Man Charged With Mother's Death In Second Of Two Leland Killings
BY TERRY POPE the with .? h;m/l(nin wkiln ??? Kor K/>m? '?*?' ' Ko umo ?- ? r-? ? ?' ?
BY TKRRY POPE
Dctcclivcs in Leland Sunday investigat
ing an apparent homicide responded to the
second killing in that community within
three days.
Murder charges were filed against a
Leland man who allegedly shot his mother
in the head Sunday afternoon, but a stab
bing death there early Friday still has in
vestigators searching for clues.
Henderson Matthew Davis, 36, of Route
1 , was charged with murder, said Capt. Phil
Perry of the Brunswick County Sheriff's
Department.
Davis was living with his mother,
Juanila Grady, 53, who was shot once in
the head with a handgun while at her home
in the Phoenix community, said Perry.
The home is located on a dirt road off of
Old Schoolhouse Road.
"I believe he had been living at her
house since the July 4th weekend," said
Perry.
According to court records on file at the
Brunswick County Clerk of Court's office,
Davis was employed by General Wood
Preserving Co. at the Leland industrial
Park.
"We have a possible motive," he said.
"There was some dissension there."
Monday morning, Davis was being held
in the Brunswick County Jail without bond
after he was indicted on a first-degree mur
der charge by a Brunswick County Grand
Jury. He was arrested at the scene follow
ing the 3 p.m. shooting, said Perry.
A probable cause hearing has been set
for Aug. 12 in Brunswick County District
Court. Attorneys Stephen Yount and James
Payne have been ap|)oinicd to represent
Davis.
Stabbing Probed
SBI agents were called in Friday to help
investigate the stabbing death of Jerry
Millard Lyle, 26, of Knightdalc, a town just
outside of Raleigh.
Lyle was found in the parking lot of
Lee's By-Rite Deli and Convenience store
on Village Road around 1:30 a.m., said
Perry.
An autopsy revealed he had been
stabbed IK times. Perry said.
The victim was taken by the Leland
Volunteer Rescue Squad to New Hanover
Regional Medical Center in Wilmington
where he underwent surgery, but died
around 10 a.m. Friday.
Perry said Lyle had been living with
some friends at a Leland area mobile home
park for three or four months. The win
dows to his car, found at the scene, had
been broken out. Perry added.
"We feel it possibly happened some
where else and that the victim drove there,"
said Perry. "We have some time frames that
we're working on where we can put him at
different places at certain times."
Some teen-agers found Lyle lying near a
pay telephone in the parking lot and called
the sheriff's department.
"Right at this time," Perry said, "we
have no concrete suspects."
Sheriff's detectives and two SBI agents
arc investigating the case. They were out
until 4 a.m. Saturday and again Sunday
when the department received a call re
garding a second muider in the northern
end of the county.
'They had to break from it and get on
this one," said Perry.
__ _ H0hi3
THE BRU.
iON'3 E'OO!' B I NUtr '
>OKT Ml ^9^84
/ s -
vvvv ivii
Twenty-ninth Year, Number 40
C'WI tMt 8?lwswia?ACON
Shollotte, North Carolina, Thursday, August 8, 1991
50c Per Copy
38 Pages, 3 Sections, 1 Insert
STAFF PHOTO BY EODIE SWtATT
Shrimp Boat Gets Tow
The Fotlyanna out of Holiday, Florida, gets a tow Jrom a local shrimp trawler, the Una Hae out of Shallotte Point. The tandem trawlers
were photographed recently as they traveled north on the intracoastal waterway near H olden lieach.
Late Filing Leaves Some Towns
With Long List Of Candidates
BY DOUG RUTTF.R
Voters will have a lot of candi
dates to choose from in some towns
and little or no choice in others
when municipal elections arc held
this fall.
Across Brunswick County, 114
people have filed for the 63 seats on
18 municipal, hospital and sanitary
district boards that will be filled in
November, according to local elec
tion officials.
Many candidates waited until the
end of the filing period last Friday
to announce their intentions. At
Holden Beach, for instance, 11 of
14 candidates didn't file until the
last three days.
Several interesting races had de
veloped when the month-long filing
period ended last week, including a
few in the South Brunswick Islands.
One of the best races of the year
is shaping up in Shallotte, where
Mayor Sarah Tripp and four incum
bent town board members face chal
lenges.
Mrs. Tripp, who was appointed
mayor earlier this year to fill an un
expired term, is running against for
mer mayor Bcamon Hcwctl. He
served one term as alderman and
four terms as mayor prior to 1985.
Incumbent Aldermen Joe Hcwett
Jr., Jody Simmons and David Gause
have filed for election to the three,
four-year seats available this fall.
Other candidates seeking those
seats are Sam Inman, Gene Frink,
Morris Hall and Roney Cheers, a
former alderman and mayor.
Incumbent Alderman Wilton Har
relson and Odell "Odic" Johnson
have filed for the one, two-year
term on the board.
Holdcn Beach voters will have 14
candidates to pick from when they
go to the polls this fall. They will
clcct a new mayor and at least four
new faces to the board of commis
sioners.
Two men are running for mayor,
and 12 candidates arc seeking elec
tion to the five available scats on
the town board.
Bob Buck, who has served the
last four years as commissioner, fa
ccs Wally Auslcy in the mayor's
race. Mayor John Tandy will is not
seeking re-election.
In the commission race, Gay
Atkins is the only incumbent who is
seeking re-election. James Shafor,
who had originally filed for mayor,
decided to run for commissioner in
stead.
In nearby Varnamtown, five can
didates have filed for three seats on
the town board, and Mayor Judy
Galloway is unopposed in her bid
for re-election.
Voters will elect at least two new
faces to the town board. Alderman
John David Dawson is the only in
cumbent town board member seek
ing re-election.
At Ocean Isle Beach, seven can
didates are running for three scats
on the board of commissioners. Vot
ers will elect at least two new peo
ple to the town board.
Commissioner Debbie Fox, who
has served on the board since 1983,
is the only incumbent who filed.
Virginia Gibson and Pearl Steele arc
not seeking rc-clcciion.
Mayor Belly Williamson, who
has been mayor since July 1987, is
unopposed in her bid for a third
straight two-year term.
Sunset Beach Mayor Mason
Barber also will be unopposed this
fall. Three people, including incum
bent Mary Griffith, have filed for
two seats on the town council.
Challengers are Cherri Check and
Cictus Waldmiller.
Calabash voters will elect one
commissioner from District I and
two from District II this fall.
Commissioner Keith Hardee,
who has served on the town board
since 1987, is unopposed in his bid
for re-election from District 1.
In District II, Jon Sanborn has
filed for re-election. Other candi
dates arc Robert Noe, former man
(See LIST, Page 2-A)
Redistricting Plan Will Go Before County Voters
BY TERRY POPE
Residents will vote in November on a plan to
redraw the county's electoral district lines based
on the 1990 U.S. Census.
County officials had thought a referendum
wasn't needed, but County Manager David Clegg
told commissioners Monday that a vote is re
quired, even if the board decides to make it a
non-binding vote.
"I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing," said
Clegg. "The redistricling process is something ev
erybody's going to gel an input in now."
The county's five districts must be redrawn to
reflect the county's growth since the 1980 U.S.
Census, from 35,777 to 50,985 residents, or
about 43 percent.
Each district will contain about 10,197 resi
dents, plus or minus 10 percent, said Clegg.
When commissioners drew district lines in
August 1983, each contained approximately
7,200 residents.
A 1981 State bill allowing county commission
ers to redistrict without a popular vote does not
apply to counties, such as Brunswick, where dis
tricts are for residence purposes only, said Clegg.
In Brunswick County, while candidates run
from and represent the district in which they re
side, they are elected by voters countywidc. The
districts are the same for both commissioners and
the Brunswick County Board of Education. Both
boards elect five members, one from each dis
trict
County Planning Director John Harvey said he
will have five alternate plans ready for commis
sioners to review by Aug. 16. County officials
believe the changes will be minor.
'This seems to be the year of the referendum,"
said Commission Chairman Kelly Holden.
County voters will decide in November
whether to continue clcting commissioners and
school board members to staggered four-year
terms or to two-year terms.
District 4 Commissioner Frankic Rabon sug
gested that people should vote on the county's
new subdivision ordinance. While Holden indicat
ed he didn't like that idea, he did say the board
should consider other questions to add to the Nov.
5 ballot.
'There arc a lot of other questions out there
that could go to a vote," said Holden.
Commissioners can set a non-binding vole,
where they would not have to abide by the out
come, or can keep holding referendums until a
plan passes.
According to the 1990 U.S. Census, current
district populations arc:
?District 1: Represented by Holden, 11,787 resi
dents, or 15.5 percent loo many people. It in
eludes Waccamaw and Shallotie townships, mi
nus Shalloue and Shalloltc Point;
?District 2: Represented by Jerry Jones, con
tains 10,784 residents, or 5.7 percent too many
people. It includes Shaliottc Point, Shallotie,
Holden Beach area and Supply;
?District 3: Represented by Gene Pinkerton,
contains 9,878 residents, or 3.1 percent loo few
people. It includes Smithville Township, plus
Sunset Harbor up to Lockwood Folly River,
?District 4: Represented by Rabon, contains
9,410 residents, or 8.3 percent too few people. It
includes Town Creek Township, plus south and
west to N.C. 211, easterly to part of N.C. 87 and
U.S. 74-76 to the Columbus County line;
? District 5: Represented by Donald Shaw, con
tains 9,126 residents, or about 11.7 percent too
few people. It includes the Northwest Township,
Leland and Wowlburn area to Olde Towne and
south to Goodman Road.
A local bill Clegg submitted to the N.C.
General Assembly (House Bill 630) would have
replaced the 1981 law, but it was still pending
before the Senate when legislators convened last
month. It has previously passed the House.
It would have eliminated the need for a refer
endum and allowed commissioners to redistrict
by resolution every 10 years. Clegg said it is ex
pected to pass in 1992.
Citing Delays, County
Fires Firm Working
On Water System
BY TERRY POPE
Brunswick County Commission
ers Monday voted 3-2 to fire the en
gineering firm charged with design
ing the county's S7 million water
expansion project to Seaside and
Shallottc Point.
Houston and Associates of Shal
lottc had already completed about
30 percent of the project.
"It hit me like a freight train,"
said County Manager David Clcgg.
"We've got to regroup immediate
ly"
District 3 Commissioner Gene
Pinkcrton said the company has
been slow in preparing plans for
bids and that "many promises made
were not kept."
He said residents of the commu
nities that desperately need county
water cannot afford the delays.
Commissioners Kelly Holdcn and
Frankie Rabon voted for his motion
to fire the firm nnd to have Clegg
chose another to complete the pro
ject. Donald Shaw and Jerry Jones
voted to keep the firm.
Houston and Associates has been
paid around S84.000 by the county
so far, said Clcgg, which amounts to
approximately 30 percent of the
project.
The firm was hired in January to
design Phases 111 and 11I-A of the
county's water expansion project,
which will route a new trunk line
south from Shallottc to the Seaside
area and another to the Shallotte
Point community.
Pinkcrton said Houston and
Associates was given two months
longer to complete the project than
other firms that submitted proposals
last December.
"If wc continue as we're going,
this project will not even be on line
in 1992," said Pinkerton.
The firm said it would have de
signs completed by July but pushed
the deadline back to the fall, said
Clegg. Indications are that now an
other delay is needed until February
1992.
Various reasons have been given
for the delays, said Clegg.
"No way has the county impeded
their progress," said Holden. "There
arc wells going dry in thai area
(Shallottc Point) every day."
A new firm can be hired without
a bidding process, said Clcgg. In
December, 17 engineering firms re
sponded to the county's advertise
ment seeking a firm with experience
in designing water systems.
Of those, five were chosen for in
terviews. In a 3-2 vote in January,
Pinkcrton and Rabon voted against
hiring Houston and Associates.
They voted to hire Ken Dresser
and Associates of Wrightsville
Beach. Other Firms under considera
tion were Peirson and Whitman of
Raleigh, The Wootcn Company of
Raleigh and McKim and Creed of
Wilmington.
Both Jones and Shaw said they
wanted representatives from Hous
ton and Associates 10 come before
the board to explain the delays.
"I'm not happy with the service,"
said Jones, "but I don't want to de
lay it any further."
Another firm can pick up where
Houston and Associates have
reached in the designs, said Clegg.
Phase III of the water expansion
project will carry a main line down
U.S. 17 to Grissettown and down
N.C. 904 to Seaside. Growth in the
Calabash and Sunset Beach area re
quires that another main trunV; line
be installed to hiip the main line
now on N.C 179.
Phase I1I-A would route water
lines from N.C. 179 to the Shallotte
Point community, an area plagued
by harsh water.
The projects will be financed
through revenue bonds. A public
hearing has been set for Aug. 19,
6:30 p.m., in the commissioners'
chambers to receive comment on
the county's plan to seek the S7 mil
lion in bonds.
Water line assessments will help
pay back the bonds.
Jay Houston of Houston and
Associates was unavailable for
comment Tuesday. Alan Lewis, an
engineer there, said Houston had
some meetings scheduled.
In other business Monday, the
board:
?Heard from Thurman Gause and
Betty Smith, two residents who said
the county did not warn them that
funds from their checking accounts
were being attached to pay for back
taxes and water assessments. They
said the county should have sent a
letter telling them funds were being
taken from their accounts. Com
missioners voted in February to be
gin garnishing wages and attaching
checking accounts to collect more
than S2.9 million owed the county
since 1980.
?Delayed a vote on the county's
new subdivision ordinance until two
sections, dealing with minimum
road standards and releases from
recordation of lots, can be clarified
by the county engineer.
(See COUNTY, Page 2- A)
Investigators Rule Out
Arson In Calabash Fire
While investigators have ruled out arson, the cause of a July 27 fire
that destroyed a number of apartments in Calabash has not been deter
mined.
The fire appears to have originated from a downstairs storage room,
said Brunswick County Fire Marshal Cecil Logan. Flames first broke
out about waist high, he added.
"Normally, if you have a fire that starts waist-high, you don't have
an arson case," said Logan. "What caused it, 1 don't know."
The fire was initially investigated as an arson case.
Logan and SB1 Agent Kelly Moser investigated the blaze that de
stroyed at least four units and damaged the remaining four at Riverview
Retreat Apartments on Riverview Drive.
The two investigators reached the same conclusion, said Logan,
who estimated damages between S2()0,0(X) and S250,(XX). They deter
mined that a flammable substance was not used to start a fire there.
Firefighters from five departments battled the blaze for three hours.
Some residents were sull asleep when the fire started and were awak
ened by a passer-by and a neighbor who noticed smoke shooting
through the roof around 9:30 a.m.
No one was injured in the blaze. 'I Tie American Red Cross respond
ed to help families whose belongings were destroyed, said Logan.