June 1,1995
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The Perquimans Weekly
350
Vol. 63, No. 22
The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County people
Hertford, North Carolina 27944
Probable cause found in Winfall murder case
Bames case to
go before
grand jury on
June 5
By GINGER LIVINGSTON
The Daily Advance
Judge Grafton Beamon
ruled last Wednesday that
there was probable cause to
send a murder case to trial if
the grand jury indicts the man
charged with the capital
offense on June 5.
Christopher Lee Barnes, 20,
of Rocky Mount, is accused of
Manager
presents
proposed
county
budget
3 cents ad valorem
tax increase
recommended
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
County Manager Paul
Gregory presented his 1995-96
budget proposal to
Perquimans County
Commissioners in special ses
sion Friday.
The $6.1 million budget
would require property taxes
to rise from 78 cents per $100
valuation to 81 cents, although
the budget is actually $50,000
less than last year’s budget.
Gregory'said in his budget
message that cutbacks in state
and federal spending and
frozen state revenues to the
counties which replaced
inventories tax and intangi
bles tax mean county residents
will have to pay a higher per
centage of the budget.
Approximately $3.36 million
of the county’s budget comes
from ad valorem taxes. Other
taxes, investment earnings,
rents and state grants make up
the majority of the rest.
Gregory recommended that
most departmental budgets
rise only slightly next fiscal
year.
The manager also recom
mended a cut of $277,848 from
the schools’ request, the
largest cut made in the
requests. The school board
requested $639,998. Gregory
recommended funding
$362,150, plus the $136,363 the
county pays each year for debt
retirement on the school bonds
used for renovation. The
entire amount cut came from
the capital outlay line item.
Gregory also recommended
a $38,000 cut from the social
service request, a $60,000 in
dispatch, and a $21,874 cut in
the register of deeds office.
The county has set a public
hearing to allow residents to
air their views on the budget
on June 15.
Until that time, the budget
proposal in on file in the coun
ty manager’s office. Taxpayers
interested in reviewing the
document may make an
appointment with the manag
er’s office.
The new budget will become
effective in July.
beating to death his uncle,
Harold Copeland, 77, in
Copeland’s Winfall home on
March 21. Barnes was taken
into custody three days later
in Nash Coimty.
SBI Special Agent Dwight L.
Ransome said during testimo
ny at the probable cause hear
ing that Barnes told law
enforcement officers at the
time of his arrest that he had
ingested crack hours before
the crime.
Barnes sat with his head
bowed during the proceedings
and appeared to cover his ears
with his fists. After Beamon’s
ruling, he went to his parents,
who sat behind his attorney,
Samuel B. Dixon, during the
proceedings and tightly
hugged his father.
After Barnes’ arrest in Nash
County for passing bad checks,
Perquimans County Sheriff
David Lane, Chief Deputy
Dean Cartwright and Ransome
interviewed him about the
crime.
“We told him we wanted to
talk about the investigation,”
Ransome said. “We didn’t say
homocide investigation. He
didn’t show any emotions
until we told him his grandad -
his uncle - was dead. Then he
cried 10 or 15 seconds.”
Ransome testified Barnes
told law officers he left Coastal
Plains Rehabilitation Center
on March 20 after a 14-to-15-
day stay. He told his mother he
wanted to stay with Copeland,
whom he call^ “Pa-Pa.”
When he arrived in WinfaU,
Barnes and Copeland went for
pizza in Edenton, Ransome
said. Barnes then left to visit
friends in Elizabeth City. On
the way, he found a piece of
crack cocain in the car,
Ransome said. Barnes
returned to Copeland’s house.
Barnes told the officers he
prayed for strength to resist
the drug but ended up chewing
and swallowing the crack,
Ransome said. He said he
would not sleep until early
morning and then slept a few
hours, Ransome said.
“He remembered wEdcing up
Celebrating with art
:
PHOTO BY SUSAN HARRIS
Colorful artwork adorns the walls in the fine
arts department at Perquimans Middle
School. The work celebrates Very Special
Arts coordinated by Brenda Hollowell.
Inside
Veterans plan big Flag Day
Pirates to go
to third round
of state
play-offs
Page 6
Livestock awards
announced
Pages
Band students
earn honors
Page 10
Obituaries. Pages
Local veterans will be
joined by their colleagues from
across the state, as well as mil
itary dignitaries, when
Perquimans County celebrates
Flag Day on June 14.
Part of the 50th
Anniversary of World War II
Commemorative Community
Program honoring all World
War II veterans, the celebra
tion will include a long-over
due dedication of Memorial
Field at Perquimans High
School, a parade and concerts
by military bands.
Billboards declaring the
event were sponsored by
Smith’s Jewelry, Woodard’s
Pharmacy, Swindell Funeral
Home and the Veterans of
Underage Military Service.
The observance is being
coordinated by the North
Tuesday morning and went to
the kitchen and Mr. Copeland
said’hello’ and asked if he
wanted breakfast,” Ransome
said. “AFter not being able to
find any butter (he said) it hap
pened.” The “it” was the
attack on Copeland.
Assistant District Attorney
Nancy Lamb asked if Barnes
said why the telephone lines in
the house had been cut. “He
told us he cut the telephone
lines because he thought he
knew what he was going to
do,” Ransome said.
Barnes took Copeland’s
truck and approximately $450
in cash before returning to
Rocky Mount, Ransome said.
Bames told officers he wanted
the money to buy crack,
Ransome said.
On the way from
Perquimans County to Rocky
Mount, Barnes allegedly
stopped at the home of a
Hertford teenager and threat
ened her with physical harm.
Hertford Police charged
Barnes with communicating
threats and assault on a female
in that case.
First-degree murder is a
death penalty offense. “I’m
required by law to pursue it as
a capital case when there are
statutory aggravating factors,”
Lamb said.
Barnes is being held with
out bond in Albemarle District
JaR.
f
Justice Department
defends Cole
Carolina Chapter of Veterans
of Underage Military Service.
County resident Jack Hoffler,
who was 14 when he enlisted,
is the State Commander of the
organization. Through this
group, the 82nd Airborne
Division Chorus and the U.S.
Marine Corps Band have been
obtained to entertain.
A United States Flag Honor
Guard, many of whom will be
local veterans, will advance
the colors onto the baseball
field at the high school at 2:30
p.m. to the strains of the
Marine Corps band. After
nearly 50 years, the baseball
field that has served
Perquimans High School and
the unty will be dedicated to
those it was constructed to
honor: those who fought for
freedom.
Criminal, not Cole,
to blame for murder,
spokesman says
By MARTHA WAGGONER
Associated Press Writer
RALEIGH- U.S. Attorney
Janice Cole is not to blame for
the murder of a Nash County
woman who died during a CEir-
jacking, the U.S. Justice
Department says. Her killer is.
“A horrible crime
occurred,” Carl Stern,
spokesman for the U.S. Justice
Department, said in a letter
defending Cole’s refusal to
prosecute a man on federal
carjacking charges. “For that,
we normally blame the crimi
nal . To suggest that it hap
pened because the United
STates attorney failed to act in
a previous case is an unwar
ranted character-smear and a
reckless distortion of the
facts.”
Stem’s defense came as U.S.
Sen. Lauch Faircloth last week
asked U.S. Attorney General
Janet Reno to investigate
Cole’s refusal to file the
charges.
When asked if action Jodie
Elizabeth Plew’s death could
have been avoided if Cole had
filed charges, a Faircloth
spokesman said: “Obviously, if
he (the suspect) had been
incarcerated, he would not
have been free to commit any
more crimes, including the
miurder of Mrs. Plew.”
The political volleying
involves two carjacking cases
earlier this year.
In one case, Laura Novak
was driven around for nine
hours in the trunk of her car
until her boyfriend saw her
car and rescued her. She was
unharmed.
Three weeks later, Mrs.
Plew, 34, was taken from a gro
cery store parking lot in Nash
County and killed.
Raleigh police had wanted a
defendant in the first case,
Robert McCrimmon, 17, to face
federal prosecution under the
2-year-old federal statute
aimed at deterring carjack
ings. McCrimmon, who was
identified from a videotape
taken when he used the vic
tim’s bank card, had refused to
turn in his partner.
Police thought the threat of
federal charges might change
his mind. But Cole’s office
refused because the federal
carjacking statute requires
establishing that a suspect
intended to cause death or
serious bodily harm. Stern
said in a telephone interview
Thursday.
Police released Dexter
Harris for lack of evidence. He
later was charged with the
murder of Plew but not with
federal charges of carjacking.
Preyer said Novak’s ordeal
falls within the federal statute.
“If the Department of
Justice thinks that someone
being trapped in their trunk
for nine hours and almost suf
focating to death does not con
stitute violent crime or threat
of death, I don’t know what
does,” Preyer said.
The federal statute does not
make a federal crime of all car
jackings, Stern said.
Faircloth asked Attorney
General Janet Reno on
Thursday to instruct the
Department of Justice’s Office
of Professional Responsibility
to investigate Cole.
“My constituents want vio
lent criminals vigorously pros
ecuted,” Faircloth wrote Reno.
“If the investigation deter
mines that U.S. Attorney
Janice Cole has been negligent
or derelict of duty as a law
enforcement officer, then I
would expect her swift
removal.” Stern said the
department had not received
the letter Thursday.
Faircloth also asked Sen.
Orrin Hatch, chairmsm of the
Senate Judiciary Committee,
to convene a hearing to inves
tigate Cole’s actions, he also
asked to participate in the
hearing and to question Cole.
A spokeswoman for the
Judiciary Committee said she
was not aware of the letter.
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