8B
Deaths...
5A
Editorials...
2A
Engagements....
3B
Legals....
4-5B
Religion....
lOA
Schools....
... 4B, 8A
Socials....
3B
Sports....
6-7A
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Prisoner rights group: jail a threat to inmates, staff
Raleigh officials tour jail, seek a cooperative effort over litigation to fix problems
Vk IORI \NA Sl'MMI KS
Staff writer
The North Carolina Prisoner Legal
Services Inc. alleges conditions in Hoke
County Detention Center threaten the
safety of inmates and the guards who
supervise them. County officials have been
requested to initiate reforms to reduce
overcrowding and to correct deficiencies
immediately.
A corrective plan of action is being
prepared to avoid a lawsuit and to im
prove conditions, according to Hoke
county commissioners.
“Compounding dangers posed by in
adequate supervision is the problem of
overcrowding,”said Michael S. Hamden,
executive director of the NCPLS in a
recent letter. “For an extended period, the
number of persons in the Sheriff’s cus
tody has consistently exceeded the jail’s
rated capacity.”
After being contacted by Sheriff Hubert
Peterkin more than one week ago, repre
sentatives of the state organization toured
the local facility on November 5. Their
goal was to observe the operation on a
“first-hand” basis. The official visit fol
lowed a jailbreak of four inmates on Oc
tober 28, all of whom were subsequently
recaptured. In the Hoke jail annex, site of
the jailbreak, a booth was supposed to be
monitored by a fourth jailer. It remained
unmanned during the escape because of
continued understaffing, according to
Peterkin.
However, findings from the tour ad
dressed more than understaffing and over
crowded conditions.
“On the day of our tour, staff had diffi
culty locating the keys required to unlock
secure areas,” Hamden wrote in the letter.
“To make matters worse, on the date of
our tour, it appeared that the fire alarm
located in the annex was not wired to the
main jail’s control center to alert staff in
(See JAIL THREAT, page 3A)
Escaped prisoners returned to Hoke, sent to Cumberland jail
Ji
Christopher Handon
Santa Claus joins
Saturday’s parade
Postponed Turkey Festival parade
features bands, floats among 80 entries
The long-legged North Carolina turkey meets Santa
Claus at Raeford’s annual parade this coming Satur
day.
The parade that would have been held in Septem
ber in conjunction with the 19th Annual N.C.
Turkey Festival had to be postponed because of a
visit from Hurricane Isabel. Now that the parade is
happening in mid-November, the Jolly Old Elf is
jumping aboard.
The better to entertain you.
One of the highlights of any parade are the school
(See FESTIVAL PARADE, page 6A)
Hector Frausto
The Wright thing
Jason D. King, left, formerly
of Rockfish, portrays Orville
Wright, and Todd Scofield
plays Wilbur Wright at an
exhibit at the Smithsonian
National Air and Space Mu
seum in Washington, DC.
commemorating the 100th
anniversary of the Wright
Brothers accomplishments.
King and Scofield, as the
Wright brothers, welcome
visitors to the exhibit, which
features the Y'^right Flyer,
the world’s first successful
engine-powered airplane.
King is the son of Donald and
Ann King, residents in Gra
ham. (Photo courtesy of
Kristian King)
By Pat Allen Wilson
Editor
After more than a week of freedom,
three men who escaped from the Hoke
County Detention Center in a cold rain
the night of October 28 are back behind
bars.
Hector Noel Mojarro Frausto, 23;
Christopher Damien Handon, 22; and
Steven Ray Locklear, 20, were returned
to Hoke County at 3:30 Thursday after-'
noon. All three had been picked up by
Cobb County authorities in the Atlanta
area.
A fourth escapee, John Shannon
Phillips, 32, was apprehended the day
after the escape when he allegedly at
tempted to shoplift a pair of shoes at a
Raeford store.
“We were very concerned about your
community as well as ours, and we put all
our resources to locating and apprehend
ing these people as quickly as possible,”
Col. Lynda Coker, chief investigator with
(See PRISONERS, page 6A)