Two Sentenced For
Robbing Elderly Woman
liY TKKKY I'OI'K
Two men accuscd of assaulting
and robbing an elderly Ash woman
of SI , l(X) in January were sentenced
in Brunswick County Superior
Court last week.
Norman Marshall Core, 29, of
Ash, was sentenced to 42 years in
prison after a Brunswick County
Jury found him guilty of first-degree
burglary, felonious larceny and as
sault inflicting serious injury.
Another defendant, Robert Jef
ferson Collins, 44, of Route I , Ash,
had previously entered guilty pleas
to lirst-degrcc burglary and common
law robbery in a plea agreement
with the District Attorney's office.
He was sentenced to 20 years in
prison by Superior Court Judge
William C. Gore Jr. after offering his
testimony in the case against his co
defendant.
A third suspect, Melvin Asbem
Whalcy, 23, of Longwood, was sen
tenced to 37 years in prison in April
after a jury found him guilty of first
degree burglary, larceny after break
ing and entering and assault inflict
ing serious injury stemming from
the same incident.
The 91-year-old victim described
for the jury how she was hit on the
head and robbed of her money dur
ing a break-in at her home in the
early morning hours of Jan. 30. The
men were accuscd of hitting the
woman in the face with a metal
flashlight.
Gore's attorney, William E.
Wood, has filed notice that he will
appeal the ease to the N.C. Court of
Appeals.
Wood argued to the jury Friday
that the case was a matter of mistak
en identity and that his client was
taking the blame. In his closing ar
guments. he tried to discredit the
testimony offered by Collins.
The victim was half-blind and
told jurors that she could see shad
ows of the men but could not identi
fy the suspects that entered her
home.
Collins testified that he and Gore
cut a screen on a window and broke
into die woman's home while she
was inside. When the woman ap
proachcd, Gore pointed a flashlight
in her eyes while Collins grabbed
her and held his hand across her
mouth, telling her that she would not
be hurt if she didn't stream.
Gore then hit the woman on the
head with the flashlight when she re
fused to tell them where her money
was kept, Collins testified.
WixkI contended that the co-de
fendant was making up stories to
protect him from spending years in
prison.
"If this is all it takes to convict
someone, then God help us all,"
VVotxl said.
District Attorney Rex Gore had
G. Patrick Murphy from the State
Attorney General's office prosecute
the case. Gore and his staff had been
issued subpoenas by the defense as
potential witnesses in the case re
garding the plea agreement reached
with Collins.
Murphy told the jury that Collins
was facing a minimum of 14 years
in prison on charges that he pleaded
guilty to in February. Officers began
to "attack the organization from the
inside" once they got a few leads in
the case. Murphy said.
He noted the lack of an eyewit
ness that could identify the suspects
at the home, but asked jurors to dis
claim the mistaken identity theory
presented by the defense.
"If there had been a camera there,
you would have seen him (Gore)
come through that door," Murphy
said. "You would have seen him
strike her in the face and blacken her
eye."
Judge Gore, of no relation to the
defendant or the district attorney,
sentenced Marshall Gore to 30 years
in prison on the burglary charge, 10
years on the larceny charge and two
years on the assault charge. The jury
returned with its verdict around 7:30
p.m. Friday.
Collins was sentenced to 15 years
for burglary and five years for com
mon law robbery. The men were al
so ordered to pay $1,100 in restitu
tion to the victim while Collins must
pay SI, 250 to the state in attorney
fees.
Discarded Trees Build Dunes
Wondering whal lo di> with the
Christmas ucc, now that the orna
ments and lights arc packed away?
Why niu help huild larger dunes
at a local beach.
The Town of Sunset Beach will
again this year be collecting used
Christmas trees as part of its dune
improvement project.
Town Administrator Linda Flue
gel announced that alter Dcc. 25,
residents are invited to drop off their
old Christmas trees at the recycling
collection site behind the fire station
on N.C. 179, near town hall. The
site is open seven days a week dur
ing daylight hours.
Residents of Calabash will also
lake part in the tree recycling pro
jccl, she said. Sunset Beach will
send a truck to pick up the trees.
Christmas trees should be
dropped off at the dumpsite on
Persimmon Road, said Calabash
town clerk Janet Thomas.
The trees, when placed behind a
dune on the beach, trap moving sand
and can increase the size of the
dunes and reduce erosion.
Placement of trees can also dis
courage crossing of dunes at points
other than established wooden cross
walks and help repair the damage
from such trampling, said Milton
Coleman, cooperative extension di
rector for Brunswick County and co
ordinator of a countywidc effort to
recycle Christmas trees.
PHOTO St Bill FAVIR
I.IKE SOME OE THE GULIJi, we may find inspiration by looking to the sea.
Looking To The Sea
year,
omy,
fairs,
year
next
BY BILL FAVKR
It's the lime for New Year's
Resolutions
and end-of-the
year wrap-ups
to say goodbye
to 1991 and
> "hello 92." One
good exercise
is to look to the
sea and medi
/tatc on what
will happen to
us in the new
With problems with the ccon
, unknowns in international af
, and a presidential election
upon us, who knows what the
year will bring us? Looking to
f >
the sea may help us put things in
perspective and see how we can
take a positive role in our world.
Robert Frost wrote a poem
about looking to the sea:
The people along the sand
All turn and look one way.
They turn their back on the land.
They look at the sea all day.
As long as it lakes to pass
A ship keeps raising its hull;
The wetter ground like glass
Reflects a standing gull.
The land may vary more;
But wherever the truth may be
The water comes ashore.
And the people look at the sea.
They cannot look out far.
I hey cannot look in deep.
But when was that ever a bar
To any watch they keep?
Maybe we love to "look to the
sea" because we can find calm and
peace even among the frenzy of
the waves. We may not be able to
sec very far or to look at the depths
for very long, but we can contem
plate w ho we arc and w hat our life
is about in the new year. Whether
or not we make resolutions or take
stock of how far we've come and
how far we have to go, let's hope
1992 will be a very good year for
all of us!
Postage
Goes Up,
Service Down
(Continued From Pmi-ding
I did carry the mail lor atxuit 4 'A
years al Dclco Posi Office and in niv
lime there the mail would gang up
some days from Faycttcvillc, and I
can understand if it was late while
the Christmas mail is heavy in
December.
But the more the post office goes
up on postage, the slower and worse
the scrvicc gets. I wrote to my dis
trict post office at Greensboro and
went to my post office at Star. They
got in touch with the Whitcvillc Post
Olf icc and die manager called me,
but none of it did any g(x>d.
So I wish Cius Barbetta in Pitman,
New Jersey, good luck on his try.
James S. Dale
Star
Students More
Than Number
AtBCC
To the editor:
I am a student at Brunswick Com
munity College and would like to
express my appreciation to the staff
for their thoughtful and caring ways
which I and every student have felt,
not only during the Christmas sea
son but throughout the entire year.
BCC has shown me that there is
still kindness and hope in this world
and the staff shows students they are
more than just a number. They greet
each and every student in a personal
manner.
Tanna Richardson
Bolivia
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