And Raise Hell

“It’s a newspaper’s duty to print the news and raise hell.”

C.D. “Tony” Hylton, III

C. D. “Tony” Hylton, III has been around journalism nearly all of his 78 years. He was less than a month old when printers’ ink was applied to his feet and the images made on newspaper as his sportswriter held him and his mom looked on.

His journalism career has taken many forms – Editor/publisher of the Hinton (WV) Daily News (now Hinton News); public relations practitioner for a Washington, D.C. based national trade association and Weirton Steel in West Virginia, Communications Director for AARP in Virginia, and Public Information Officer for a major U.S. Army Command in Vietnam. And Raise Hell continues Tony’s examination of the principled interaction journalism and the rough and tumble brand of local politics found in southern West Virginia in the 1960s.

Tony is a proud double graduate of West Virginia University – (Bachelor of Science, Journalism and Master of Arts, Political Science.

He is a former member of the West Virginia House of Delegates.

AND RAISE HELL

And Raise Hell follows small-town newspaper publisher Rick Hill, who continues to shine the spotlight of principled journalism on the corruption in Lawnsville and the federal trials of those accused of voter fraud, murder, and the attempted murder of publisher Hill during the 1964 primary elections. In this sequel to the award-winning novel, Enough, readers see the positive role aggressive coverage can play in a community. It’s all based on providing readers with truth in the news.

The title, And Raise Hell, comes from an 1861 Chicago Times editorial which describes newspapers in this way–

C.D. “Tony” Hylton, III

And Raise Hell

C.D. “Tony” Hylton, III

Publisher Page

an imprint of Headline Books, Inc.

Terra Alta, WV

And Raise Hell

by C.D. “Tony” Hylton, III copyright ©2022 C.D. “Tony” Hylton, III All rights reserved. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents, except where noted otherwise, are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any other resemblance to actual people, places or events is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any other form or for any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage system, without written permission from Publisher Page.

To order additional copies of this book or for book publishing information, or to contact the author: Headline Books, Inc. P.O. Box 52 Terra Alta, WV 26764 www.HeadlineBooks.com Tel: 304-789-3001 Email: mybook@headlinebooks.com Publisher Page is an imprint of Headline Books ISBN 13: 9781951556655

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021944104

P R I N T E D I N T H E U N I T E D S TAT E S O F A M E R I C A

Dedicated to Lee, Chad, Martha Morgan, Reilly, Maggie

Characters appearing in And Raise Hell • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 4

Rick Hill – Lawnsville Crier publisher Joseph Ballengee – former publisher Lawnsville Crier Eddy Bill Graves – Sheriff of Jordan County Al Dill – Rick Hill’s right hand man at Crier Basil Hammer – Patriarch of large Jordan County Family John F. Kennedy – President of the United States Edward Marcum – Patriarch of large Jordan County Family Baxter Edwards - Leader of Jordan County reform political faction Charles W. Beauregard – one of leaders of Jordan County old-line political faction Joseph “Red” Bell, Jr – one of leaders of Jordan County oldline political faction Ruby Miller – Jordan County Clerk Elmer Abernathy – Chairman, Jordan County Republican Executive Committee Sammy Monroe – successful candidate for Governor of West Virginia Thomas Dingess – Lead poll worker at Jordan County precinct Jeremiah Jones – Lead poll worker at Jordan County precinct Wayne Adkins – Mayor of Lawnsville Benjamin “Ben” Howland – Mayor of Lawnsville Thelma Gleeson – Mayor of Lawnsville Lance Frankford – Lawnsville Police Chief Joseph P. “Joe” Brown, III – member old-line campaign committee

• Bill Joe Hamrick – old-line member of Jordan County Commission • Joe Ed Green – Reformer candidate for Jordan County Commission • Marvin Wood – Chairman, hospital board and Republican Candidate Jordan County Commission • Jim Dowling – former Lawnsville city policeman, shot during Crier fire • Samuel Johnson – Lawnsville City Street Commissioner • Jonathon Johnson -Samuel’s brother and Lawnsville construction company owner • Sammy Burton, Joey Brighton, and Donnie Joe Smith – Lawnsville thugs on trial • Lester Brown – Official Lawnsville Town Drunk • George Buffington – owner Brown Derby bar in Lawnsville • Maynard George – member, Jordan County Board of Education • Helen Black, principal, Point Elementary School • Elwood Hugh, Jordan County Superintendent of Schools • Edward Whitmore, member Jordan County Board of Education • Reginald Lawrence Thurmond, III – publisher, Overton Times • Oliver Brown – AKA The Worm, Lawnsville insurance agent • Eva Newland –retired school principal • Kermit Yancy – member Jordan County Board of Education • Marie Jane Smith – girlfriend of married of School board member Edward Whitmore • Lucille Whitmore – long-suffering wife of Edward Whitmore • Hattie Mae Cooper - member Jordan County Board of Education • Fredrick “Freddie” Smithson – Member, Lawnsville City Council

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Acknowledgments The colorful cast of characters in my first novel Enough pushed me to write And Raise Hell. “We’re not done yet,” they yelled from those pages. “You can’t leave us like this,” they continued to pester during nocturnal visits. I must admit I was curious where this hearty ban would lead my fingers on the keyboard. And then there is Stephen King’s On Writing – with the sage advice about letting characters lead the plot.

As with anything I write, first and foremost, I’m thankful for the love and guidance of my late parents Harriet Lee and Charlie Hylton. They taught me how important the and proper practice of journalism can be to a community.

After my parents, the greatest influence on my journalism career was Paul Atkins, the late Journalism professor at the West Virginia University P. I. Reed School of Journalism (now P. I. Reed College of Media). He taught me the importance of accuracy and fairness.

Again without the guidance and patience of Cathy Teets President of Headline Books, this book would not be a reality. I could not have a better mentor.

Marshall Jarrett - Director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (retired), U. S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. was kind enough to answer what must have seemed like endless questions about legal aspects of And Raise Hell.

Mark Brazaitis - Creative Writing Professor West Virginia University English Department, author of seven books, and 7

Director, West Virginia Writers’ Workshop, introduced me to the world of novelists.

Former Morgantown (WV) Mayor Bill Kawecki provided insights which, without a doubt, improved my writing. Retired Morgantown, WV banker Barton Lohr was kind enough to provide insight into the banking business.

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1 Recognized for Raising Hell Emotions were swarming in the young publisher’s brain as he walked toward the podium as thunderous applause filled the Low Library rotunda at Columbia University.

A dignified President of Columbia waited at the podium to present Rick Hill a Pulitzer Prize recognizing the Lawnsville Crier for coming back after it was burned to the ground exposing a corrupt political machine and providing the truth to its readers.

All this while operating out of a makeshift office with borrowed antique typewriters, castoff desks, and a dedicated staff that continued to work with no assurance of being paid.

Rick was moved when he heard the citation, “Presented for the practice of the highest principals of journalism,” read to this distinguished audience that included past Pulitzer winners, the Nation’s top journalists, and leading news executives and personalities.

They were standing, some up on chairs, all cheering as he made his way, with a slight limp, to receive this most prestigious recognition in journalism.

A huge video screen showed this distinguished luncheon audience the smoldering hole where the Lawnsville Crier had been, him walking with a cane because of a wound from the murderous plot and his battered face coming out of City Hall.

After the award ceremony, he was invited to appear at a press conference in the Joseph D. Jamail Lecture Hall in the Columbia 9

And Raise Hell

School of Journalism. He took several folded sheets from his pocket – a spontaneous ovation erupted from the gathered media.

Finally, embarrassed by the outpouring, Rick Hill raised his hand and a sudden quiet fell over the room.

“Thank you. This is a very special day for me. But we didn’t do anything special. We were just doing what newspapers are supposed to do.”

Heads nodded across the room, perhaps a guilty recognition of their own failure in that regard. He noticed the gesture and put the carefully crafted remarks back in his pocket, uttered a prayer, and jumped right in.

“I learned the newspaper business from my father – I only wish he was here today.

“I came to know newspapering early in life. When I was only a month old, my mother took me to the Logan Banner, where my dad was sports editor.

“The back-shop foreman dipped one of my tiny feet into printers’ ink and made a footprint on newsprint. That was the beginning. When I was in the third grade, I sold the Banner on the streets of my hometown, barking headlines as I worked my way down Stratton Street. Bought ‘em for 3 cents and sold them for 5 – I was rolling in the money.” There was a chuckle from the crowd.

“The first assignment Dad gave me, about two weeks after I graduated from the Perry Isacc Reed School of Journalism at West Virginia University, was to take pictures for the state police at the scene of a suicide. That was bad enough. Then I was asked to go to the funeral home to take some more. When I got there, I was white as a sheet.

“Chuckling, the county medical examiner, used his foot to push over a case of embalming fluid and said, ‘stand on this, you can get a better angle.” This brought a real laugh from the august body of journalists.

Rick Hill continued, “Shaking like a leaf, I completed my first assignment. My dad got a real laugh out of that, but starting at the bottom was something that was in fashion ----- then. Now we are here today.

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C. D. “Tony” Hylton

“I stand before you in large measure because of a dedicated staff (news, sales, and production) who never lost sight of what newspapers are all about and what is right. They stood beside me even after telling them I didn’t know when I could pay them.

“They borrowed from family, borrowed against their cars, and stretched their family budgets. Their dedication humbles me and it is on their behalf that I accept this award. Would you please, recognize their bravery and dedication?”

He motioned to rows of seats in front of the room. The spotlight flooded the startled staff. They stood to another round of thunderous recognition.

“Thank you, gang, know that you made journalists everywhere proud. Perhaps an 1861 editorial in the Chicago Times said it best – ‘It’s a newspaper’s duty to print the news and raise hell.’ Thank you.”

The jammed press room at Columbia University School of Journalism again erupted as the young publisher turned to leave the stage.

He waded through the well-wishers to join his staff, most of whom had not gotten over the shock of being in New York City –it was just too big and too fast.

“Give me the mountains anytime,” the crusty community news editor had groused as they rode in limousines to the urban campus earlier.

“I’d rather be fishing the Greenbrier,” the sports editor followed up.

“Damn, is this for real?” Al joked as he gave Rick a bear hug.

Rick hadn’t told his devoted staff, but they now were on their way to an NBC studio to be the background as he was interviewed for a piece that would appear on the national news tonight.

Then they would board the flight back to Pittsburgh and on to Charleston, arriving back in Lawnsville a little after dark.

The young publisher and his wife and kids would stay another day for him to do an interview the next morning on the Today Show.

Then it was an afternoon flight – back to his beloved mountains and the joy of getting the Crier to its faithful readers.

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And Raise Hell

It was hard to believe it had been a little over a year since the fire and the historical West Virginia Democratic Presidential Primary Election. He was still filled with gratitude each time he thought of Reginald Lawrence Thurmond III, the cantankerous publisher of the Overton Times, who graciously printed the Crier. He held the bill until a new building with a new press was completed and financial stability was established.

To him, at times, the memories were as if it was yesterday and at other times a million miles away. Much had happened.

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2 Eye of the Hurricane It was a whirlwind.

While getting the Crier back on the street took a lot of stress off Rick Hill, something more important on a personal level changed – his wife Ann had become a bedrock of support.

He understood how she became bitter when the paper burned down, even more so after he was nearly murdered. But it went back even before the fire. She had always supported him, but when people criticized him for telling the truth in the Crier, she was incensed at their failure to recognize how hard Rick was working to bring them the truth.

Having been raised in a newspaper family, Rick knew such criticism was just something that came with the job. It was more than that for Anne. She felt it was a personal attack on her husband, who was dedicated to providing a good newspaper to the community.

He noticed her attitude changed when she returned after fleeing to her parents’ home after his nearly being murdered. She came in to help at the Crier office with the advertising billing after the primary election. Even took a story or two over the phone.

She seemed to understand how much the paper meant to him. And he was so eternally grateful for her support.

Then Rick thought back to all that happened in the last 12 months.

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3 Flame Can’t Be Smothered Last year there had been two “West Virginia Trials of the Century,” both involving Rick Hills’ principled brand of journalism that took on the corrupt political machine that ruled Jordan County for decades.

The first trial was about burning down the Lawnsville Crier and the near-fatal wounding of a Lawnsville policeman. The other trial was for the attempted murder of the Crier publisher and his friend in an ambush on a deserted country road. The ambush was planned after, against all odds, the Crier resumed publishing just nine days before that primary Election Day. Ironically, the same five men were the only ones initially charged for both crimes. This despite the fact neither the U.S. Attorney nor the people of Jordan County who knew them thought the five had the brains to plan the crimes.

It was clear from the language in the indictments that someone involved in the crimes had turned “state’s evidence” and would testify against his co-defendants. However, the possibility of convictions suffered a severe blow when that key witness disappeared a month before the first trial.

But those weren’t the only arrests that jarred Jordan County’s political world in the past twelve months.

The new building was well out of the ground, the new press had been ordered, and the move from the storefront was scheduled in the next few months or so.

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C. D. “Tony” Hylton

He hadn’t told the staff, but he was planning a special celebration – the day before they left the cramped quarters that held so much meaning for them all -----Where his staff has risen up to meet every challenge.

-----Where a future President stood looking each in the eye as he told them how brave they were – “an outstanding example for newspapers across the county to emulate.”

----Where the wounded and bleeding young publisher had put together an edition after nearly being nearly killed as the result of the newspaper doing “what newspapers were supposed to do.”

As he gazed at the Pulitzer Prize, his mind dragged him back to the developments since that historic Election Day. After the “day-after” issue of two sections with all the candidate thank you ads – more from winners than losers - the paper returned to its normal one eight-page section.

The shock of the election results – which had given the oldline a beating in all the county’s 30 precincts - hung over Jordan County like an early morning mountain fog hug in the hollows.

It wasn’t just the old-line’s losses - it was the scope of the repudiation – except for Sheriff Eddy Bill Graves, every one of the faction’s candidates were beaten, and beaten badly, in every part of the county.

One of the Crier route carriers summed it best, “that was a real ass whuppin’.”

Some felt that the faction’s leaders, Joseph “Red” Bell, Jr. and Charles W. Beauregard, Jr. neglected local races and issues and were too much involved in state and national politics.

The two political veterans understood they had been administered a defeat of massive proportions. But they didn’t fully understand the reasons. It wasn’t just the words in the Crier stories. It was Jordan County citizens reacting to the truth in those stories.

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4 Just the Facts The Crier just reported the facts. The facts were devastating to the old-line – they showed the arrogance of elected officials, how they governed, policies they adopted, how they played favorites, and how they spent and often wasted public tax dollars.

Once aware of those facts, We The People delivered the ballot box debacle.

When regular citizens had pre-election discussions, the phrases “it just ain’t right what they’re doing” and “enough is enough” were usually part of the conversation.

Three federal trials – the Crier fire, the attempted murder of the Crier publisher, and the mayor’s beating of the handcuffed Crier publisher - were on the horizon that could bring even more unfavorable attention to the old-line brand of politics.

Red and Charles understood the Crier did indeed play an important role in bringing about the defeat. But convinced themselves it was only a one time bump in the road, primarily because of the Edward factor.

Edward Whitmore, the old-line’s board of education president, let power go to his head. His threatening the firing of a respected elementary school principal if she didn’t support his reelection and rumors of his beating up his schoolteacher-girl friend had a big impact on the old-line’s Election Day fortunes.

Underestimating the impact of these facts, Red and Charles were certain the Golden Rule of County Politics’ - money, money, and more money - would reign again in Jordan County.

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C. D. “Tony” Hylton

The two political kingpins didn’t understand how deeply people felt betrayed by the old-line. Red didn’t notice every head-nodding at his post-election war council meeting when a more accurate analysis was given by Jim Bob, “People were just mad, I’d never seen ‘em like this, they all were talking about those articles in the paper the week before Election Day and they still are.

“Some won’t even speak to me at church,” the blunt-spoken man from the mountain blurted out.

“They’re saying our Board candidates were nothing but a bunch of crooks. They even tied the mayor and that dump truck mess to our candidates. It’s still bad, Red,” he said, slumping back in his chair taking a long sip of Norma’s iced tea.

Red nodded as if he understood, but was thinking Jim Bob and the others were trying to shift the blame to others for them not getting it done on the ground in the precincts.

The conversations were even more pointed among themselves when members of the war council bumped into each other at the grocery store, church, or at the concession stand at a son’s or grandson’s little league baseball game.

In whispered conversations, they wondered if Red and Charles had just stopped caring about the local politics.

Always guarded, none would say it directly, but used the timehonored “they” to identify from whence the searing observations came.

Once the ice was broken, another of Red’s council members would say, “You know I heard that the other day - mind you, I don’t believe it, but it’s around - people are saying Red and Charles have hurt us. They say they’d never saw anything like it.”

Then the conversation would move on to how the lack of rain was affecting the tomatoes.

There wasn’t a rebellion fermenting, more like a rising slowmoving river invisibly nibbling at the riverbank. These were conversations that before the primary election would have been considered sacrilegious.

While Baxter Edwards, Jr. and his reformers were fanning the flames a bit, they really didn’t really have to.

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The seeds were sowed by the Lawnsville Crier stories and initially watered by doubts expressed by a few formerly hard-core old-line supporters - some from families who had supported the old-line faction for decades.

But it was also clear that challenges awaited the reformers’ Election Day board of education winners.

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5 The Replay is Even Clearer Baxter Edwards, leader of the Jordan County reform faction, knew that the newly elected board of education members, who had ousted three old-line incumbents, had to hit the ground ‘a-runnin’ and take action to show they were different determined to take politics out of the school system.

He knew it wouldn’t be easy. But the immediate concern was to prevent the defeated board members from using their final two meetings to set up obstacles to keep the new Board from making the needed changes.

After analyzing the results in the precincts out in the county, Baxter saw the lopsided vote against the old-line in the precincts controlled by the Marcum and Hammer clans. His checking uncovered the double-cross on the teaching job that Red and Charles had promised to both families.

Another post-election ritual Baxter Edwards was looking forward to was a visit with the Golden Caravan Queen – Eva Newland.

Now that visit would be one for the ages. He smiled at the thought of having tea with the 81-year-old retired teacher who had been able to put together an effective county-wide Election Day organization without a word leaking out. She had quietly organized school system retirees to drive hundreds of older citizens to the polls in all of the county’s 30 precincts.

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Baxter’s complete precinct-by-precinct analysis amazed him at how widespread the old-line defeat was.

The old-line slate as a whole didn’t carry a precinct. Of all the seven board of education candidates, Edward Whitmore, incumbent president of the Board, ran last in 29 precincts barely winning his own by six votes.

Of the other two old-line board candidates, one was in the top three in only one precinct (his own) and the other didn’t finish in the top three in any precinct.

Baxter immediately realized the significance of the voter tally – several of the county’s 30 precincts hadn’t gone against an oldline endorsed candidate for decades.

Old “bat-eye,” as Baxter was known because of a yearsearlier cancer operation to remove a growth from his left eye, was already thinking about strategy between now and General Election Day. He knew his winning primary candidate for the Commission was strong and had a visceral dislike for Red and Charles. He would hold fast and not be tempted by their promises about his political future.

Baxter was more worried about another devious way for Red and Charles to go through the backdoor to continue their control of the county commission.

He was certain the two political kingpins would not let control of the County Commission slip away without a noholds-barred fight.

Since the Republicans didn’t have a candidate on the primary ballot for the Commission, the party’s County Executive Committee had the power to do so before the General Election.

Baxter knew there were several prominent businessmen registered Republicans -who were extremely close to Red and Charles and one might agree to have his name placed on the General Election ballot.

If the old-line supporters banded together with the Republicans – they could pull off a win and continue old-line control of that powerful body.

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C. D. “Tony” Hylton

There were a few months left for the Republican County Executive Committee to fill the ballot vacancy, so he’d have to keep a sharp eye out for that maneuver.

But the old-line had more pressing problems.

Red and Charles would be following the federal trials very closely – first one about the burning of the Crier and near-fatal shooting of the city policeman, followed by the one for the attempted murder of the young publisher and his friend riding shotgun.

The same five people – Lawnsville Street Commission Samuel Johnson, his brother, Jonathon, and the three petty thugs were charged in each of the cases.

While none of the old-line officeholders would be defendants in the upcoming, in Jordan County citizens’ minds, the Lawnsville City administration was closely connected to the oldline political faction.

And after those two trials, the judicial spotlight would continue to shine on Jordan County’s old-line political faction – with the trial of the Lawnsville Mayor for beating the Crier publisher. Word around town was that the mayor might be looking for a plea deal to avoid a trial. Red was urging such a move since he was concerned his earlier (before the fire) conversations with Wayne Adkins about the Crier stories would come out during the trial.

But before the trials, Rick Hill had some things to track down leftover from before Election Day.

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6 A Handcuffs Homecoming Chomping at the bit, the Crier publisher called the sheriff the day after the election following up on that late Election Night conversation, which promised information on Edward Whitmore’s being charged for assaulting his teacher-girlfriend.

“What’s this about a complaint by the teacher against Edward,” he asked in his best no-nonsense tone.

“Rick, this was turned out to be much worse than I thought.

At first, it seemed just a lovers’ spat. But it turns out he beat the hell out of that girl. Might have killed her if the neighbors hadn’t broken down the door. Her one arm appears to be paralyzed.

Her brother is a lawyer in Charleston and convinced her to file charges against Edward.

“He’ll be arrested when he gets back home, should be by the end of the week,” the sheriff explained in a wary voice, not enjoying discussing the plight of his friend from grade-school days. Eddy Bill fudged the timing a bit, hoping to keep the Crier from getting a picture for the front page of Edward in handcuffs.

“Since two counties are involved, the state police will make the arrest,” he added, covering his maneuver so the Jordan County Sheriff ’s Department wouldn’t have to make the arrest.

Rick appreciated this was hard for Eddy Bill given the nearly life-long friendship, but that didn’t stop his next question.

“How’d he get into this mess, Eddy Bill?”

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“Edward always had a wild streak. Thought he grew out of it after high school. But getting elected to the Board and then made president just made him more arrogant. He actually thought he’d push Red and Charles out and take over the county.

“He’ll do some serious time over this,” the sheriff said.

“I appreciate your giving me a heads up,” Rick said, heading for the door.

“We might fight every now and then you’ve been fair with me,” Eddy Bill responded.

This whole episode was a crushing blow to Edward. He entered this Election Day, even in exile, brimming with confidence. He led all Board candidates in the last two elections. The board of education president had even bought into his wife’s visions of him in Congress.

Because of his behavior putting the old-line in such a bad light right before the important primary election, Charles had ordered Edward to leave town and take a family vacation at his (Charles’) vacation condo at Myrtle Beach until after Election Day. On Election Day evening, in calls to his fellow “soon-tobe-x” board members, Edward followed the election returns remaining optimistic despite the troubling trends from the early reporting precincts.

His mood changed when his home precinct came in. He was first by just six votes compared to the 175-vote lead win he had over the next board candidate in the last board election.

It was in a final call at about 11 p.m. that he learned the scope of the election massacre – the old-line won only one local race, Eddy Bill, for sheriff.

“What in the world happened?” Edward asked, finding it hard to accept the will of We The People.

“The Crier stories really hurt and I don’t think Red and Charles paid enough attention to the precincts this time,” Kermit Yancy mumbled in one of the calls stifling the almost overwhelming urge to blurt out his real feelings, “AND your damned stupidity.”

Kermit didn’t have the intestinal fortitude to tell Edward – who led the Board ticket in the last two board elections and 23

And Raise Hell

was the top vote-getter in every one of the 30 Jordan County precincts – that voters this time make him dead last in 29 of Jordan County’s 30 precincts.

Edward didn’t sleep well that night and when the first rays of the rising sun hit the sand of South Carolina’s Grand Strand, he was ordering his ditsy wife to start packing – “we going home and I’ll straighten out this mess.”

On the eight-hour drive he never shut up, “I should have never let Charles talk me into coming down here. He and Red took the whole slate down – not one of us won, it’s pitiful. They just don’t have it anymore,” he fumed.

And on and on and on, it was his constant jabber for the whole trip back to Jordan County.

“We’ve got two more board meetings to get some things done and we have to make the most of them,” he blustered, finally winding down as they crossed the Jordan County line.

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7 When Home Sweet Home Isn’t The defeated board candidate would find out in less than 24 hours he had a lot more serious problems to worry about than his school board election loss.

It was just before noon the next day when the two state troopers appeared at Edward’s front door. He greeted them cheerfully – one went to his church.

He recoiled when his fellow church member asked, “Are you Edward Whitmore?”

Backing up, he said, “Yes, Tom, you know me,” as the other state trooper took out his handcuffs.

“You are under arrest for assaulting Marie Jane Smith. We are taking you to the county jail.”

His wife gasped as she shooed the children to their rooms.

As he was led out - hands behind his back straining at the metal, Edward called back to his wife to call his lawyer and have him come to the jail immediately.

Another reason Eddy Bill asked the state troopers to make the arrest is that he’s godfather to one of Edward’s children.

The sheriff wanted to stay as far as possible away from this case.

Rick’s right hand, Al, got a call from one of Edward’s neighbors, grabbed a camera, and was at the jail when the state police patrol car arrived with Edward handcuffed in the back seat.

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“Al, don’t’ do this, you son-of-a-bitch,” Edward yelled when he saw the camera. “I’m innocent,” he pleaded as Al clicked away, then turned to hurry to the Crier office with a sure page one picture. The arrest warrant would give the sordid details.

Like the sheriff, the justice of the peace didn’t want anywhere near this one either. When he got wind of the pending arrest, he fled his office to go fishing.

There was no one to set bail. So Edward would have to spend the night in jail until the circuit judge arrived the next day.

The arrest warrant gave a description even worse than the rumors that had reached the Crier publisher. In addition, the teacher’s lawyer/brother called Rick directly with further details.

When Edward arrived at his paramour’s apartment for their regular weekly tryst, the young teacher was distraught and told him she was ending the affair.

Stunned, he began yelling and giving all the reasons that they were meant for each other and how much he loved her. Then she said that she had met someone and was leaving Jordan County at the end of the school term to take a job in the northern part of the state.

Edward grabbed her, threw her to the floor started kicking her in the head and abdomen before picking up a chair and slamming against her body breaking her arm in several places.

Alarmed neighbors broke down the door finding her battered bleeding body balled up in a fetal position on the floor.

Two immediately carried her out to a car and headed to the local hospital’s emergency room.

Edward stomped out, drove off, tires squealing.

The brother explained that when his sister tried to break off the affair, Edward threatened that she would lose her job and he would make sure she couldn’t get another teaching job anywhere in the state.

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8 Even Going to the Hospital is Political The Crier’s community news editor said she learned from her daughter, a hospital nurse, when the young teacher arrived at the emergency room, one of the more politically savvy nurses aware of the rumored affair and Edward’s connection to the old-line, called the Hospital Administrator. He was an old-line supporter who immediately ordered the teacher to be given only the treatment needed to stabilize her and then take to the hospital in an adjoining county.

When she arrived at that hospital, her injuries were found to be so severe she was rushed to the operating room. It took fourhours of tedious surgery to put her arm back together.

The young publisher would later find out that the Lawnsville Hospital Administrator Will LeMasters had meetings the morning after the beating. He told the emergency room staff the importance of the patient’s privacy and emphasized that anyone who discussed the incident would be dismissed.

When the paper, with the front-page picture of Edward in handcuffs, hit the streets, the collective reaction among Crier readers was, “What’s next?” It seemed nobody was surprised.

While Election Day results showed what folks thought of Edward, there was community-wide sympathy for his wife and young children.

“Poor Lucille, she just deserves better,” was a common phrase heard at the beauty shop.

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“Just take him out and shoot him,” was one of the more colorful comments from one normally genteel older lady in for her weekly “bluing.”

That got a chorus of “Amens” and “Hallelujahs” from one end of the shop to the other.

Unfortunately for the school system, the beaten school teacher’s brother was a well-connected attorney in the state capital and let it be known he planned to sue the Jordan County school system as well as Edward Whitmore personally. That was incentive enough for Superintendent Elwood Hugh to push for an early out-of-court settlement.

He would personally see to it she was treated fairly beyond the court settlement. At the minimum, she would receive full pay and benefits for two entire school years and a strong recommendation wherever she chose to resume her career.

There wasn’t much doubt that Edward’s resignation from the Board would be on the superintendent’s desk once he made bail.

It was a consensus the top vote-getter in the just-past election would be appointed to Edward’s seat.

That change in the present Board’s make-up could derail the plan to increase the Board’s insurance coverage Red promised board member and local insurance agent Oliver Brown for his role in delaying the insurance check to cover the Crier’s fire losses.

Brown, dodging any conflict of interests, didn’t write the county’s insurance coverage himself but did have an “arrangement” that ensured he benefited.

Oliver – known as the Worm around the Crier office - was confident - already counting his “commission” from the adjoining county’s insurance agency who wrote Jordan County’s school system’s insurance. Brown wrote the coverage for the adjoining county since that agent was on the school board there.

He was certain the study done three years ago projecting the school board’s 10-year insurance needs was well-hidden in the superintendent’s private files. That study – done by a Charleston consultant - found that the Jordan County school system already had insurance coverage significantly higher than the state’s recommended levels.

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However, about a week before the board meeting, Superintendent Elwood Hugh had a private meeting with The Worm. He explained that if the higher insurance coverage proposal came before the Board, he would release the study to the public, including the Crier.

In an excellent imitation of his namesake, Oliver said that he was glad the county’s school buildings had ample coverage. And he appreciated the superintendent’s concern but did not believe it was appropriate to consider a coverage increase.

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9 Political Reputation Threatened Indeed the ripples from the last Election Day and Edward’s arrest traveled in many directions.

Red and Charles gave their undivided attention to Edward’s arrest. Finally, the seemingly tone-deaf political duo got it.

When the people got the facts about how Edward and the oldline school board majority were operating, as well as learned of Edward threatening a respected elementary principal, they spoke with their ballots.

The Board was an important cog in the old-line machine’s ability to maintain its political dynasty. Being able to trade school system jobs for political support and guide school system purchases to favored local businesses was an important cog in their well-earned reputation for having one of the most dependable county political machines in the state.

Candidates in a statewide primary knew that Red and Charles’ organization could be depended on to deliver a solid block of votes not only in Jordan County but adjacent ones as well.

In a close, hotly contested statewide primary with several candidates for a statewide office, that solid block of votes could decide the outcome. So candidates were more than willing to pay the steep “organization expenses” to get on the slates controlled

by Red and Charles in Jordan and the other counties.

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Anything that damaged that reputation could cost the two money – a lot of money. Edward’s conduct on the Board was bad enough, but the situation with the young teacher multiplied the damage to the old-line political faction’s reputation as a welloiled political machine.

Red and Charles’ number one rule was that the candidates who wanted the advantage of being on their slates had to pay these “organizational expenses” in cash before Election Day. There was a scared corollary to that rule – a significant amount of money would remain after these “organization expenses” were met. And that certainly was the case in this election.

Turning to the troubling subject – the old-line defeat, the two settled in their comfortable chairs, dark shadows on their faces.

They had had election setbacks before over the years, but never anything as widespread as this. But Red and Charles were certain their Golden Rule of politics – money, money, and more money – would get the old-line back on track.

Having their organization identified with, no not just identified with but tied tightly to such a scoundrel like Edward would prove not to be so easily driven from the minds of Jordan County citizens.

Red handed Charles a copy of today’s Lawnsville Crier.

School Board Member Charged With Beating Female Teacher Charles and Red’s attention was focused on the Crier story’s paragraphs tying both Edward and the mayor to the old-line faction. Red had put cans of lemonade on the desk as they sat down for this important conversation.

Today’s Crier article by Rick Hill put it all together in a way that put the old-line front and center. Points made in Rick’s bylined page one story included --- quotes from the arrest warrant which graphically described the injuries Edward inflicted on the young teacher, as well as the long hours of surgery required to reconstruct her arm;

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And Raise Hell

--- the fact that Edward, who ran dead last of seven Board candidates, was close politically to the mayor and both were known as old-line stalwarts; --- recalling the mayor had appeared at the Candidate Nights in strong support of Edward and his allies for reelection to the school board; --- noted the mayor’s trusted ally and Street Commissioner and his brother were indicted in connection with the fire, nearfatal shooting of a city policeman, and attempted murder of the Crier publisher; --- three of the men arrested for the fire and shooting of the policeman and the roadblock and wounding of the publisher, had worked for the city on a paving job in the not-so-distant past.

The Crier story also noted that Edward, because of his political missteps, left (more accurately was ordered to leave) town for Charles’ oceanfront condo during the heat of the election campaign.

And to top it off - with what felt like a gut-punch to the two political kingpins - the story featured the observation that many political observers who talked with Rick Hill privately thought these incidents played a major role in the faction losing control of the Board and the County Commission. Rick only included this because of the many comments he received, including some normally strong old-liners. This was one of the very few times he used unnamed sources in a story.

There was not any mention made of Edward’s affair with the teacher, rather sticking to the facts that an assault had been charged. Charles laid the Crier aside, shaking his head and looking over at Red. “If Edward goes to trial, it could get even messier,” Red said, looking at the ceiling of his small but comfortable office.

“We don’t need that. It would be in papers all over the state,” Charles answered, running his fingers through his thinning comb-over.

“I’ve already gotten calls from Sammy’s (the candidate the old-line was backing for governor) people on this. I explained it 32

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was no more than a zipper problem. They seemed to understand but want me to keep them informed. There’s no doubt, Edward’s going to do time, so he ought to just plead guilty and get it over with.” he added.

Red picked up, “Ain’t going to be that easy. His wife said down at the beauty shop today that it’s all a lie and they’re ready to spend the money to clear his name. She said the teacher got him down there because she wanted a promotion and her boyfriend really beat the girl up. It’ll be hard for Edward to plead guilty given how he’s lied to his wife about it.”

Charles took a slow sip of his lemonade.

“I saw the preacher early this morning and he’d been to see Edward in jail. The dumbass told the preacher he was going to fight it to the end. I’ll have a heart-to-heart with Edward and point out that the trial would be very hard on him and his family and nobody wants that,” the sly Charles concluded.

Both knew Edward’s trial would be in the Jordan County Courthouse, unlike the others that would be held in the Federal Courthouse 100 miles away in the State Capital.

“If Edward doesn’t plead, it would be worse than the others.

It’ll be right here and folks will be able to go and hear all the gory details first hand,” Charles observed.

“He got out early this afternoon. I’ll have him come by the house tomorrow,” Charles said, “I think we can work it out.”

After listening to Edward rant and rave for about 20 minutes, Charles jumped in when the deposed school board president took a breath while pacing back and forth in Charles’ living room.

“Edward, sit down and let’s look at this for just a minute,” Charles said in his most sympathetic tone. “It’s just a terrible situation we have here. Let’s see if we can’t come up with a good way to handle it.”

“The only way is to go after these people giving me hell and smash ‘em in the mouth,” the former school board member screamed.

“How’s Lucille doing”? Charles asked, knowing Edward’s deep affection for his long-suffering wife. Edward fell totally

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silent, bowed his head, trembling as tears streamed down his cheeks.

“Charles, she’s already ripped apart. That picture in the paper of me being arrested almost killed her. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Patting the destroyed man on the shoulder, Charles nodded, “She doesn’t need to go through anymore.”

Edward looked up.

“With a trial right in our courthouse, it seems it might get a lot worse. It could drag out for a long time. Let’s think about it. There might be a way to stop it all right now,” Charles almost whispered.

Edward’s head jerked up, “how in the world could that happened?”

Very patiently, Charles explained, “by pleading guilty, Edward, you could avoid a trial and all the seedy testimony that might go with it.”

“What about Lucille?” Edward asked.

“Tell her it was just politics and it was all a setup. It just seems to me that might be the best thing for your family,” Charles added, leaning back in his favorite chair.

“But I’d still go to prison,” Edward noted.

“That’ll happen with or without a trial, so why not just settle it as painlessly as possible for your family,” Charles continued.

“What if the prosecutor won’t let me plead?”

“I talked to him just before you got here and he said it’d be okay if you did that,” Charles continued sounding like the alwayshelpful funeral director.

“Lucille cries almost all the time and the kids don’t even want to go to school. I’m about at the end of my rope. How much time am I’m looking at?”

“I’d say 2-5 years, but I’m not sure. Let your lawyer work on that part of it. We can’t have your family going through having all the details come out and be in the Crier,” Charles concluded.

“It’s going to be hard, but this seems like the best way to go.

I’ll explain it to Lucille,” Edward whispered as he settled back in

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one of the plush chairs in the master political puppeteer’s living room.

As soon as Edward left, Charles called Red with the news.

“Well, at least we got that settled,” Red said, some relief in his voice.

“His resignation will take away some of the leverage on the Board, but there’s really no other choice,” he added.

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10 The Best-laid Plans There was supposed to be two months until the victorious board candidates would take their seats. That couple of months would have given Edward the other old-line members on the Board time to pass some things to tie the new board members’ hands.

Edward’s sudden resignation changed all that. One of the winners would be appointed and the superintendent was determined to get through the next two meetings with only routine matters being considered.

With the interim appointment, the breakdown would move from an often 4-1 old-line majority to a shaky 3-2 old-line majority, but that wouldn’t be solid since Hattie Mae Cooper was known to go with the line of least resistance and would likely respond to a visit from Baxter.

Once all the new members were seated—there would be a solid majority for the Reformers, one independent that could go either way, and Hatty Mae. Baxter knew the Board majority gave the reformers a major challenge right from the get-go. They had to deliver on their promise to get politics out of the school system.

Almost immediately after the results were known, rumors were rampant that the superintendent, put into place by the oldline majority, was in danger of being fired by members of the new reformer majority.

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It was generally believed throughout Jordan County that Superintendent Elwood Hugh was supportive of the old-line.

However, the rumor that he was behind the Candidate Nights at all the schools right before the election indicated that wasn’t the case.

The newly elected board members were mum on the issue, saying in interviews with the Crier publisher that, “We’ll just have to see how it works out.”

As the rumors swirled, the Crier publisher had had enough of the political posturing.

Leaving no doubt, he answered the question whether he would hold the reformers accountable as he did the old-line in a blistering Crier front-page editorial “There’s only one reason for a board of education and that’s the students – not the politicians, not the school staff, but the students – period the end.

“Now there are rumors of a move by the new board members to replace Superintendent Elwood Hugh when his contract is up at the end of the year. The newly elected board members refused to answer questions from the Crier about the superintendent’s future.

“During the past election campaign, we did not hear much about the superintendent, but for many seems he was an unspoken issue.

“Well, from where we sit, he’s done a pretty good job. Of course, the people have spoken with their ballots and clearly said they wanted change in the direction of the school system. “‘We The People’ rose up and defeated three incumbent School Board members. That’s a first in the history of Jordan County.

“It’s the responsibility of the Board to bring that change and it’s up to the superintendent to implement those new policies – if he doesn’t, then he might need to be fired.

“But right now, it’s time for the victors to practice what they preached in the campaign, ‘take politics out of the school system.’”

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No more had the paper appeared on the streets than the phones started ringing.

First, it was the superintendent. “I called to thank you, I think,” he chuckled.

“Elwood, I just think you deserve the opportunity to do your job,” the young publisher said, getting right to the point.

“Make no mistake, to a lot of folks, you’re identified with the defeated candidates, but as I wrote in the editorial, I think overall you’ve done a pretty good job.”

“There are some things we need to do and I believe we’ll get them done and again, I appreciate your going to bat for me,” the superintendent said, surprised at his own fervor.

With the next call, he got a chuckle, “Damn, you don’t sugarcoat it,” Baxter groused.

“Well, I think it’s what needs to be done. The Board could send a strong message by keeping him and giving him a chance.

I think it’ll work.

“Playing politics in the school has to stop somewhere,” the young publisher said, standing his ground.

“Okay, we’ll think about it,” old Bat-Eye said before hanging up, not wanting Rick Hill to think he had the Reformers on the run.

But he knew Elwood Hugh would continue as superintendent.

He was keenly aware that the Candidate Nights the superintendent maneuvered in place at each Jordan County school laid the foundation for the defeat of the old-line board majority. The events forced the old-line board candidates to defend their terrible record running the school system and answer questions face-to-face from citizens.

Red couldn’t’ believe the editorial – it called out the reformers. Now he really was confused since he expected Rick Hill to become a lackey for the Reformers like the former Crier publisher had been for the old-line.

People all over the county were scratching their heads.

Reaction of the route drivers is something the young publisher paid attention to. They covered every part of the county, were well-known in their communities, and kept their ears to the 38

C. D. “Tony” Hylton

ground. And each enjoyed privately sharing “the latest” with the young publisher in his cubbyhole office.

It seemed that the election results were still the talk out in the county. A close second was Edward’s arrest for beating up his school teacher-girl friend. That upset even the most ardent old-line supporters.

“People out in the county haven’t forgotten that at the Candidate Nights, the old-line board candidates lied to us during the campaign about why school repairs hadn’t been done at our schools,” one of the more vocal route drivers told Rick.

“It just ain’t right” and “enough is enough” were still the words used when folks were talking about Jordan County’s oldline political faction.

Given how well the Candidate Nights went over out in the county, the route drivers reported to Rick that folks believed the superintendent should stay.

“Everybody I’ve talked to says, the superintendent stands up for the kids,” was how the route drivers summed up the situation.

In Red’s cleaners, just a few blocks away, another significant conversation was about to take place.

It started as the former Crier publisher came through the door, shaking his head, “Red, there’s another thing about the election.

Edward on the Board and Bill Joe on the county commission did some really stupid things, Edward messing with that teacher and Bill Joe pushing that vote against lifeguards at the 4-H pool. Then Edward and the other board candidates just being arrogant with folks at those candidate nights at the schools. That had as much to do with us getting beat as anything.

39

11 The Ball Keeps on Rolling “It was all those things mixed together. But it seems that we got tied together with the mayor and all the troubles in the city.

Not sure Wayne will be running again,” Red said, trying to gauge Joseph’s reaction.

“Good point, his trial for beating up Rick Hill will be coming up before the city election. Don’t see how he could win after all that comes out,” Ballengee agreed. “And you can bet that Baxter will be coming with a candidate for mayor and a full slate for city council.”

“And from that editorial today, it’s clear to me that Baxter’s bunch won’t get a free pass from Rick,” Joseph Ballengee concluded.

“How do you see the county commission race?” Red asked, knowing that Joseph has an extensive network of contacts throughout Jordan County. “What do you think of Marvin Wood as a candidate on the Republican side?”

“Marvin would be strong – he will have all the Republicans and has a lot of friends that come along with us most of the time.

But I don’t think he would be interested,” Ballengee concluded.

“You’re probably right. He got a lot to do with his business and the hospital board,” Red said just before the former Crier publisher left.

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The election results, Edward’s arrest, and the pending federal trials for the Crier fire and near-fatal shooting of Jim Dowling were the primary subjects being discussed across Jordan County.

But another subject was getting ready to bubble up.

Complaints about the conduct of the primary election would soon take a prominent place on the gossip network.

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12 Don’t Forget How You Got There Rick wasn’t sure what to expect at this first County Commission meeting after the Jordan County Election Day earthquake.

When he came around the corner of the old court house’s second-floor hallway, the Crier publisher’s curiosity shot up – there was a crowd in the hall outside the commission’s meeting room. The buzz was clearly angry in tone.

Normally, no one attended Commission meetings other than county staff who had business before the body. Seldom did any citizens attend. Rather when they had an issue, they’d take it to one of the commissioners privately.

Today was different - every chair was taken with the crowd spilling out into the narrow second-floor hall of the Civil War era courthouse.

Rolling her eyes, County Clerk Ruby Miller handed Rick an agenda as he edged toward a spot to stand in a corner close to the front.

An older lady got up and came over to the Crier publisher, anger firmly etched in a scowl across her wrinkled face, “I want to come and see you this afternoon. It ain’t right what they did Election Day.” “I’ll be in all afternoon,” Rick whispered as Harrison Stone brought down the gavel calling the meeting to order.

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“Seems we need to rearrange our agenda this morning since we have some folks that want to speak, and I’m sure they don’t want to sit through all our boring business, so we’ll get right to them,” Harrison said in his best southern drawl.

“Effie Mae, you want to start,” the commission president calling one of his neighbors from out in the northern end of the county.

Ignoring any niceties that usually open a conversation in Jordan County, the petit, angelic-looking grey-headed grandmother, a church-going hat perched on her just perfectly done silver hair, let go with a tirade that shocked her neighbor presiding over the meeting.

“Ruby fired a bunch of us who’d worked at precincts for 20 years and more. She didn’t even call us. We didn’t know until someone saw the list posted in her office,” Effie Mae exploded, not mentioning the fact that the election workers were appointed for only one election at a time but asserting a squatters’ right type approach.

“We want to know why? I kept calling to find out why I hadn’t gotten a letter about working like we always did, and you told me there had been a mix-up in your office,” she said, pointing directly at the county clerk. “You said everything was all right and the letters were being mailed that day. That was just a lie,” Effie Mae concluded as she sat down to the cheers of others crowding the small room.

Immediately Harrison knew he was in the midst of what could be a real donnybrook and he smoothly retreated as he turned to the county clerk and said, “We depend on the county clerk to bring us those to be appointed. Ruby, I’d appreciate your answering Effie Mae’s questions.”

Ruby Miller ran an efficient office. However, she rarely spoke much above a whisper and never been confronted by anyone as angry as Effie Mae and the crowd backing her up.

When Red, the county Democrat chairman, and Elmer Abernathy, the Republican county chairman, brought in revised lists of poll workers, Ruby didn’t ask any questions. She understood something was in the works to help the old-line in 43

And Raise Hell

the primary election and that’s all she needed to know or really wanted to know.

The campaigning leading up to this election was as heated as she’d seen in all her decades of being a part of Jordan County political history.

She was a stalwart of the old-line and came from a family that had been with the entrenched political faction for at least 40 years. She knew who she owed her office to and acted accordingly.

“Well, we go with the lists that the county chairmen bring to us,” she tried to explain over the chorus of boos and catcalls coming from those in the audience, many over 70.

An arm went up from across the room, Harrison recognized her and asked her to stand.

“Well, Ruby, that sounds all well and good, but none of those new folks had any experience inside the polls. Out to Sims Hollow precinct folks waited in line for more than a half-hour waiting to vote,” she said, wagging a finger at the county clerk.

“I find it interesting that all new Democrat and Republican poll workers were appointed in just five precincts. The fact is those five precincts have always run smoothly - never a problem.

Don’t make sense for changes there,” the irate citizen from out in the county said before taking her seat.

Next, Harrison called on an elderly white-haired gentleman in the back of the room who had the countenance of a loving grandfather – but then looks can be deceiving.

“What the hell are you talking about applying to be a poll worker? In my 20 years, I never heard of such a thing. You are just giving us a bunch of crap so you can get away with hiring all your cronies. It just ain’t right,” he concluded, sitting down to thunderous applause and whistles.

The County Commission president had an idea why the changes in poll workers were very sudden. The county clerk had provided the poll worker lists to the Commission about a week before the meeting where the appointments were to be approved.

Then, a day before the meeting, the county clerk had sheriff deputies bring new lists to commission members saying mistakes had been made by one of the new secretaries in her office. The 44

C. D. “Tony” Hylton

county clerk had the deputies asked for the original lists she had sent out.

Two of the commissioners - Harrison and George Mullen had kept the originals. Comparing the lists, both saw immediately that changes had been made in only five out-in-the county precincts.

Savvy politician that he was, Harrison was certain the changes had something to do with a maneuver to provide the old-line an advantage in what had become a very heated primary campaign, particularly the races for the school board and county commission.

He wasn’t going to pursue the subject or discuss it with the county clerk. It was done, the election was over, and it was clear from the results that whatever the purpose of the maneuver, it had been a colossal failure – the old-line candidates had gotten their collective asses kicked all over Jordan County.

After the heated commission meeting, Ruby Miller told herself she would talk to Red before the general election and see if the old workers could work the general election in November.

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13 Is the Ball Unraveling or is it Just About Money Rick walked back to the Crier office to begin work on his story and looking forward to Effie Mae’s visit to follow-up on her comments at the meeting.

He didn’t have to wait long.

Not waiting for him to answer her knock, Effie Mae opened the door to his cubby hole office and took a seat, ready to holdforth.

“Something happened right before the Commission was supposed to approve the inside polls workers for this election. A list had already been prepared and sent out to the Commission members with their meeting packet.

“Then over the weekend before the meeting, they got new lists with the changes at five precincts,” she rattled on, not pausing to take a breath.

“Nothing like this has happened since any of us have been working the polls. I don’t know what happened, but it ain’t right.

Those same five were the last precincts to come in election night.

I heard there was a fight during the counting at one of them.

“You ought to look into it. Something smells,” Effie Mae said, sitting back and looking at Rick, seemingly expecting him to agree with all she said and swear to take action.

“Do you think the new folks were appointed illegally,” Rick asked casually, being careful not to get Effie Mae in the preachingmode again.

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She blinked at the use of “illegal.”

“I’m not saying it’s exactly illegal. But something’s just not right about it.”

“The commission always approves the poll workers. But Ruby just pulled something at the last minute, real sneaky like,” Effie Mae said, maintaining her almost regal demeanor of indignation.

“What are you going to do about it,” she said, looking at Rick.

“Well, the election’s over, not sure there’s anything to be done.

But I will be including your comments at today’s meeting in a front-page story in tomorrow’s Crier. All our readers will be able to read about your concerns,” he explained, hoping that would settle her down a bit.

“Well, I do appreciate that. Folks have a right to know what went on,” Effie Mae said as she got up to leave, seemingly satisfied that Crier readers would see her words of wisdom and know something “just ain’t right about that election.”

Rick got up, opened the door, and escorted Effie to the Crier front door, “Thank you for coming by and know you can call me at any time with any questions.”

Looking very pleased, she took his hand, “really enjoy reading the Crier every day. Thanks for seeing me.”

After Effie Mae was gone, the community news editor groused, “My, my, aren’t you the sweet one,” as she turned back to her typewriter chuckling.

Rick put his story aside and dialed the county clerk’s office.

When he announced himself, the assistant clerk curtly said, “Well, I’ll have to check and see if she’s in.”

She returned and said the county clerk was out and might not be back until the following morning.

Rick smiled and, with reporter’s hat fully in place, responded, “Well, I’m working on a story about today’s meeting and there’s a part I’m not sure about. I don’t want to misquote Ruby – could be embarrassing.”

Dead silence on the other end followed by a changed tone, “I’ll see if I can find her and have her call you right back.”

“That’s great. Don’t want to misquote her in the Crier,” Rick said in his best sugar-coated tone.

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He guessed it would take about 10 minutes for the returned call – it was three.

“Hello, Ruby, thanks for getting back to me. That’s was a hectic meeting.

Want to make sure I get everything right.”

“What do you want?” the county clerk in an icy voice that brought to mind the record Jordan County winter of two years ago with temperatures below zero every day for a week.

“Heard there were two different lists of poll worker sent out to the commissioners. The second had the changes made at five precincts. Is that right,” Rick inquired, not sure how heated the response might be.

“Did the county chairmen give you the first one?” the publisher asked, pencil poised to get the exact quote.

A pause, it continued a few seconds.

Then a panicky voice spouted, “oh no, somebody up here just grabbed an old one, but we got it all straightened out,” the county clerk explained as if she was instructing a first grader.

“So you only received one list from each of the county party chairmen?’ he asked, fine-tuning his probing by limiting Ruby’s wiggle-room.

“Oh yes, I only got one from the county chairmen. They brought them into the office,” she stammered.

“One more thing. Those lists are approved by each of the county executive committees before they come to you, right?”

Rick slipped into the conversation.

Ruby, by now exhausted from the interview and wanting it to end, blurted out, “oh yes, they have to be approved by the executive committees before the chairmen submits it to me. And I take each list to the commission for final approval.”

“Well, I guess that about covers it, Ruby. I really appreciate you taking the time to get back to me so quickly,” Rick oozed.

“You’re, you’re welcome,” she said, relieved that the ordeal was over - so she thought. Don’t know why he’s asking all these questions, the election’s over, Ruby thought as she hung up the phone.

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As he finished the story, Rick fully expected the part dealing with the heated exchanges between the ousted poll workers and the county clerk would generate the most comments.

County Clerk Questioned by Long-time Poll Workers Not Hired for Primary Announced across the top of the Crier front page.

Rick’s story led with the exchanges between the irate “fired” poll workers and the county clerk. Also included was the fact that the five precincts were the only ones where all poll workers were changed from the last election. No other precinct had more than two new poll workers. Down in the story, it was noted, “that two poll workers from one of the precincts got into a fight right after the polls closed and came to the courthouse with bruised faces and swollen lips.

As Rick re-read the story, he wondered if this confrontation at the commission meeting was the result of the ripple effect of the citizens of Jordan County realizing the government was theirs. They’ve had enough of being lied to and taken advantage of by their elected officials or were they just mad about missing out on the poll worker pay?

Understanding this Crier story could be a precursor to federal charges related to fraud in the election. Rick very carefully crafted the section about county political executive committees’ role in appointing inside poll workers. He put quote marks around the country clerk’s explanation about how the poll workers’ list had to be approved by members of the two-county party executive committees.

These procedures are covered by state law and, when not followed, can get the attention of the state Secretary of State and when federal offices are on the ballot, federal legal authorities could become involved.

Rick had his suspicions given Red’s very negative reaction Election Night when the five precincts’ voter tallies arrived at the county court house. His recent conversations with Baxter and Effie Mae added to his suspicions.

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But he had no facts to back up these suspicions. The Crier publisher was interested to see what calls he might get as a result of the story.

The following day, when the Crier hit the streets, Red studied the story, pleased that Ruby Miller wouldn’t budge from her story. She was meticulous in explaining what state law says about the two-county political party executive committees’ roles.

Red smiled and thought, Rick must have believed her, else why would the county clerk’s explanation be so prominent in the Crier story?

While the crafty old politician was without peer in organizing precincts, he did not understand that the quote marks around Ruby’s words could very well spell trouble for her. She had indicated that the county political executive committees were supposed to approve the lists of poll workers presented to her by the county party chairmen.

In reality, right before the deadline for poll workers to be appointed, Red realized that the election could be much closer than was comfortable. He was confident but wanted some insurance over and above the old-line’s normal Election Day vote-buying and the six precincts controlled by the Marcum and Hammer families.

Red was Democrat chairman, so he selected five precincts and appointed all new Democrat poll workers. Next, with adequate monetary incentive, he convinced Elmer Abernathy, the county Republican chairman, to make changes in the same five precincts to the poll workers’ lists already submitted to the county clerk.

Charles called Red after reading the Crier story about the complaints on the appointment of poll workers, “Think we need to talk a bit, okay if I stop by after closing?”

As Charles took his normal seat in front of the old weatherbeaten desk, Red placed cans on lemonade at both places.

“Red, do you think anything will come from this complaint,” Charles asked.

50

14 From Beyond the Graves “Not really. I believe most people will just see it as those complaining being made because they missed out on the Election Day pay for working inside the polls. Ruby handled it pretty well.

I think it’ll blow over,” Red offered as he enjoyed the cool libation that was a tradition of sorts when the two met.

The two men’s adherence to the non-alcoholic libation was the result of being raised by two God-fearing, Bible-toting, prayerful mothers who constantly instilled in their sons the evils of “demon rum.” The two men vividly recalled their mothers’ tirades when the fathers would come home reeking of alcohol after a night of campaigning.

The memory of the loud sobbing of their mothers’ praying wails was never far away when they learned of their sons partaking of beer in celebration of their team winning the state football championship some 35 years ago. Charles’s mother brought him over to the Bell House and the two mothers sat their sons down and held forth. The two took turns praying – asking for divine intervention to make their wayward sons turn from their sinful ways. Those stern words still occasionally rang in the ears of the two Jordan County political kingpins.

To this day, that session coupled with the promise of an alcohol-free life Red and Charles made as their mothers lay on their deathbeds did indeed keep the two men free from “demon rum.”

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And Raise Hell

On the other hand, in a juxtaposition of religious principles, the two believed the thousands of dollars stolen by their political maneuverings was their “just-due.” After putting the cans down, they turned to the problems of the approaching general election campaign.

In reading the Crier story, Ruby Miller didn’t care much for seeing the criticism of her office. On the other hand, she was pleased that Rick was true to his word - her explanation of the procedures was complete and accurately included.

A completely different thought was troubling some members of both the Jordan County Republican and Democratic Executive committees.

The executive committee members were in a quandary – they didn’t want to be seen criticizing their own party’s county chairman, but at the same time, they didn’t want to appear to have been responsible for firing the veteran poll workers. They all decided it was best to keep their mouths shut and move on to the next election. Members of both had something in common there was no vote by either of the executive committees on those second lists.

Rick thought that was what happened. But without someone confirming, he could not go with a news story – but a column on the situation might be appropriate.

Several days later, the Crier publisher’s front-page column spelled out the coincidences about the poll worker changes that were the subject of complaints brought before the Jordan County Commission.

First, the column noted that appointing all-new poll workers for a single precinct was highly unusual – in fact, he could not find anyone who could recall such a thing happening in a previous Jordan County election.

For it to happen in five precincts is truly “astounding.”

In fact, other than the five precincts in question – there were only three other precincts that had any changes for the just past primary compared with the last general election. Only one of those had more than one (just two). To illustrate problems that arise when all-new poll workers are appointed at a precinct, the 52

C. D. “Tony” Hylton

Crier publisher noted that all the five precincts had lines outside of people waiting to vote, and in one, voters said they had to wait as long as 30 minutes to vote.

He used to word “astounding” to make the point throughout the column.

“Some would say that is it astounding that the members of both the Republican and Democrat Executive committees, supposedly acting independently, decided to appoint at new poll workers at the same five precincts.”

Rick did take delight in using the word “supposedly.” The Crier publisher would have been delighted if he had known Crier readers made that one the most read paragraph in the whole column.

To conclude the column, Rick ran the quotes from Republican Chairman Elmer Abernathy and Democrat Chairman Red Ball explaining why the changes were made. When putting together the column, Rick asked both to bring by written explanations for the changes. He explained that he wanted to make sure that he quoted them accurately because of the sensitive nature of the subject. When they dropped off the statements separately, both complied when Rick requested they initial them.

Not only did he run the quotes from the two statements in his front-page column, on page three of that day’s Crier, but he also ran photographs of the statements. There were only two words different in the two quotes – that was yet another “astounding” coincidence pointed out in Rick Hill’s bylined column.

The “he-haws” rattled through the halls of Jordan County Courthouse as each office staff enjoyed the Crier publisher’s ‘tongue-in-cheek” front page classic.

Rick sat back and stared at the black telephone perched on the only uncluttered corner of his old borrowed and battered desk as he was getting ready to leave the Crier office for the day.

Nothing.

Damn, I thought for sure I’d get a call. Maybe this is really just about some folks mad because they didn’t get the Election Day poll worker fee, he thought as he parked beside the stately old house, looking forward to a break from the hectic world of newspapering to hear about the kids’ school day adventures.

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And Raise Hell

While he was enjoying his kids, that day’s Crier was on its way through the U.S. mail to the state capital.

Every month, Rick reviewed the Crier circulation rolls, including new mail subscriptions. In the weeks before and after the election, the route drivers’ subscription numbers went up significantly - by about 150.

Rick just scanned the mail subscription numbers - only ten new ones in the last two months. He would have certainly taken notice if the U.S. Attorney’s office had shown up.

Two new subscriptions were from two crafty assistant U.S. Attorneys who wanted to keep their monitoring of Jordan County under wraps. They had the Crier mailed to their homes.

In spite of the heavy workload preparing for the fire and roadblock trial, the two federal prosecutors did catch the story about the “fired” poll workers sensing implications for possible voter fraud.

When one of his assistants brought the Crier story and followup column to his attention, the U.S. Attorney said, “Damn, this column puts it together in a way I hadn’t thought of.” After the meeting, he decided to see if those complaints were just sour grapes or indicated the tip of the iceberg for an unsuccessful conspiracy to steal the recent election.

To begin finding the answer, he picked up the phone.

“Before we go any further, I need your assurance that you will not mention to anyone or do a story about this call,” the U.S. Attorney said.

“Now that’s a big ask. You did give me a heads up on those arrests. Okay, but you owe me one,” Rick responded, his curiosity getting the best of him.

“I just read your story on the County Commission meeting.

Your column really got me thinking – it put things together in a way I hadn’t thought of. Do you think the complaints were because those folks missed out on the Election Day pay off, or was there something else going on?” the federal prosecutor asked.

“Hell, I’m trying to figure out the same thing,” Rick Hill bellowed.

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“On Election Day after the polls closed, there was a fistfight at one of those precincts where the poll worker appointment complaints were made.

“In fact, two who brought the voting results to the courthouse from that precinct were pretty banged up—been trying to find out what caused that fight.

“It’s not easy. Unraveling this stuff is like trying to sort out a barrel of fishhooks,” Rick’s tone matching the frustration of the federal prosecutor.

“There’s a lot going on down there. Could all this be tied together?” the federal prosecutor asked.

“I will tell you that people around here who know those guys going on trial don’t believe they have the smarts to have planned either crime.

“So maybe something was going on. I just don’t know. You going to open an investigation on this precinct thing?” Rick asked, ever mindful of his responsibility to keep his readers informed.

“Doesn’t sound like there’s much there. Our plate is pretty full right now getting ready for the two trials,” the U.S. Attorney responded, giving a bit of a misdirection play he was known for as a quarterback for the West Virginia University Mountaineers almost 20 years before.

Getting up from his chair immediately after Rick Hill’s conversation ended, the U.S. Attorney went to find his top assistant and lead investigator.

After discussing his suspicions, they decided that two investigators would be dispatched to Jordan County to talk to the county clerk and some of the people who worked as poll workers in the five precincts about which the complaints were lodged.

He knew he couldn’t complete the investigation because of the workload related to the two trials. But he wanted to gather basic information while it was fresh.

Rick’s dependable 85-year old news tipster, true to form, called with news that federal investigators had recently visited the courthouse.

55

15 A Fight That Isn’t “Well, grumpy didn’t think I’d see you for a while,” the sheriff said when Rick Hill poked his head into the inter-sanctum.

“Okay, okay, I apologize for being an asshole when I was up here before,” the newspaperman said, hoping for a positive response.

“Hell, not everybody can be as soft-spoken-and-mildmannered as me,” Eddy Bill guffawed as he got up from his chair, offering his hand.

“Can we go back to that off-the-record offer?” Rick asked hesitatingly.

“What about?’ Eddy Bill responded cautiously.

“Our federal friends,” the publisher said.

“Hell, okay with me, I don’t’ know anything,” the Jordan County Sheriff quickly blurted out, almost laughing.

“Got any idea why they are still nosing around? Do you know anybody they’ve talked to since the election? I heard that they were up here at the courthouse in the last week,” the publisher asked in his best no-bullshit tone.

A sudden squeak filled the room as Eddy Bill shifted uneasily in his oversized leather chair.

“Don’t know why they’d be visiting with anyone up here – wasn’t me,” he said in a weak attempt to throw Rick off-track.

“Now, Eddy Bill, that’s not what I asked. I asked if you knew who they’ve talked to in the courthouse, not who they hadn’t talked to.”

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Both men fully understood that this conversation was moving toward pealing the scab off the wound of election fraud that had permeated Jordan County politics for generations.

Rick pressed, “Eddy Bill, we both realize that this stuff has gone on too long and really gotten out of hand. A fine young police officer was nearly killed and will never be able to wear the badge again because of this mess. Larry and I were nearly killed.

Help me here.”

“You’ve only been here a couple of years. I’ve grown up here.

I’ve known these folks all my life,” the sheriff said, pleading for Rick to stop.

“This is all off the record. I’ll never tell anyone. You know you can trust me,” Rick responded, his eyes never leaving Eddy Bill’s.

“They were talking to the county clerk about the appointment of some poll workers. That’s all I’m going to say,” he said, with a wink, as he suddenly got up from his desk, grabbed Rick by the arm and pushed him toward the door, opened it, and shoved the publisher across the outer office and out that door into the hall.

“And don’t come back. You’re nothing but a damned troublemaker.” Jordan County’s chief enforcement officer turned to meet the faces of his bewildered office staff.

“If he calls, tell him I’m not in and if he shows up, escort him out of the office. Got it?”

Shaking their heads in the affirmative, the staff hurriedly returned heads down to the work in front of them.

Eddy Bill’s tirade was heard by everyone on the courthouse’s second floor and word about it spread to all the offices on the first floor and beyond in an instant. The nature of the confrontation grew as the account traveled.

“Rick might have taken a punch at the sheriff,” one in Assessor’s office related as Gospel.

“Looked like Eddy Bill was ready to pull his billy club,” another in the county clerk’s office whispered.

By the time the story got to the beauty shop, it was, “I heard two deputies had to pull them apart. Rick had a busted nose. He almost got thrown in jail.”

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And Raise Hell

The two men involved both knew that the “altercation” was a cover to put distance between the two, tamping down any thought they might be exchanging information.

It worked.

The next morning, Rick was working on a Crier story when Baxter put his head in, “got a minute?’

“Of course, come on in,” the publisher said expectedly.

“Heard there was a little excitement up at the courthouse yesterday.”

“Baxter, that asshole is as much a part of the old-line as anybody in the county. Wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw this building,” Rick hissed.

“Thought you all were close,” Baxter said.

“Only when he needs something. He’s a weasel, pure and simple. Let’s talk about something more pleasant. What happened Election Day?” Rick posed, looking forward to listening to what he knew would be a solid analysis.

58

16 Domino’s Falling— and Then the Next “Like I said last week, a lot of credit goes to the stories in the Crier. Folks on the other side didn’t understand how people were reacting.

“Edward was arrogant and his bunch on the Board and Bill Joe Hamrick at the commission all fell in line and followed every word he said. They didn’t listen to Red and Charles like they used to.

“They’ve never had anyone like Edward. In the past, they operated quietly, more subtle. Hardly ever had a public disagreement. Settled everything behind closed doors.

“Ballengee made sure that the Crier didn’t cover much, and nothing appeared to put Red and Charles’ political buddies in a bad light.

“When you started writing about the meetings, nobody paid much attention at first. Then they began watching and asking questions.

“It just all came together. People had enough. Eva got the retired teachers and school staff together without anybody knowing about it, the black church members united after Jim Dowling’s shooting and then the upheaval when the Marcum and Hammer clans found out Charles had promised them both the same job at the high school.

“On top of that, our ground organization was about the best we ever had,” Baxter related.

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When Baxter stopped to take a breath, Rick jumped in, “Was there anything else going on?’

“What do you mean?” the savvy old politician asked.

“Well, on election night seemed the air went out of Red when those five outlying precincts where the poll workers were changed came in. Up until then, he was really confident despite the early returns going against him. Know what that was about?”

Rick asked, not sure what type of answer he would get.

Baxter studied him for a minute, “This all has to be totally offthe-record. Can’t use any of it in the paper,” Baxter emphasized.

“You got my word,” Rick readily agreed, feeling he needed to know the nuts and bolts of how this election worked in Jordan County. Also, he’d learn what he needed to look out for in the future.

Baxter leaned forward after he carefully sat down in the wellworn chair next to Rick’s desk.

“I missed it when it happened. Just learned about it accidentally the Sunday before Election Day. I bumped into an old friend at the grocery store who said she didn’t get appointed at a precinct where she’d worked for about 20 years. Then when I got back to the house and checked the poll worker lists from the last election with the ones for this primary. I found five precincts where all new poll workers, both Republicans and Democrats, were appointed for this one.

“Can’t prove it, but I believe that Red and Elmer Abernathy – the Republican county chairman - were behind getting those lists changed at the last minute.

“I had to call an emergency meeting that night for our bunch.

We put together a special plan for each of those precincts to happen about 15 minutes before the polls closed. One of our guys asked how many people had voted so far. When they got the number, he told them if a higher number of votes were reported to the courthouse, he’d go to the FBI. Seems we derailed their plan to steal a bunch of votes after those precincts closed.

Rick didn’t respond but had a look of amazement as Baxter leaned back in the old chair, “That’s why Red was so damned confident election night even as the votes seemed to be going 60

C. D. “Tony” Hylton

against them early-on. He thought he had these five precincts in his back pocket.”

“That’s not all,” Baxter related as he gave the details on the double-cross Charles and Red pulled on the Hammer and Marcum clans.

“Charles and Red thought that they had the six precincts the two families pretty-much controlled. Not sure how, but the two families found out they had been promised the same job for a granddaughter in each family. The old-line took a real beating in all six of those.”

“Then they thought they had insurance in these other five precincts,” Rick said, shaking his head in disbelief. “Did you hear what caused the poll workers to get in a fight during the votecounting in that one precinct?”

A slight smile crossed Baxter’s face, “heard that maybe the Democratic and Republican poll workers in that one precinct weren’t on the same page about how the voters that didn’t show up were to be handled after the polls closed.”

“Keep up the good work,” Baxter said over his shoulder as he left after his tutorial for the publisher on the ways of Jordan County politics.

Just after Baxter left the building, Rick put another call into one of the Republican poll workers involved in the Election Day altercation at one of those precincts.

“What caused the fight at your precinct after the polls closed,” Rick asked, getting right to the point.

Immediately understanding the problem that he’d be in if he gave the real reason for the fight, the young man stammered that the two had never liked each other and the other guy said some about the girl he was dating.

“Didn’t amount to much. All happened real fast. We both got in couple real good punches. The others broke it up.”

Rick pressed, “It wasn’t over casting votes for some that didn’t show up at the polls?”

“I wouldn’t be part of anything like that. You don’t think we would do something like that, do you, Mr. Hill?”

“I’m just curious. Lot of folks are wondering what happened.”

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“It’s those damned people who complained to the County Commission – just mad they didn’t get the Election Day pay.

Don’t listen to them.”

“When were you asked to serve as a poll worker?” the publisher turned reporter asked.

“Oh, Elmer Abernathy called, don’t remember exactly when asked if I’d work the polls. Said I wouldn’t have to do much. I said okay. Then he came out to the house a couple of nights later and explained a bit about it. Main thing he said was just do what the lead poll worker tells you to do and not ask any questions.”

Rick found those instructions interesting since he was aware that the county clerk’s classes for poll workers spelled out specific responsibilities for each position inside the precincts.

“Thanks a lot for talking with me. Mind if I call back if I think of any other questions?”

“That’ll be fine.”

No sooner had the call ended with the Crier publisher than the young man called Elmer Abernathy to let him know what had happened.

“You did right, son. He’s just trying to stir up trouble. You did right by calling me. If he calls back, let me know. Just tell him the same thing,” the Republican County Chairman instructed, knowing he’d have to inform Red about the call the young poll worker received from the Crier publisher.

62

17 Peeling the Onion Red didn’t even have time to say hello, before Elmer started jabbering, “Rick Hill just called the poll worker of mine that got into that fight out at the Lively Hollow precinct. He asked him if the fight was over trying to cast votes after the polls closed.

Sounds like someone must be talking to him.”

Taking care not to show his anxiety, Red calmly said, “Ah, Elmer, he’s just trying to stir up trouble. Heard one of those complaining to the County Commission went to the Crier to talk to Hill. Nothing to worry about.”

“Well, my guy handled it well said the fight was over what the other one said about his girlfriend. I told him he did the right thing.”

“That’s good. Now, you only told your poll workers to do exactly what the leader worker said to do, right?” Red asked, not sure he wanted the answer.

“That’s all they knew. I told them to sign the precinct voting results that were put in front of them and go home. For some reason, he and his cousin decided what was going on was wrong and started mouthing-off and then someone threw a punch. After that fight, all of those poll workers from that precinct showed up at the courthouse.”

“I got to be sure,” Red emphasized. “They didn’t know what the leader poll worker was going to do after the polls closed?”

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The Republican County chairman repeated what he’d said.

“And I met with each of our workers in those five precincts separately and told them all the same thing – ‘do exactly what the lead poll worker says to do.’ “ “We would have been fine if Baxter’s guys hadn’t gone to each of those precincts right before they closed and gotten the vote count and made the lead poll workers in those three precincts afraid to vote the extra ballots. Let me know if anyone else calls.

One more thing we need to talk about the County Commission seat next week sometime. Be better if we talk out at your place,” Red said, ending the call once Elmer agreed to the meeting.

After he and Charles discussed Elmer’s call, Red called the lead poll worker in the five precincts and arranged to stop by the homes the next day. As before the primary election, he’d meet with each one separately.

While all the Democratic poll workers at these precincts were appointed for their unquestioned loyalty to the old-line, the lead poll workers were the ones who were to implement the plan to cast the “after the polls closed” ballots.

As for the Republican poll workers, Elmer assured Red he had made sure that only his most loyal supporters were selected for the five precincts. Those two at the one precinct could have sunk the whole thing, Red thought.

At the same time, Red was visiting the precinct workers, the U.S. Attorney was discussing a strategy with the two investigators who would leave for Jordan County early the following morning.

“You’ll need to visit all the 30 poll workers for the five precincts. Hopefully, we find enough contradictions in their stories to go to the grand jury.

“We need to know what happened before they were officially appointed. Who approached them about being poll workers and what they were told to do inside the precincts on Election Day. We’re looking for any indication of a conspiracy to cast illegal ballots after the polls closed.

“Specifically, were they asked to do anything other than what the county clerk taught them in the official poll worker classes.

Ask the very same questions to every one of them – if this goes to 64

C. D. “Tony” Hylton

trial, we will need to show the continuity of the interviews,” the U.S. Attorney said with little optimism.

Comparing a list of the poll workers appointed for the recent primary and the general election two years before, the U.S. Attorney’s staff confirmed the Crier column - that these five precincts were the only ones in Jordan County which had all new inside poll workers for this election. Only a few precincts had any new workers for this primary and no more than two in any one precinct.

Given the complete re-staffing at the five, the U.S. Attorney’s staff was certain something illegal had been planned.

Implementing their plan to first contact the lead poll worker in each precinct, the federal investigators reasoned (it turned out correctly) that there was no contact between the workers in the different precincts before the primary.

Given the party’s overwhelming majority in Jordan County, the lead poll worker at the five precincts was a Democrat.

Before they left their office, the investigators had had one of their secretaries call the five lead poll workers to request an appointment for the two investigators. They were told that the federal agents’ visit was part of a study on the conduct of an election that included federal offices. It was explained that only a few people were included in the research. Broadly speaking, that was generally true. All five agreed to a visit.

The conversations were similar in most respects.

All said that they had been approached by Red - the county Democratic chairman – to see if they would be interested in working the polls on Primary Election Day. If they agreed, he would turn their names into the county clerk who would present the list to the County Commission.

“He said we’d get training from the county clerk. On what we were supposed to do. And we’d get paid even for going to the training,” one of the five explained.

They all said Red said he was asking them because they had worked inside the polls sometime before. The first two interviewed volunteered that they had worked outside the precincts with Red in campaigns since they stopped working inside.

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When asked if they had observed anything illegal being done by any of the other poll workers, three of the five raised their voices and mentioned that that kind of talk was from those complaining about not being appointed poll workers for this past election.

“Just a bunch of damned trouble-makers if you ask me,” one growled. The other two were obviously troubled by the question but gave a quiet, simple “no” to the agents.

When asked about why their precinct’s vote count got to the courthouse a bit later than seemed normal, all five explained that was because all the other poll workers were new and wanted to make sure they did everything correctly.

Both investigators noted immediately that that answer was nearly the same “word-for-word” for all five.

If the investigators were aware of the five lead poll-workers’ family histories, they would have known that each had been staunch supporters of Jordan County’s old-line political faction for years. Numerous members of the families had received political patronage jobs as the result of those close alliances.

After visiting the five lead poll workers, the investigators interviewed all those who’d served as regular poll workers in the five precincts where the wholesale changes had been made.

Everyone, Democrat and Republican, said that they were told by either Red or the Republican County Chairman, Elmer Abernathy, to do exactly what the lead poll worker instructed.

It was clear that if there was a conspiracy to commit voter fraud at the five precincts, Red and the Republican County Chairman were the ones who directed it.

66

18 Watching the Bouncing Ball Just by the way they looked, Red immediately knew who they were FBI agents even before they showed their credentials. After turning over the “closed” sign, he led them back to his private office.

“What can I do for you?” he asked calmly, curious how they might approach the subject.

“We understand you changed all the Democrat poll workers in five precincts for the last election?” the lead investigator asked.

“We just wanted new people - just wanted to give some other folks an opportunity,” Red said.

“We find it interesting that all the poll workers, Republicans and Democrats, in these five precincts were replaced for this election. Any ideas on that?

A squeak bounced off the walls of the cramped office as Red shifted in the old chair that his father had used 50 years before, “Poll workers are changed all the time,” he offered as sweat formed on his brow.

“As for the Republicans, you’ll have to talk with Elmer Abernathy.”

“You didn’t discuss with the lead poll workers anything about casting ballots after the polls closed, did you?”

“Where in the hell did you come up with something like that? Those folks that didn’t get appointed have been spreading that kind of stuff all over. Even went to the county commission 67

And Raise Hell

saying it. And then that Crier story just stirred it up more. I’ve agreed to talk with you, but I’m going to ask you to leave if that’s what you’re thinking,” Red said indignantly.

“Didn’t mean to upset you, but we have to check out everything. It’s just part of the job,” the lead investigator said with a locked on stare that remained until Red looked away.

“Well, I was just trying to help out by asking those folks to work the polls.”

“Did you give the regular poll workers any instructions about how to do the work inside the polls?” the questions continued.

“Just told them to be sure and do what the lead poll worker said. That’s all. Just about every election, I have folks who are working at the polls for the first time come in and ask something like that. I always tell ‘em the same thing,” Red carefully explained with more strain in his tone than he realized.

Thinking to himself as the questioning continued, Red recalled his specific conversations with the five lead precinct workers – “We need 75-100 votes after the polls close. All the other poll workers have been told to do what you say, so you shouldn’t have any trouble getting that done.”

“Did you talk to the Republican County Chairman Elmer Abernathy about getting new poll workers at the five precincts?”

“Oh, Elmer stops in here from time-to-time and we are always talking politics and rib each other a bit. I don’t remember whether we talked about that or not, maybe we did. Just can’t remember. We talk about so much,” Red said.

After asking Red to call if he thought of anything else, the two federal investigators left to head to their last stop – the farm of Elmer Abernathy.

Fully aware that Red had probably already called Elmer about their visit, the two investigators discussed how best to approach Jordan County’s Republican County Chairman.

“I expect those two feds are on their way to see you,” Red said.

“Don’t know how the FBI got onto this, but I’d bet that damned Baxter had something to do with it. Still haven’t figured out how he found out about it.

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“I’ll be ready. Like you said, I only changed Republican workers at those precincts because I wanted to give some other folks a chance. Do you have any idea how much these federal guys know?’

“Can’t know much. I think you’re right, Baxter is just stirring the pot and those complaints to the county commission didn’t help either,” Red said, confident his five precinct leaders would hold the line. But it seemed like the federal agents knew exactly what Red had planned for the five precincts. He wondered if they were just guessing or had someone talked.

As Elmer hung up the phone, he could see the plain, black federal-issued sedan pull up in front of his farm-house.

“Oh, we decided the change would be good to give more folks a chance to work at the precincts,” he explained.

“Any reason, the changes only were made at those five particular precincts?” the senior investigator asked.

“Hadn’t given any thought to that. Just picked them.”

“Did you discuss changing poll workers in those five precincts with Red Bell before you made them?”

A bit taken aback by the directness of the question, Elmer said, “Red and I visit a lot back and forth and there’s always election talk, but I don’t remember talking about that with him. It was an issue for the Republican Executive Committee to handle.”

“You mentioned a ‘we’ in saying why the changes were made.

Did you present those changes to members of the Executive Committee?”

“Oh yes, they had to approve the list before I took it to Ruby Miller down at the courthouse.”

“So, the Executive Committee members had the lists before the vote?”

Elmer shifted a bit with the preciseness of the question, wondering what other information they may have, “We might have had that vote by phone, not sure right now. It was three months ago.”

“Did you give those new appointees any instructions about how to operate inside the precincts?”

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“No, except to make sure they got to the training and do what the lead poll worker said.”

“What caused that fight in the Oak Creek precinct?”

“Not really sure. That one boy is a little bit of a hothead, but not really sure what happened. Somebody said it was about a girl. But I really don’t know. Thought you asked him,” Elmer said, unintentionally confirming that he’d talked to his poll worker who the investigators had visited the day before.

When asked about a plan to cast illegal votes after the polls closed, just like Red, Elmer got upset, “What in the hell are you talking about? That damned Baxter and those that didn’t get to work in the polls are starting all that crap. There’s not a damned word of truth to it. I guess that’s about all I’ve got to say.”

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19 Puzzle Pieces Fall Into Place Baxter readily agreed when the federal agent requested a visit.

He wondered if their questions would be general or focused, indicating they would like information about specific crimes.

The agents didn’t waste any time, “Were you concerned about the poll worker change at the five precincts?” the older agent asked.

“Yes, we had indications some veteran poll workers were replaced at those five. We were concerned something might be going on.

“Two of our guys showed up at each of the precincts about 10-15 minutes before the polls closed. They made it a point to ask how many folks had voted up to that time. Then said they’d be watching to make sure a lot more votes weren’t reported to the courthouse from that precinct.”

“Were there any more votes reported?” the younger agent said, not wanting to be left out of this important evidencegathering activity.

Baxter excused himself and returned with his folders containing carefully documented information for those five precincts.

Opening the first one, “At the precinct where the fight broke out, there were only four more votes cast than the number we got about 10 minutes before the poll closed. As our guys came out

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from voting, two cars pulled up, so we believe those votes were legally cast.”

He thumbed through the other four folders writing figures on a piece of paper as he went, rechecking the figures twice before he spoke. Two precincts he checked three times before responding.

“Seems there were a total of 10 votes cast at two other precincts after our guys voted. That indicates that no illegal voting took place there.”

Baxter took the other two precinct folders and checked the figures a fourth time while shaking his head.

“I guess because we won, we didn’t check these figures after the election,” Baxter said, still not believing what he just discovered.

“There were 77 votes cast at one precinct after the polls closed and 80 at the other. Our guys didn’t scare these folks at all.”

“Have you ever seen anything like this before?” the senior agent asked.

“Oh, we’ve suspected some vote-buying and messing with absentees ballots, but nothing like this and never anything at any of these five precincts.

“I’ve been doing this for about 30 years and don’t recall any problems at these five precincts. They had a reputation for everything running smoothly.”

“Are you sure about your figures?”

Baxter stiffened at having his meticulous recordkeeping questioned.

“There is no doubt about my figures. And there is no doubt the scheme was meant to happen at all five of the precincts. That explains why the poll workers were replaced like they were,” Baxter said.

“Now, from what I can detect, for the plan to work, both the Democrat and Republican poll workers had to be in on it,” the lead investigator said.

“That’s the only way it could’ve worked,” Baxter responded.

“Why do you think such a plan would have been put in place?’ the lead agent said, thinking out loud.

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Baxter thought, these guys seem to be really trying to understand all this, as he considered how to frame his answer.

“This election campaign was as heated as I’ve ever seen. You know what happened with the Lawnsville Crier fire and Rick Hill nearly getting killed and then beat up by the mayor.

“With three Board seats up and the one county commission seat, Red Bell and Charles Beauregard stood to lose control of county government, so I believe the plan at these five precincts was an important part of their plan to keep power,” Baxter concluded.

“You mean you think that was because of the political climate,” the young agent blurted out, his eyes about to bulge out of his head.

Baxter sat back, looked up at the ceiling of his comfortably furnished living room, wondering if he was going to pour out his thoughts. Not much chance they’ll do a damned thing about it, he thought.

But this might be the best chance there’ll ever be to get Jordan County politics straightened out. I got to try, he scolded himself.

“Those charged in the fire and the roadblock weren’t the ones to gain the most from the Crier being silenced,” he said softly, getting the complete undivided attention of the older agent and a skeptical look from the younger one.

“How’s that?” the older agent asked, matching the low tone from the one who just switched on a light in his brain.

“Well, the mayor and the street commissioner just got caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Oh, it was bad, but did not threaten their political positions actually.

“The Crier articles embarrassed them. But if they’d just sat tight, it would have all blown over and nothing would have happened to them.

“It was the other Crier stories about the school board, county commission, and county hospital that were having the most impact on the local political scene.

“That Crier coverage had people upset all over the county. It was the old-line political faction that was threatened with losing power. To my way of thinking, those office holders and those 73

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behind the scenes were the ones really hurt by the newspaper and in danger of losing their political power base,” Baxter explained methodically.

“But it’s the street commissioner, his brother, and his thugs who will stand trial for the fire, shooting of the police officer, and the attempted murder of Rick Hill and his friend. I don’t follow the connection,” the young agent observed, shaking his head.

Baxter stood up and paced the room, continuing his analysis of Jordan County’s political climate, “I haven’t been able to piece that together either, but based on my years of experience in politics here and knowing the folks charged, I’m certain they weren’t the ones who would benefit the most.

“Some folks think they might have been doing somebody else’s dirty work,” Baxter offered, hiding behind “some folks” rather than making the accusation himself.

“How in the world would we unravel that mess?” the more experienced agent said as he began to understand from where Baxter was coming.

“Not sure you can. But it seems this thing with the five precincts could involve the same folks who stood the most to gain when the Crier went up in flames,” Baxter said over his shoulder as he stood by the big bay window overlooking the gently flowing river.

“You ought to know that from the time the Crier burned and was out of business until it came back, the old-line political faction was coming on strong. If the Crier hadn’t come back the week before Election Day, they would have won every race,” he concluded.

The young agent just shook his head in disbelief, “That all sounds a bit far-fetched.

How in the world did you come up with all that stuff and expect us to believe it?” he said, looking at Baxter, who was still enjoying the beautiful river.

Suddenly turning around with a look of fury on his face, Baxter pointed his finger at the young federal investigator, “My watching this for more than 30 years is how I came up with all this stuff - living with and watching these people, that’s how I came up with it.

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“Now I agreed to talk with you all. I’ve answered all your questions and gave you my thoughts as you asked me to do. Now you’re the investigators. It’s time you do your jobs to check it out, not question what I said until you have the facts.

“I could be wrong as hell. But you’re the ones that asked my opinion,” he snarled as he turned back to the peaceful scene.

“We appreciate your time. And would like permission to talk with you again,” the older agent said, standing and heading toward the door casting a look of disapproval at his young colleague.

“Feel free to call anytime,” Baxter said, watching the gently flowing river, letting the two federal investigators find their own way out.

The next morning the two investigators met with the U.S. Attorney and his two top assistants.

“I don’t have any doubt there was a plan to steal votes in these five precincts. They were able to do it in only two. And it seemed that Red Bell was the one who organized it and worked with the Republican County Chairman to set it up.

“But the proof is going to be hard to get. First, we have to zero in on the two precincts where Baxter figures indicate that significantly more votes were turned in at the courthouse than his guys found cast just before the polls closed. If it’s true and all had gone according to the plan after the polls closed, we believe the lead precinct workers in all five were to take the poll books away from the other poll workers and cast ballots for some who hadn’t shown up to vote.

“While all the poll workers were new to those five precincts, the lead poll workers had worked inside two or three elections back so were far from “new.” All five knew exactly how a precinct works.

“One thing we heard from all the other poll workers, Republican and Democrat, was they were told, either by Red Bell or Elmer Abernathy, to do exactly what the lead poll worker said.

“It will be a tough case. For it to work, we’ll have to find a lead poll worker at one of those two precincts to flip for us. As for the other three, there’s no crime since the scheme was never put 75

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into action – no votes were cast illegally. Baxter’s guys voting late and warning the poll workers just scared the folks in those three precincts from doing anything.”

“Damn it to hell,” the U.S. Attorney yelled as his hand slammed down on his desk, frustrated again the puppeteers behind the corruption in Jordan County might escape justice, at least for now.

Not giving up altogether, he told the two investigators, “Go back over your interview notes and see if there’s a weak link in these two precincts. But we can’t give it a lot of attention until the Crier fire and roadblock trials are completed.”

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20 The Trial – That is the FIRST one For the U.S. Attorney, this trial was going to be the most important which he’d ever handled.

In fact, late yesterday afternoon, he got a call from the office of the U.S. Attorney General for an update on trial preparations.

The AG’s assistant mentioned an inquiry from the White House and related the new President had visited the newspaper staff during his primary campaign and expressed a personal interest in the trial.

Trying to silence a newspaper strikes at the very core of one of the most precious freedoms in our Nation’s Bill of Rights.

The U.S. Attorney had been confident about getting convictions in the Crier fire and the roadblock case. But his certainty suffered a severe blow when the key witness, Sammy Burton, a participant in both crimes, disappeared. Burton had agreed to testify against the others involved, but just over a month ago, slipped away from the agents who held him in protective custody.

The defense attorney maintained he only became aware of Burton’s disappearance shortly after they had completed their disposition of this key prosecution witness.

But from the smug reaction of the defendants, the U.S. Attorney was concerned Sammy Burton might have been murdered to keep him off the witness stand.

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No doubt the testimony of Jim Dowling, the young policeman shot in connection with the Crier fire case, would be powerful. Given that Dowling’s memory had been affected by a shot to the head, his testimony didn’t provide a slam dunk case for the prosecution. It was Burton who was the only one who could give inside details of planning both crimes and tie them together.

Without his testimony, convictions would be difficult, if not impossible, in the roadblock/attempted murder case of the Lawnsville Crier publisher and his friend. Ballistic evidence was strong, but it could fall apart without Burton putting the defendants at the scene of the crime.

The U.S. Attorney brought in a U. S. Marshal Service team from its Washington, DC headquarters to search for Burton over the last month. They interviewed Burton’s relatives in West Virginia, Ohio, and Florida with no luck. The tight surveillance of the young man’s girlfriend brought no results.

The judge denied the government’s request to delay the trial.

So, the team of federal prosecutors was frantically revamping their cases, preparing to move forward without a key witness.

In fact, Burton had been originally scheduled to be the second witness against the defendants, right after Crier Publisher Rick Hill.

The Lawnsville Crier story – on the city dump truck scam that resulted in this conspiracy is a prime example of a free press’ primary responsibility – hold public officials accountable.

A smothering pile of ashes and the near-fatal shooting of a police officer brought nationwide attention to this trial.

Reporters from every major newspaper, television network, and news service in the country crowded into the Federal Courtroom for what was billed as the West Virginia Trial of the Century.

Added to the highly charged atmosphere was the fact five of the defendants in the original case had also been charged in connection with the attempted murder of the young publisher – connecting two of the most infamous press intimidation cases in the Nation’s recent history.

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Of course, legally, neither case could be mentioned in the trial for the other charges, but it was a major part of the buzz in the courthouse corridors and in every news story about either trial.

Silence fell over in the packed courtroom as the first witness was called.

Rick Hill was determined to walk to the witness stand without his cane. The leg was not fully healed, so the limp was noticeable as he slowly made his way to the witness stand.

Using large poster boards, the U. S. Attorney had the young publisher identify the story he had written on the scheme for the city to pay for renting the private truck and the photograph he’d taken of the truck being repaired at the city garage.

“In the story of that Council meeting, three items were mentioned – first, the fact that city residents were having a problem with garbage collection, second, the postponement of a hearing about the chief of police and third, further down in the story, the renting of the dump truck,” Rick Hill responded.

In one of his few smart moves during this trial, the lead defense attorney decided not to cross-examine the Crier publisher. He didn’t think his clients would benefit from him badgering a limping man whose wounding they would stand trial for later.

Excused, the young publisher took his seat with the other members of the press covering the trial. Then three city employees took the witness stand and all confirmed Samuel Johnson’s threat “I’m gonna firebomb that sumbitching paper.”

As the lead prosecutor was preparing to call Jim Dowling to the stand, he looked up and saw Sammy Burton, the missing witness, coming down the main aisle of the federal courtroom.

He immediately asked for a two-hour recess. The judge quickly granted a one-hour break, calling attorneys for both sides into his private conference room.

Turning to the U.S. Attorney, the judge asked, “Did you have anything to do with this witness disappearing?”

“No, your honor. In fact, we’ve had a team of U.S. Marshals searching for him for a month.”

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The defense then asked for a month’s delay that brought a chuckle from the judge before it was turned down with an announcement the trial would resume after the lunch break.

During the trial break, Burton explained to the U.S. Attorney he got tired of being cooped up under the protective custody arrangement in Iowa, then Michigan, where he contacted a cousin in Detroit who helped him plan his escape.

“I got back and stayed mostly in a cabin my grandfather left me just over in Virginia east of White Sulphur Springs and went over to Virginia Beach a couple of times. It just got too much with the marshals always around.

“As for the trial, I always planned to be here,” he said to an exasperated but relieved U. S. Attorney.

Initially, Sammy was extremely nervous as he was sworn in under the glaring stares of the four other defendants.

Before slipping away from protective custody, he had been in FBI protective custody for months since he agreed to testify the day after he was arrested and charged in both the fire and roadblock cases. His charges in the first case were for arson and accessory to the near-fatal shooting of a police officer. Charges in the roadblock case were interference with intrastate commerce and accessory to attempted murder of the young publisher and his passenger, who both were wounded.

Fortunately for the U. S. Attorney, Burton became the last witness before the trial ended for the day. Members of the jury would have this key testimony to think about overnight.

Word around Lawnsville was when Joey Brighton and Donnie Joe Smith got word that Sammy might testify against them, they threatened Sammy’s mother and sister with retribution if he took the stand. Reports of that threat were now the subject of yet another Federal investigation.

When Sammy heard about the threats rather than be intimidated, he decided then and there to take the stand and went into protective custody.

Nervous but determined, the young man related how he was recruited to “do a little job” with a promise of “cash money.”

“Did they tell you what the job was?” the U.S. Attorney asked matter-of-factly.

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“Just a simple break-in. Said I’d be mostly a lookout. “ “How many times do you meet with the others to plan the break-in?” the U.S. Attorney asked the fidgeting witness.

“Just two times the night before the job,” came the halting response.

The next line of questioning was based on Sammy Burton’s conversations with federal investigators and his grand jury testimony. What Sammy had revealed in those early interviews resulted in Jonathon and Samuel Johnston and the other two being indicted in connection with the Crier fire and later the roadblock/attempted murder case.

“Could you identify who was at that meeting, Mr. Burton?”

“At first, just Joey, Donnie, Jonathon, and me. Samuel, Jonathon’s brother, came later,” came the barely audible answer.

“How was Samuel involved?”

“He gave Jonathon two sticks of dynamite.”

“Then those two sticks of dynamite were connected to the break-in and fire at the Crier newspaper building?”

Sammy Burton paused, looked around the courtroom and met the glaring eyes of the Lawnsville Street Commissioner and, in a strong voice, answers, “Yes, Jonathon put them under the press down in the newspaper basement before we set the fire.”

“Was anyone else involved in the planning of setting fire to the Crier building?”

“No. We were the only ones.”

When the U. S. Attorney asked the witness to tell the details of what else happened that night, the young witness paused, reached for a sip of water and took a deep breath, and told his story.

“All we were going to do was burn down the building. It was going great until the patrolman shined his light on the three of us and told us to put our hands up. Jonathon was back in a corner.

Then he stepped out and shot him.”

“You saw him shoot Jim Dowling?”

“Yes, sir, I was looking right at him when he did it. He shot two more times after the policeman was down on the floor.”

“What happened then?”

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“Jonathon said, ‘wrong place at the wrong time’ and told Donnie Joe and me to carry the policeman outside and put him in the police car. We put him in the back seat.

“Jonathon told Joey and Donnie Joe to dump the car out on River Road and come right back. Joey drove the patrol car and Donnie Joe drove our car to bring them both back. “ “What was the condition of Mr. Dowling?” the U. S. Attorney asked as members of the jury leaned forward, hanging on every word.

“I’d swear he was dead, blood everywhere, he didn’t seem to be breathing,” the young witness continued.

“What happened then?” the federal prosecutor asked.

“While Joey and Donnie Joe were gone, Jonathon and me finished spreading the gasoline all over the Crier building.

“Then, like I said, Jonathon placed the two sticks of dynamite under the press – one at the front and the other at the back under the big roll of paper. Then, we put gasoline in some pop bottles and put rags in the top.

“When they came back, Joey told Jonathon he thought the policeman was dead.”

“Then what did you do?”

“I told Jonathon, ‘I thought this was just a break-in, I don’t want no part of a killing.’”

“What did he say?”

“He yelled, ‘Damn it, shut up. It’s done. We got to finish and get outta here, hurry up.”

“What did you do then?”

“Jonathon put a long fuse on the dynamite, went to the basement, put it under the press, and then came running up the stairs telling us to go outside, light the fuses on the bottles, go outside and throw them through the windows. Then we ran and got in the car.”

“What did you see after that?”

“The fire just started everywhere. Jonathon drove us up to his camp on the river. We played a little poker, drink a couple of beers, and spent the night.”

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Everyone in the courtroom leaned forward as the defense attorney pranced toward the young witness. During his testimony, Sammy Burton gained confidence and, at the end, was answering each question with a strong, deliberate voice.

But that didn’t keep the defense attorney from trying to break the young man.

Reacting to the threatening tone of the defense lawyer, the young witness paused, stumbled over his initial answers.

Then despite the bellicose badgering of the defense attorney, Sammy Burton regained his composure and never wavered again.

The defense lawyer moved in for what he thought was the kill.

“Is it true the prosecution promised you they’d go easy in exchange for your testimony?” said the attorney, prancing like a barnyard bantam rooster.

“Yes,” the witness said, then looking straight at the jury added, “they said they’d cut me some slack if I told the truth – that’s what I just done.”

The straightforward answer caught the slick defense attorney off guard and it showed. And his snide retort - “Sure you did.” brought an objection from the U. S. Attorney followed by a stern rebuke from the Judge.

As the defendants were being led from the courtroom, Rick Hill managed to ask Sammy Burton how he kept going on the stand despite the intense questions from the defense attorney. The young witness looked Rick in the eye and said, “They threatened me. Said they’d kill my mom and sister, that ain’t right. I had to stand up.”

Everyone knew that while the young thug’s testimony was riveting, the prosecutor’s first witness the following day would cause the tension in the courtroom to go even higher.

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21 Why Only Two Bullets out of Four The crowd that occupied every available seat was hushed as the former city patrolman came down the center aisle in a wheelchair, struggled to get in the witness stand, and took the oath.

Jim Dowling, with one of the four bullets still lodged near his liver, was ready to tell his story.

Routine questions establishing his position with the city took up his first five minutes on the stand. Then the prosecutor turned to the jury and paused before asking his all-important inquiry.

“Could you describe the scene in the Lawnsville City Hall on March 15 after the Crier newspaper arrived?”

“Yes,” Jim Dowling said, “Samuel Johnson was walking up and down the first-floor hall yelling, saying he was ‘going to firebomb that sumbitching newspaper office’.”

“What happened then?”

“The mayor came out of his office, grabbed Samuel, and pulled him into the office.”

“Could you hear what they were talking about?”

“No, Samuel continued to yell and then quieted down when the mayor yelled at him to “shut up” and closed the office door.”

“What action did you take as the result of Mr. Johnson’s threat?”

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Crier building during my rounds,” the young policeman said in a clear voice that carried to every corner of the courtroom.

No mention was made of his warning call to Rick Hill.

“Did you find anything suspicious on any of those rounds?”

“Yes, on April 1, I noticed the lock was broken on the newspaper’s backdoor. I got out of the patrol car immediately.

“I entered the backdoor, gun drawn, noticed a heavy odor of gasoline, turned my flashlight toward a shuffling sound, and was facing three men.” He pointed at the defense table when asked to identify the three. Sammy Burton was included in Jim Dowling’s identification.

“What happened next?” the U.S. Attorney asked slowly and deliberately as the jury leaned forward, completely captivated.

“Then a fourth man stepped out of the shadows.”

“Is he in the courtroom, Patrolman Dowling?”

Turning again to the defense table, Dowling pointed and identified Jonathon Johnson.

“Please tell the jury what happened next, Patrolman Dowling?”

“I turned the gun toward him said, “hands up,” and he shot me twice.

“That was all I remembered until I woke up in the Charleston hospital three days later.”

The defense attorney paraded before the jury and was prepared to destroy the young policeman’s testimony, but made a major first-year lawyer student type error.

“How do you know he fired two shots? The hospital report says you were hit four times,” the smug lawyer posed, turning to members of the jury and rolling his eyes and shrugging his shoulders.

“It was at least two, the first hit my arm, the second my head.

That one put me unconscious. I was in no condition to count anymore,” Jim Dowling said to a now red-faced rather demur defense attorney who mumbled, “No further questions at this time, your honor, the defense reserves the right to recall the witness.”

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“Of course,” the judge responded, obviously amazed at such a misstep with a key witness as he adjourned the trial for lunch.

The U.S. Attorney smiled as the judge dismissed members of the sequestered jury into the custody of the U. S. Marshals who were supervising them during the trial.

Jim Dowling’s testimony was powerful and that’s what members of the jury would be thinking about during the lunch break – just as the U.S. Attorney had planned.

With the city policeman who nearly lost his life sitting in the witness stand pointing to the man who had nearly killed him with shots that tore open his body, the trial’s outcome was clear.

Dowling Describes Being Shot During Crier Fire Federal Trial People in Jordan County were all aware of the Crier fire and Jim Dowling being shot. But reading his testimony brought home the heinous nature of the crime and the fact a police officer was nearly killed by one of the perpetrators put the case on a different level. This crime was not committed by people from faraway – those responsible were people who lived in their community.

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22 It’s the Words NOT the Tone The following day, the courtroom audience was treated to the boring monotones of federal investigators. While the delivery was not riveting, the evidence was devastating.

State Fire Marshal and federal Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearm (ATF) experts provided technical testimony about the fire.

An ATF explosives expert stunned the packed courtroom with testimony about the dynamite used to destroy the Crier’s press.

Only one of the two sticks planted under the press went off.

The other was recovered and underwent a forensic examination that identified the manufacturer.

The company’s records showed that some of its dynamite was shipped to a construction wholesale supply company located in a larger county adjacent to Jordan County.

ATF’s investigation found a quantity of that dynamite was ordered by the City Street Commissioner City a month before the fire.

Next on the witness stand was the FBI agent who led a raid on the City Street Department garage. He testified that armed with a Federal search warrant, he seized that box of dynamite that had two sticks missing. He then read from the city purchase order used to order the explosive.

The signature on that purchase order belonged to a codefendant in the case - the City Street Commissioner and the brother of another defendant.

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Dynamite Used to Blow Up Crier Press Said to Be from Lawnsville City Garage People didn’t wait to get the Crier at their home; they were lined up in front of the office waiting to read the latest on the federal trial. In addition to informing them about the trial, the stories were also raising questions about just how involved the city administration was involved in the crime.

There was no evidence presented that Mayor Wayne Adkins was involved, but it was well-known he and the street commissioner were close.

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23 Try Having It Both Ways While not charged, the next witness was seen by many to be in the shadows of the conspiracy. The courtroom was hushed as the Lawnsville Mayor approached the witness stand.

Under intense questioning by the federal prosecutor, Wayne Adkins was seemingly reluctant when he admitted he’d heard Samuel make the threat during the tirade at city hall after the Crier story reported the city had rented Samuel’s brother’s dump truck for $1,200 a month.

“Mayor Adkins, how was it the city came to rent the dump truck from Samuel’s brother, Jonathon?”

“Samuel came into my office one day and said there was some work that really needed to get done quick and our new dump truck couldn’t be used because of a mechanical problem. He said he thought he could get his brother Jonathon to rent us one of the trucks he had in his contracting business at a good price.

“I asked him if the work could wait until the city dump truck was repaired. He said no, and if the work wasn’t done immediately, part of the city could be without water. So, I agreed, took it before the council and it was approved.”

“Did Samuel Johnson or his brother give you any of the $1,200 each month?” the prosecutor asked.

“Of course, not – that would be illegal,” the mayor responded.

“I’d never do anything like that. Samuel convinced the council and me that he needed the truck to keep up with work on the city water system.”

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“Getting back to Samuel’s behavior in City Hall with the outburst about the Crier article. Was it unusual?”

“He was out of control even more so than normal,” the mayor said.

“What did he say he was going to do?” the prosecutor asked.

The mayor appeared uncomfortable with the question and, at first, didn’t respond.

“Mayor Adkins, should I repeat the question?”

“No, sir. Samuel said he was going to shut up ‘that damned Hill and burn that sumbitching paper to the ground.’“ “What else?”

“Said Rick Hill was out to get us and something had to be done. I tried to talk some sense into him. But he wouldn’t listen.

Started pounding on my desk. Finally, he quieted down.”

“What did you talk about?”

“I told him that I was mad about the story too, but there was nothing we could do and it would all blow over and to stop worrying about it,” the mayor said, avoiding the stares of Samuel and his brother at the defense table.

“What did he do then?”

“He calmed down a bit, but said he was going to take care of things himself. Got up and left my office, slamming the door,” the mayor concluded.

“Did you ever talk to him about eliminating the Lawnsville Crier again?” the prosecutor asked.

“No, never,” the mayor answered, looking at the jury.

At the defendant’s table, Samuel turned to his brother and said something, the word “bitch” was audible to Rick Hill, who was on the first row in the spectator section.

The prosecutor pressed, “Are you telling this Court that you did not have a discussion at some date later in your office with Samuel Johnson about burning down the Lawnsville Crier?”

Taken aback with specific reference to a meeting in his office, the mayor answered, “Absolutely not,” the air of confidence he had only moments before completely absence as sweat beads formed on his forehead.

“No further questions, your honor, but I reserve the right to recall this witness.”

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“Of course,” the Judge said, turning to ask the defense if it had any questions for the mayor.

Rising in his normal stiff manner, the lead defense attorney strutted toward the witness stand.

For 15 minutes, under questioning that had been wellrehearsed for hours over the last two weeks, the mayor told of a dedicated, veteran city employee, who worked long hours, was on-call 24 hours a day and never “called-in sick.”

Wayne Adkins explained he agreed to the truck rental because the city’s “trusted, hardworking Street Commissioner” said the new city truck was inoperable and the replacement was needed to finish repairs to the city’s water system.

“I took his word for it. I’m not a mechanic and he worked with the trucks every day.”

Samuel shuffled a bit at the defense table at being hung out to dry by the city’s chief executive. The truth was that he, Jonathon, and the mayor planned the scheme weeks before it was brought to the city council for approval. Samuel was particularly incensed since he gave the mayor $400 of the $1,200 ill-gotten gain each month. The scheme was going on for three months before the Crier started covering city council meetings.

“I’m not an expert on the water system. We depend on Samuel for that. The council approved it unanimously because he said he needed the truck to finish the job.

“It’s just hard to believe he’d be involved in anything like this,” the mayor blurted out before being called down by the Judge responding to a request by the U.S. Attorney to strike the comment from the court record.

It was difficult not to notice the streaks of sweat pouring down the mayor’s face.

“What was his temperament on the job?”

“Oh, he can fly off the handle every now and then, but he’s over it almost immediately, doesn’t mean anything by it.

“He loves the city and takes great pains to make sure we get the best value for every dollar the city spends.”

“Was he upset with the Crier story about his brother’s dump truck being rented to the city?”

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“Oh my, yes. He was yelling from one end of city hall to the other. But after we talked in my office, he settled down. It seemed like he just forgot about it,” the mayor said.

“Did you ever talk to him about burning down the Crier building after that episode?”

“Never. I just didn’t think he’d be involved in anything like setting the Crier building on fire. Like I said, he could flare up, but it’s just too much to think he’d do something like that.”

“Do you know if he and his brother Jonathon ever discussed burning down the Crier?”

“Not that I know about. I think his brother Jonathon influenced him a lot. I was hardly ever around them together,” the mayor concluded, ending his perjury-ridden testimony as the last witness before the lunch break.

As the mayor walked by the defendants’ table, he again ignored the infuriated stare of his former street commissioner.

A strong hand on his shoulder from his attorney kept Samuel Johnson from confronting the mayor right then and there.

The judge announced that following lunch, each side would have an hour for closing arguments, hopefully with the case going to the jury by 3:00 p.m.

Mayor Says Johnson Loyal and Hardworking City Employee Could Fly Off the Handle at Times Rick Hill had trouble writing this story because the mayor’s testimony didn’t seem to be consistent – at one point, he praised the street commissioner’s work ethic and at another indicated he could be influenced by his brother. Because of that, the story mostly contained direct quotes from the mayor’s testimony. Most Crier readers already had an opinion – the mayor and street commissioner were cut from the same cloth.

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24 Front Row View Just minutes after the judge’s gavel fell, indicating adjournment for lunch, Charles’ phone rang. His “Hello,” was the only word he said for the next 20 minutes.

His friend summarized the day with words like “devastating,” “overwhelming evidence,” “stupid,” “dumb,” “the jury might not even have to leave the courtroom. It’ll be guilty on all counts.”

“The mayor’s testimony did not help the Johnson’s case at all.

He might as well of said his brother could have easily talked the street commissioner into burning the paper.

“These guys are in big trouble. And the word around the Courthouse is that the U. S. Attorney is looking to expand this thing into other things in Jordan County. Nobody seems to know what he’s up to.

“But this case certainly seems to be air-tight, buttoned-up.

I’ve seen a lot of trials, but I’ve never seen a defense so up against the wall. “ Charles then called Red to set up an early evening visit to the cleaners, noting “it’s time we had a visit.” Translation – “We’ve got something to talk about that we can’t discuss over the phone.”

The bell tinkled as Charles entered without a knock and headed straight for the tiny office after turning the lock.

“I’ll be a little late, you all go ahead and eat,” Red, with phone in hand, said to his wife as Charles settled in the old comfortable chair – a can of cool lemonade on the desk right in front of it.

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“What’s new from Charleston?” Red inquired, taking a big pull on his own can.

“Seems it’s pretty air-tight. Jim Dowling testified today and from what I hear, the jury was hanging on every word. He identified Jonathon as the one who shot him.”

“They even traced the dynamite used on the Crier press all the way from the manufacturer right down to the city garage – right to Samuel’s signature on the purchase order,” Charles explained.

“They even had the mayor on the stand saying he heard Samuel threaten to fire-bomb the paper. Sure does seem openand-shut to me.

“There’s something else that came up,” Charles added mysteriously.

He told an astonished Red about the U. S. Attorney asking the mayor questions about if he and Samuel had ever discussed burning the newspaper in his office at City Hall.

“My friend said it was like the U.S. Attorney knew about a specific conversation.

“The mayor didn’t hold up very well. The whole courtroom thought he was lying through his teeth.

“If they had stopped with just the fire, not shot Jim Dowling or done that other stupid shit, this wouldn’t be so serious. Now there’s shooting and nearly killing a police officer. And the roadblock trial has attempted murder charges, too.”

Changing the subject quickly, Charles leaned back the old chair creaking, “On the beating of Rick, the mayor will be looking at some serious prison time.”

“I don’t think there is any way he can avoid it. It could be up to five years, my friend says,” Charles explained.

“This is a real mess for the mayor,” he concluded.

“There’s no doubt we’re going to have to get a whole new slate of candidates for the city,” Red lamented, shaking his head, his mind never far from the next election.

Despite their reputation of being two of the most astute county political strategists in the state, Red and Charles had failed to grasp what was happening during the campaign leading up to the primary. They failed to understand the “why” of the 94

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recent Election Day results. Red ignored warnings from his election war committee.

People had just had enough. Oh, there had been unsubstantiated rumors about political misdeeds for years. But the big difference for this past election - Lawnsville Crier stories confirmed those suspicions.

Before the fire, the Crier stories were read with considerable skepticism. But after the fire and the shooting of the Lawnsville City policeman, people started wondering, “The Crier stories just might be right. Why would anyone go to all that trouble of burning down the paper if the stories weren’t hitting close to home.”

One item reported by his friend about the fire got special attention from Charles.

While there was no evidence the mayor played a role in the newspaper fire, his continuing attempt on the witness stand to throw Samuel under the bus didn’t go unnoticed.

“He just doesn’t know when to shut up,” Red said, shaking his head.

Another problem Charles hadn’t anticipated was the attention trial was getting beyond Jordan County. Every element of the state political community was following the proceedings very closely. Political leaders around the state felt that Charles and Red ran Jordan County and nothing went on there they didn’t know about.

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25 Verdict Only the Beginning After hearing closing arguments, the jury deliberated for two hours before breaking until the next morning at 9:00 a.m. By 9:30, the verdicts were in and the courtroom erupted.

Guilty on all charges.

Jonathon guilty of arson, attempted murder of a police officer, and using an explosive in crime; Joey Brighton, Sammy Burton, and Donnie Joe Smith guilty of arson and accessory to attempted murder; and Samuel guilty of conspiracy to commit arson.

In addition, the other federal charge involved specifically the attack on the Crier. It is a federal crime to damage or destroy, “by means of fire or an explosive, any . . . property used in interstate or foreign commerce or in any activity affecting interstate or foreign commerce.” A newspaper uses the mail for some distribution.

The mayor, sitting in the back of the courtroom, slumped upon hearing the verdicts, then got up and made a hasty retreat with his lawyer.

While the mayor was facing his own trial for beating the young handcuffed publisher, he was certain Samuel and Jonathon would not tell about his own connection to the Crier fire and roadblock crimes. Wayne Adkins didn’t understand how his testimony infuriated Samuel and his brother.

After the verdicts were read, the judge announced the sentencing would take place in five weeks. The throng of reporters

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covering the trial surrounded Rick Hill as he limped out of the courtroom.

“How does it feel to see those who burned your paper convicted?” was the single question most asked of the Lawnsville Crier publisher.

“It shows to what lengths people will go to in trying to silence a free press. The trial is a lesson on how important a free press is to the survival of our democracy. Thank you,” Rick said as he stepped away.

The assembled press scurried off in mass with a story that would lead every national television news show that evening.

Rick excused himself from the clamoring chorus requesting interviews explaining he had a story to write as he rushed to the drive to the printing angel’s plant. He envisioned the words Five Found Guilty of Setting Crier Fire, Shooting of Officer While the verdict was expected, the headline in some ways shocked Crier readers (which for this issue included nearly every Jordan County resident). People, who many of the readers knew, were convicted for burning down the Crier and the attempted murder of a police officer.

For those living in Jordan County, “crime” was about drunk driving, fighting, and minor thefts. In their minds, crimes like attempted murder and arson took place in New York City, Washington, D.C., or some other large city.

They would be even more shocked when they learned this case wasn’t over. There was a strong feeling in the U.S. Attorney’s office that those just convicted were just not capable of planning the details of the Crier fire.

After the second trial and before the sentencing for either, the U. S. Attorney would press the defendants separately to see if anyone else was involved in planning the fire and the roadblock and the attempted murder of the young publisher.

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26 Verdict Just the Beginning The mayor stopped in the cleaners after returning from the trial in Charleston, eager to share his eyewitness account with Red and tell about his time on the stand.

Red listened patiently at the mayor’s version of what happened. “Samuel, Jonathon, and them boys are in big trouble – they could get life,” the mayor offered.

“Shooting Jim Dowling really brought the Feds down on them, alright,” Red said in a sympathetic tone.

“Jonathon and those boys convicted still have to stand trial in that roadblock where they shot Hill. Then there’s Samuel.

How much do you think Samuel had to do with the roadblock?”

Red added as much to gauge the mayor’s reaction as to get information.

“Too bad they didn’t have better aim,” the mayor fumed. “Hard to tell what he’s into. Samuel was really upset over the stories in the paper. I just couldn’t settle him down,” the Lawnsville chief executive said, maneuvering away from his close ally.

Turning to look Red square in the eye, Wayne Adkins said, “Like you and I talked before the fire, those stories were out to get Samuel and me. That damned Rick Hill just wouldn’t quit.

Even you said we had a right to be upset.”

Red’s face was as calm as the blue waters of the lake just out of town said, “It was just stupid what they did – the fire, shooting Jim Dowling and then that damned mess with that roadblock.”

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Red purposefully didn’t mention the craziest thing of all – the mayor having the police chief impound the Crier drivers’ cars and then arrest Rick. And on top of all that - beating the publisher right in his city hall office.

“The fire by itself was bad enough, but nearly killing Jim Dowling brought the FBI in all over it,” Red casually observed again to gauge the reaction.

It came immediately – sweat on Wayne Adkins’s forehead and a boisterous outburst, “Just plain dumb, they are going to pay for it, big time. It was only a newspaper story.”

“Heard they would be sentenced for the fire in a few weeks,” Red said, scanning the panic-stricken face in front of him.

“Don’t believe the judge will give ‘em bail.”

“No, don’t imagine they will breathe a breath of fresh air for a long time,” the mayor said as he headed for the door.”

Red slumped as the door closed. He realized he was the one that planted the seed that led to the fire and the shooting of Jim Dowling. He and Charles came up with the scheme, but he was the one who raised the curtain on the puppet show in his conversations with Avery and the mayor.

It was him who told them he and Charles agreed that Rick Hill was out to get the mayor and Samuel and characterized the Crier stories as just not fair. He might have even used the word vicious.

Then it hit Red, struck him at his very core – Charles might have set him up to take the fall if their conspiracy was discovered.

Charles had manipulated the situation so he (Charles) would not be directly identified with their idea that led to the two crimes.

Despite the fire, the plan to cast illegal votes at five precincts, and spending more money on precinct organization than ever before, the old-line’s election efforts failed.

Red replayed the election that saw only one old-line candidate win. And he didn’t fully understand how Eddy Bill had managed to dodge the electoral fate of all the other old-line candidates.

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27 Sheriff ’s Line in the Sand Eddy Bill Graves had been involved in his share of Jordan County political shenanigans over the years. As County Treasurer (a title most folks didn’t even know existed for a West Virginia sheriff), he made sure the vast majority of county funds were deposited - in noninterest-bearing accounts - in the bank favored by the old-line. Even hired a less than skilled office worker last year to help make good on a promise Red had made.

Red didn’t grasp the difference – the “why” that got Eddy Bill a win in the just past primary. It really wasn’t complicated Eddy Bill did an excellent job when it came to law enforcement – the most visible of a West Virginia sheriff ’s responsibilities.

He hired the best deputies he could find, sent them to the state police Academy for training and made sure they had the best equipment the county could afford. But Eddy Bill, even as an old-line office holder, didn’t get involved publicly in any political controversies. And that was the key to his election victory.

The sheriff also had a keen mind when it came to analyzing the just-completed trial, and to Eddy Bill, something just didn’t ring true.

Eddy Bill knew all those indicted for the crimes – Jonathon, Samuel, Joey Brighton, Donnie Joe Smith, and Sammy Burton –and he was certain they hadn’t come up with the plans on their own.

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When it came to solving crimes – the Jordan County Sheriff was old-school – simple detailed investigation, and to him, it always was surprising how often the old adage “follow the money” was right on target. In these incidents, he amended that a bit – “look for those benefitting as the result of the crimes.”

No one he knew thought the Crier would come back before the election. If it hadn’t, Eddy Bill was certain the old-line would have won every local race handily.

Could Red and Charles be involved? That’s just not possible.

They are too careful, he thought as he mulled over the crimes and those convicted. I’m missing something.

Concentrating on the three petty thugs, the sheriff saw a common thread – they all hung out at Avery’s beer joint a lot, while Avery skirted the law every now and then – maybe even stepping over it at times. But with his record hanging over his head - Eddy Bill was sure Avery wasn’t involved directly in the crimes. But he might know something about how the three got involved.

Avery Stone lived on the old family farm out of town, but the sheriff knew after busy nights he slept in the room upstairs over the bar. So, on a hunch, early one morning Eddy Bill decided to visit the dive. Avery was already hard at work.

The sheriff settled in one of the least dirty booths in the dingy watering hole. Immediately. he noticed Avery’s normally calm demeanor had disappeared - replaced by an uncharacteristic nervousness.

“Busy night?” the county’s chief law enforcement asked.

“You wouldn’t believe it – they came out of the woodwork, hell, I even sold out of PBR.” “Avery, I’ll give it to you straight. I’m trying to figure out how those three boys got involved in the fire and roadblock mess.

Pretty sure they didn’t come up with all that on their own. Any ideas?” the sheriff said slowly, never taking his eyes off Avery’s weather-beaten face.

“Seems pretty simple. It all came out at the trial – Jonathon and Samuel put the whole thing together,” Avery said, continuing to sweep, avoiding the sheriff ’s piercing stare.

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“It sure did sound like they were really upset with the Crier stories. Had everybody in the county talking,” Eddy Bill added, seeing the sweat forming on Avery’s wrinkled brow.

“Yeah, there were a lot of details at the trial. But it just seems something is missing in the whole mess. Can’t figure out what the FBI is still nosing around so much?” he added, watching as Avery got so nervous, he dropped his broom.

“They haven’t been back here lately. Right after the fire, they came in a couple of times,” Avery offered.

“I am tired of having them around. I wish they would get the hell out of town,” the sheriff added as he headed for the door.

“Things just aren’t adding up,” he said to the now white as a sheet barkeep. “If you hear anything about it – be sure and let me know.”

After Eddy Bill’s departure, Avery stopped sweeping, shook his head, thinking about the shootings, the fire, and roadblock crimes. Some of his frequent customers had been involved in both those crimes.

It then struck him - it might be time (maybe even past time) for that long overdue trip to visit his sister in Florida. He’d call her tonight.

He’d have his cousin run the place for a month or so. Who knows, he might just sell it.

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28 Different Approaches Get to the Same Place After leaving Avery’s, Eddy Bill decided to stir up another possible source of information on the two crimes.

Of course, the county sheriff and the City Police Chief knew each other, but they did not have regular contact. So when the sheriff called and asked him to stop by for a chat, the city’s chief law enforcement officer knew something was up.

So, he didn’t go by the mayor’s office on the way out the door, just told the dispatcher he was going uptown.

“Thanks for stopping by. We don’t visit enough,” the bear of a sheriff said, taking the chief ’s hand in both of his and motioning to the two chairs in front of his desk after he closed the door to his private office.

For the next 15 minutes or so, the words and nods flowed between the two who dedicated their lives to law enforcement.

They discussed the difficulties of recruiting in the small county and how the new judge was doing.

Overall, the two did a pretty good job for the people, dodging the pitfalls and making the necessary accommodations called for when politics and law enforcement intersected. Except, of course, the times some of the mayor’s close friends were ticketed for speeding in the city.

The sheriff eased into it, asking about how it came that he impounded the cars and arrested Rick Hill.

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“Well, Eddy Bill, we all have bosses,” he said, laying it all out in a single sentence without mentioning the Lawnsville Mayor.

“And technically, those drivers in front of the Crier were blocking a traffic lane. Rick did give me a little lip,” he said sheepishly, knowing they both knew bullshit when it was served up. Showing his trust in the sheriff, he went even further.

“I swear, Wayne might have killed Rick if I hadn’t broken down the door. He was crazy, think he’d been drinking that morning.

“FBI came to see me just yesterday, asking all kinds of questions.

“One thing was funny. It seems they are still looking at the fire case even with the trial being over,” the Lawnsville Chief of Police related a confused look on his face.

“That part doesn’t make any sense to me. Have they been to see you?”

Eddy Bill shifted in his chair, “they just stopped by for a few minutes. Didn’t ask anything important,” he fudged.

Eddy Bill was comfortable not telling the chief the federal investigators asked his opinion about the ability of the five charged to come up with the crimes on their own.

As the chief got up to leave, they both agreed it would be a great day when the FBI left Jordan County.

As the door shut, Eddy Bill was so glad he’d taken Rick Hill’s advice to stay as far away from these cases as possible. Also, he was certain the city police chief wasn’t connected to the Crier fire or the roadblock cases.

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29 Reliving Hell on a Country Road With the strong evidence he had for the roadblock trial, the U. S. Attorney was confident, now that his star witness reappeared, he would get convictions on all counts in the attempted murder of the young publisher and his passenger in the ambush.

It was the nearest thing to an open and shut case he’d ever had.

As in the Crier fire trial, the young publisher was the leadoff witness in a trial revolving around his principled practice of journalism.

This one focused on defendants who were charged with attempted murder. Not attempted murder of just anyone – BUT OF HIM!!!! They wanted to leave him dead on that slab of asphalt.

When Rick had settled into the witness stand, the U. S. Attorney asked him to describe watching the four men come out from behind the roadblock and open fire on him and Larry Williams on that dark night.

“Three of them were talking to a fourth masked man in the shadows who appeared to be the leader. He was pointing towards us and appeared to be yelling at the other three.

“Then they all came around the roadblock, toward our van and started firing at us,” Rick stopped, weary from having to relive that night.

He described the scene – he and Larry scrambling out of the van and running toward the woods as the four came around the 105

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flaming roadblock, watching as one of the four tossed a burning emergency road flare into the van, and it exploding in a fireball.

“Could you tell members of the jury what one of the men said before they started shooting?” the federal prosecutor asked, facing the spellbound members of the jury.

He said, “You just don’t learn. We’re going to shut you up for good this time,” the young publisher said in a strong voice that carried to every corner of the hushed courtroom.

Stringing the events of that night together, the questioner had the young publisher describe what the men were wearing.

“The fire in the barrels made it very bright. They were wearing ski masks, the taller one a red patterned one and the others bright orange ones.”

When the federal prosecutor held them up, Rick identified the masks found in the pickup truck as looking like the ones gun-toting assailants at the roadblock had worn.

“Please continue,” the U.S. Attorney asked.

“Larry and I fired our shotguns, and each time they ran back behind the barrels which had the fires going. Then we backed into the woods as they came towards us a second time.

The bullets were hitting all around us,” Rick Hill said, his voice rising as he haltingly described his near-death experience.

He paused.

Taking a deep breath, the Crier publisher told of the sudden pain as the bullet ripped through his leg and being dragged by Larry Williams deeper into the woods as the men advanced, their shots ripping through the night.

Rick was uncomfortable answering the questions. He had to talk about that night when he contemplated the irony of facing death in hell on a country road in his beloved West Virginia hills.

Slowly, Rick told of the masked men getting close to the edge of the woods with guns blazing, then the siren screamed out of the night, and with lights flashing, a deputy sheriff slid to a halt and the men “coming to kill me” fled.

Oh, the defense attorney jumped to his feet like he came out of a jack-in-the-box objecting to the young publisher use of “coming to kill me,” but not before the jury grasped the frightening 106

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picture the newspaperman painted with sweat pouring off his forehead as he relived that night of terror.

The defendants just glumly stared at him but high-fived each other, seeming to think their attorney would overcome Rick’s emotional testimony of facing death at their hands.

They laughed out loud when the Crier publisher answered, “No,” when their defense attorney asked if he could identify the men at the roadblock.

“Why’s that,” the self-assured attorney asked.

“They all wore masks,” the soft answer came. Not satisfied, the attorney asked, “Could you speak up? I don’t believe members of the jury could hear you.”

Glaring at the smart-ass lawyer, Rick repeated the answer so everyone in the courtroom could hear even over the snickers of the defendants.

This time the judge called down the smiling defendants when one of them waved to the Crier publisher as he left the witness stand.

The defendants continued to smirk as Sammy Burton’s testimony identified them as being in the planning meeting and participating in the ambush.

But the smiles vanished when the physical evidence began to be rolled out.

First, an FBI forensic authority testified that hair found in the mask recovered on the ground at the roadblock scene and the two found in the truck matched that of three of the defendants.

Next, a ballistic expert explained that the bullets recovered from the burnt-out van matched those fired during tests from the two rifles found in the pickup in which the three were arrested.

The defendants were stunned.

Ballistics Expert Connects Bullets From Roadblock Van, Victims to Defendants Sitting in his printing angel’s newsroom, the young publisher churned out the story on the state’s Trial of the Century (the second one in two months.).

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He had driven from the Capitol City after the Court’s adjournment. Al Dill, his right had at the Crier, supervised the production of the rest of the paper and got stories to the printer, leaving a big page one hole for the trial story.

Since the fire, the Crier publisher had accepted the gracious offer from Overton Banner Publisher Reginald Lawrence Thurmond III to print the Crier about 40 miles from Lawnsville.

Thurmond told Rick Hill not to worry about paying him until the Crier was back on its feet.

While the defense was reeling, it would get worse the next day of the trial – the prosecutor still had several arrows in his quiver.

Jonathon Johnson gasped and buried his head in his hands when the fingerprint expert put the rifle that wounded Rick Hill and Larry Williams in his hands with a palm print match.

Another defendant’s fingerprint was taken from the weapon that fired the bullets recovered from the burned-out van.

“Where did you recover the gun which wounded Mr. Hill and Mr. Williams?”

“When we searched Mr. Jonathon Johnson’s cabin in Washington County about 50 miles from Lawnsville,” the buttoned-down FBI agent replied in the monotone for which the bureau is well-known.

The ballistic expert said the bullet recovered from the Crier publisher’s leg and his passenger’s arm matched the rifle found at Jonathon Johnson’s cabin.

The defense attorney went through the motions of crossexaminations but knew chances of success in attacking this testimony or getting acquittals were non-existent.

Then the federal prosecutors turned to establish the motive for the roadblock and attempted murders. The same three Lawnsville City employees who testified in the Crier fire case again told of hearing a Samuel Johnson rant in City Hall about how he was going to stop the Crier for good after it came back after the fire.

Next, the mayor took the witness stand and repeated, almost word for word, his testimony in the first trial. One major 108

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difference in this testimony was that he was even stronger in his comments about the strong relationship between the Johnson brothers.

The Lawnsville Chief Executive noted that Jonathon Johnson was the more volatile of the two and had a strong influence on his younger brother. This part of the mayor’s testimony was in response to the prosecutor’s questions about whether the older brother could have persuaded the younger one to participate in planning the crimes committed at the roadblock.

To the Johnson brothers, with his answers, the mayor went out of his way to suggest the two could have been involved in the crime.

The weak defense closing argument made it even clearer that all the defendants were facing guilty verdicts in this second trial.

The trial lasted three days, with the jury beginning deliberations the morning of the fourth day.

After observing the defendants during both trials – the general feeling among experienced courtroom observers, particularly among reporters, was even stronger the five defendants didn’t have the smarts to plan the crimes for which they were charged.

It was obvious somebody else was controlling these puppets’ strings.

Both the Lawnsville thugs, Jonathon and Samuel, were facing sentencing in several weeks on their convictions in the fire and shooting of the police officer. But the roadblock case was much more serious for the two petty criminals – they were facing sentencing for attempted murder.

The Johnson brothers were, rethinking their responses to the federal investigators’ inquiries about whether anyone else was involved in the planning of the crimes.

The pressure on them would increase after the convictions in the roadblock case.

When the defendants were taken back to jail for the first time, they were taken to different floors. The U. S. Attorney decided it was time to turn the screws.

The federal prosecutors correctly assumed the two thugs would have visions of the other making a deal for a lighter 109

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sentence. They really didn’t think they would have a chance to get Jonathon or Samuel to rat out anyone. Oh, they would try, but felt the effort would be futile.

As he was leaving the courtroom, the U. S. Attorney asked one of his assistants to invite the defense attorney for one of the convicted defendants to his office for a chat.

Upon entering the private office of the U.S. Attorney, the demeanor of the defense attorney was much more reserved than his blustery courtroom persona.

He knew his client was facing a severe sentence for attempted murder on top of the sentences for helping set fire to the Lawnsville Crier.

Preliminaries were not needed as they both knew the score – was anyone else involved in planning the crimes? The defendants were facing up to a total of 40-years locked in federal prison on the other side of the country.

The Federal prosecutor had one goal – to find out if anyone else was involved in plotting the newspaper fire and roadblock.

He wanted an answer no more than two days after the verdicts were announced. He let it be known that he was going to talk to a second defendant’s attorney shortly.

He felt the only key to unraveling the maze in these cases was to break one of these defendants. Sammy Burton had been key in identifying who was involved in the two crimes but wasn’t included in any of the preliminary planning, so he didn’t know if anyone else was involved.

The prosecutor was beginning to understand his probing could lead to an earthquake that would shake the foundations of the entrenched Jordan County political establishment. He felt someone not charged was behind the scenes in both cases, but he needed at least one of the four charged to confirm it. He might have leverage given they were facing sentencing on attempted murder and being accessories to the shooting of a police officer.

That was the key to getting the real puppeteers lurking in the shadows.

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30 Grasping For the Power Charles and Red were certain they would not be tied to either crime - if anyone else got the attention of the U.S. Attorney, it would be the mayor.

To them, it was simple. Testimony established the conspiracy to burn the paper was spawned because of the Crier stories exposing the mayor and Samuel’s dump truck rental scheme.

And the roadblock-related crimes grew out of those same stories. Nothing in either trial even hinted the crimes might have had something to do with influencing the outcome of the primary election.

In fact, after satisfying themselves it was the mayor who could be in the crosshairs of the U.S. attorney, Red and Charles turned to a much more important problem - developing a plan to maintain their political power in Jordan County.

As a result of the primary election disaster, the Republican County Commission ballot vacancy was the only avenue available. So, the conniving began. Their first task was to persuade Republican County Chairman Elmer Abernathy to fill the vacancy for county commission with a candidate who was well-liked around the county and – most importantly - who supported the old line behind the scenes.

There were a couple of businessmen who fit the criteria, but Red and Charles knew it would take some maneuvering and money to ensure the Jordan County Republican Executive 111

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Committee would make the right choice. A few weeks remained before the deadline for the Republican county executive committee to fill ballot vacancies.

Cagey Baxter Edwards had sized up the situation and was certain Red and Charles wouldn’t let the entire County government apparatus slip from their grasp without a fight.

He correctly suspected how the scheme would unfold and shared his opinion with the young publisher who thought it was sheer folly.

In fact, the young publisher hee-hawed Baxter out of his office.

But upon reflection, after Baxter left, the newspaperman thought - nothing is beyond the realm of possibility in Jordan County when it comes to political scheming.

Sticking with his “get-it-from-the-horse’s-mouth” approach to news reporting, Rick Hill just up and called Elmer Abernathy, the County Republican Chairman, for a little chat.

The conversation was short, sweet, and direct. “What are you going to do about the ballot vacancies on the Republican side of the General Election ballot?”

“Not sure what we’ll do. There hasn’t been much interest around the county for it, but I’ll let you know if anything changes,” Elmer, said seeming to be rather bored with the whole subject.

As he placed the phone back in its cradle, the crafty old country politician smiled across his dining room table at Charles Beauregard as they went back to discussing how best to accomplish their goal.

While Elmer never mentioned it, Charles understood that monetary remuneration was an integral part of this particular problem-solving formula. But whatever Elmer received from the Red and Charles election fund would be insignificant compared to what the two would realize from controlling the County Commission.

The young publisher typed up a three-paragraph story quoting Elmer’s less than enthusiastic answers for the next day’s paper.

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The story wasn’t much. But the young publisher had an inkling that it might turn over some rocks and bring calls or Letters to the Editor. He had miscalculated the mood of Crier readers.

Most in Jordan County were focused on the federal courtroom in the state capital.

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31 Connecting the Dots The Lawnsville Crier’s loyal readers, for the most part, had already reached their verdicts but still devoured every word of the story to get the confirming details.

One in the small town which had more of an interest than anyone else was the City’s Chief Executive.

Sweat formed across his forehead as he read then re-read the story. “This is bullshit. He’s making stuff up,” Wayne Adkins said, directing his venom at the Crier publisher.

As far as the two young defendants knew, Jonathon and Samuel were the ones who planned the roadblock. Jonathon was in charge that night. They were ordered to shoot over the heads of Rick and Larry. Two separate meetings with only Jonathon and Samuel present were held to plan the crime. No worry for the mayor from those two. They had no way of knowing the mayor, Jonathon, and Samuel planned the details and purpose of the roadblock –Jonathon was to kill Rick Hill and Larry Williams.

The mayor was confident he had nothing to fear from Samuel and Jonathon – the four standing trial would be the only ones convicted for the crimes. He was not aware of the general feeling among courtroom observers which was shared by Red and Charles.

Given what Charles’s friend had observed in the courtroom, the two suspected the mayor was involved in both crimes.

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During the mayor’s last visit to the cleaners, Red got the feeling Wayne Adkins was on the brink. He called the convictions in the fire case a fraud and the U.S. Attorney just was building a name for himself so he could run for Attorney General and later Governor.

And on top of that, the mayor was yelling that Samuel and Jonathon were framed in the case – there just wasn’t anything there, even saying Jim Dowling accidentally shot himself.

“I’m not done with that damned piss ant of a publisher,” the mayor had ranted, walking back and forth between the rows of hanging clothes.

Red was so alarmed by the mayor’s outburst that he’d called Charles and asked him to drop by for a visit on the subject.

“The mayor’s still determined to get Rick and completely shut down the paper,” Red related to Charles as they sat in the cramped back office.

“I’m convinced he was up to his eyeballs in planning for the fire and probably the roadblock. But there’s no evidence, or it would have come out in the trial.

“I believe Wayne, Jonathon, and Samuel put the thing together. The three thugs never even saw the mayor. I think he’s safe. Just don’t see Samuel or Jonathon turning on him,” Charles concluded.

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32 Open and Shut, But Still Open Lawyers with the U.S. Attorney’s Office were uneasy as they paced in the ante-room just down the glistening marble hallway from Federal courtroom A. It was nearing the end of the second day of jury deliberations in the roadblock and attempted murder of the Crier publisher case.

No matter how unreasonable – they had expected the jury to return a guilty verdict in a matter of hours. Now it looked like their agony would drag on into a third day.

The clanging of a ringing phone broke the silence and sent them scurrying up the hall. A buzz erupted in the courtroom when the Judge appeared at the bench and exchanged whispers with a bailiff.

Having the full and undivided attention of the packed courtroom, he announced that the jury had requested a transcript of the ballistic and fingerprint experts’ testimony.

Even gloomier scowls crossed federal prosecutors’ faces when one of their number opined that the jury might want the transcript to confirm their feelings that testimony was full of holes.

The lead prosecutor winced at the thought then regained his composure, feeling that that testimony was so strong it connected the masks, guns, and the defendants tighter than the steel girders of the towering interstate bridge outside the courtroom windows.

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But the nagging possibility that his young assistant’s conjecture could possibly be correct hovered in the back of his consciousness.

On the other hand, he was convinced that – a least one – facing sentencing related to three counts of attempted murder – might give up key information that would unravel the mystery of who else was involved in the conspiracy.

Rather than stop deliberations for the day, the jury asked that dinner be brought to the jury room.

It was about 7:30 p.m. when the chattering crowd began filing into the courtroom. The young publisher smiled, thinking that while the federal courthouse rumor network was efficient, it was nowhere near as efficient as the one centered in the infamous Lawnsville beauty shop.

About 10 minutes later, the defendants and their lawyers took their seats.

Then at 7:41, the Judge brought down the gravel, called the Court to order, and told the bailiff to bring in the jury.

Some people claim they can read jurors when they filed into a jury box after reaching a verdict. It was a skill that escaped Rick Hill. However, as members of the jury took their seats, the throbbing returned to in his still tender leg.

Ending the boring routine procedural rituals that characterize this particular part of a trial, the judge asked the jury if it had reached a verdict.

“We have your honor,” the foreman said in a voice so low the young publisher could barely hear it, and he was on the front row right behind the prosecutors’ table.

“What say you?” the Judge said in his best Shakespearean tone.

“We the jury find the defendants, guilty as charged on all counts,” the foreman managed to get out before slumping in his chair, clearly exhausted.

The courtroom erupted as reporters scrambled, pushing and shoving for one of the three payphones in the hall right outside the courtroom.

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One of the defendants jumped up and moved toward the young publisher, “This ain’t the end of it, you son-of-a-bitch,” he screamed as his attorney forcibly pushed him back in his chair as three U. S. Marshals quickly positioned themselves between the defense table and Rick Hill’s seat in the front row.

Stunned by the outburst, the audience grew silent as the Judge’s gavel called for order.

Clearly disturbed, the Judge announced that sentencing would be in four weeks – again providing the U.S. Attorney ample time to squeeze the defendants, particularly the two smalltime thugs, now facing sentencing on two counts of attempted murder as well as on the charges connected with the Crier fire and wounding of Jim Dowling. Of course, he would also try with Jonathon and Samuel Johnston, but was doubtful either would turn against the mayor.

Rising slowly from his ring-side seat and not reacting outwardly to the threat, the young publisher turned to leave the courtroom as the perky TV reporter who had interviewed him the morning of the Crier fire came up and requested an oncamera interview about his reaction to the verdicts.

Graciously he accepted, having no idea what he might say.

“I feel relieved more than anything else. Now I can devote my full attention to putting out a good newspaper for our loyal Crier readers. Our new building is coming along and should be finished in a few months.

“No, no, I don’t have any thoughts on how the sentencing should be handled. That’s up to the Court, and I’m confident that it will be done properly.

“Oh, my leg is just fine – it throbs a bit every now and then, but overall it’s coming along well.”

With that, he thanked the reporter and moved toward the hall greeting, well-wishers along the way.

Samuel reacted to the verdicts silently. As he waited to be taken back to his cell, the former Lawnsville street commissioner shut his eyes, recalling how Wayne Adkins’ testimony put the full blame for the dump truck scheme on him and his brother.

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He was seething, thinking the mayor was getting off scot-free in both the roadblock and fire cases. Oh, Wayne Adkins would probably get some prison time for beating up Rick Hill, but it would be a slap on the wrist compared to what he, Jonathon, and the others were facing.

Meanwhile, Rick Hill on his way down to the parking garage, stopped by the U. S. Attorney’s office to offer congratulations.

Of course, given he was first and foremost a reporter, the Crier publisher could not help but ask if there was anything new on a rumored investigation of ballot ill-regularities in the Jordan County primary election.

He found the answer curious – “Not sure how it fits with all the other things that have gone on down there,” the U.S. Attorney said.

“You think all this is connected?” Rick probed.

“That’s all I have to say right now. How’s the leg?” the federal prosecutor said as he rose again, taking the publisher’s offered handshake as he guided him to the door, knowing he had just given confirmation the federal investigation was indeed ongoing.

When the young publisher pulled out of the parking garage, he was surprised at the relief he felt – like a giant weight has been lifted off his shoulders.

He knew he’d have to return for the mayor’s trial for his beating, but for now, he was as relaxed as he’d been since before the fire.

As he drove through the majestic mountains, Rick Hill mulled over the U. S. Attorney’s answer to his inquiry.

This is far from over. No tellin’ what’ll come from it, Rick Hill thought as he paid the hated toll to use the ribbon of concrete that led towards the community where he had been nearly killed for practicing his dedicated brand of journalism.

That damned answer from the U.S. Attorney indicated that Rick’s suspicions were shared. Maybe he owed the sheriff an apology and hoped the offer to go off-the-record would be extended again.

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33 Would-be Murders Among Us!!!

Federal Jury Finds Five County Residents Guilty of Attempted Murder of Crier Publisher, Passenger Rick’s hands trembled as he wrote the front-page headline for the next day’s Crier.

“They were trying to kill me!” he mumbled to the bare walls of the small space he’d been given in the printing angel’s newsroom, where he stopped on the way to Lawnsville.

His forehead was covered with sweat as he opened the creaky old door to take the story and headline back to Al in the composing room.

It wasn’t until the trial’s closing arguments that he began to really think about the true purpose of the ambush at the roadblock.

Frankly, his throbbing leg and the slight limp didn’t seem in any way connected to the words “attempted murder.”

Sitting in the hushed courtroom, his mind had been unlocked.

It was hearing the stark details of the U. S. Attorney’s description of the crime in his closing argument.

Only then did the incident on that dark country road became what it actually was - a sinister plot to kill him – stop his brand of journalism – leave him dead on a blood-spattered piece of asphalt.

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The men sitting just a few feet away from him in the courtroom had indeed been part of a plot to murder him and Larry. The other conspirator, Sammy Burton, was a key witness in this trial as he was in the one dealing with the Crier fire and Jim Dowling’s near-fatal shooting. Evidence showed that no bullet from Burton’s weapon had been found at the roadblock indicating he shot wildly on purpose.

Rick’s mind drifted back – watching through the roaring flames of the van as the leader of the attack led the other three on what was meant to be a murderous assault.

From their courtroom demeanor, it was clear the defendants were not the brains behind it all. Somewhere lurking in the murky background were the masterminds - the puppeteers.

After Sammy Burton’s dramatic testimony, the trial changed tone entirely.

“Boring” was an apt description of the expert testimony offered by the FBI and ATF forensic and ballistic experts as they methodologically connected the evidence to the defendants.

The tone – a scientist’s monotone - wasn’t important - it was the words.

Other than a brief moment in the closing argument, the defense all but disappeared.

The federal prosecutor’s closing argument hit the young publisher like a two-by-four between the eyes. It laid out the crime in stark terms.

The members of the jury nodded when they heard that stark description.

Complete shock was the reaction of Crier readers when they read the story. While earlier they’d read about the arrests and the trial testimony, it was the words of the prosecutor’s closing argument – “without the arrival of that sheriff ’s deputy, Rick Hill and Larry Williams lives would have ended at the hand of the defendants on that deserted country road” those breathtaking words propelled the case from the abstract to reality.

Now that fellow Jordan Countians had been found guilty of trying to kill two of their neighbors; the reactions were more intense. The words ‘attempted murder” across the top of the Crier front page brought the message into their being.

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There it was - laid out in jarring words - in this quiet, beautiful small town along the banks of the ancient river - a plot had been conceived and was nearly successful to murder in cold blood the Crier publisher simply because his brand of journalism was bringing Crier readers the truth.

Rick Hill’s uneasy reaction wasn’t because of the screaming headline. It was because nearly everyone following the trials in Jordan County knew the simple-minded defendants. And understood those convicted were not capable of planning the two crimes. It was clear; unknown conspirators were walking free among them on the streets of Lawnsville.

While pleased with the convictions, the U.S. Attorney agreed with that opinion permeating throughout Jordan County and was frustrated with the certainty that at least one other guilty individual was walking around free.

One fact that hadn’t been in the Crier stories – was those two thugs convicted, and the one that testified against them were regulars at Avery’s beer joint.

Both the sheriff and the young publisher were keeping an eye out for Avery. He hadn’t been seen around town for nearly two months.

His cousin, who was running the seedy bar, suggested he might have gone to the Veterans’ Administration Hospital in Roanoke for treatment of an old war injury that had flared up.

But he wasn’t even sure about that, explaining, “You know how crazy Avery can sometimes get, no-telling where he is.”

Finally, after re-reading the story, the sheriff had had enough.

The next day, a Saturday, before the bar opened, Eddy Bill barged in Avery’s - nearly tearing the door off the hinges - jerked the cousin up and slammed him against the wall.

“Now, unless you want to be indicted as an accessory to murder, you better tell me where Avery is, and I mean right now,” Eddy Bill said before letting the terrified man fall to the floor like a limp dishrag.

“Sheriiiiiiffff, damn, I’d tell you if I knew. Honest to God, I don’t know where he is. He just called me one night and told me

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to be here and run the place until he comes back. That’s all he said.”

“The next time you talk to Avery, you tell him to get his ass back here by the end of the week, or I’ll sic the FBI on his sorryass,” the sheriff said, his snarling face about two inches from the still quivering cousin’s nose before the slamming door shook the walls.

Shaking like a leaf, Avery’s cousin went into the closet-sized space that doubled as the bar’s office, took the safe combination from his wallet, opened the heavy steel door, and took out the sealed envelope Avery left for him.

Then with trembling fingers, barely able to dial the number, placed the call (he knew would bring a raving tongue-lashing).

Upon hearing the details of the sheriff ’s visit, Avery knew he had to get back to Lawnsville. He couldn’t’ afford to have the FBI on his trail – given his record and the fact that decades before, he’d done time.

To make matters worse, he had failed to give all those facts when he applied for his beer license. If they came out now, he could lose his retail beer license, effectively closing down his business and maybe send him back to prison – a fate he would do anything to avoid.

Avery still often woke up in the middle of the night, reliving the violent horrors he suffered during those five years. He would rather die than go back behind bars.

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34 The Onion Falls Apart As he began the 20+ hour drive back to Jordan County, Avery knew what he would be facing would not be easy. About two hours from his destination, Avery stopped for breakfast and called Eddy Bill.

“I’m coming back. I need to come talk to you,” he said, dead tired from driving all night.

The sheriff answered in a tone that let Avery know he was in serious trouble, “Don’t come here to the courthouse. Meet me at my camp out on the Greenbrier and I don’t want any bullshit. I want to know what’s going on.”

“You scared the hell out of my cousin. He called me almost crying. I’ll see you in about two hours,” Avery said, seeing his breakfast order had just arrived at his table in the comfortable country roadside restaurant on the outskirts of Independence, Virginia.

Two hours later, he pulled up at the sheriff ’s small cabin, uncertain what he was about to face but sure it wouldn’t be pleasant.

Eddy Bill came out on the porch and offered his hand, “Glad you came to talk. There’s a damned mess and you need to tell me what’s going on,” he said pleasantly but firm.

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not sure he could do it either. I want to know everything you know. I’ve not told anyone what I know about you, so don’t make me do that.”

“Eddy Bill, I can’t go back to prison. I’d kill myself first.”

The Jordan County Sheriff knew that to be the case, “I’m not looking to send you back there. But you have to tell me everything and I mean right now.”

Avery took a deep breath, “One day, I was out to the cleaners visiting with Red. We talked about the newspaper stories about Samuel and the mayor’s scheme to steal money from the city by leasing Jonathon’s dump truck to the city. I mentioned how upset Samuel was.

“Red said he and Charles agreed the stories were unfair and didn’t blame those two for being mad. Said they had the right.

“It came across clear that Red and Charles thought Rick Hill used the Crier to go after those two. Red seemed really mad about what Rick Hill did.

“Said he and Charles felt there was something personal Rick had against Samuel and the mayor. Even added he was surprised the two had seemed to take it so calmly,” Avery concluded.

“Avery, what’d you do with that. Did you tell anyone?” the sheriff asked, understanding he might get the key to finding out who really planned or set in motion these two crimes.

“What do you mean what did I do with it? I didn’t burn the paper or shoot Rick if that’s what you mean. Eddy Bill, you don’t think I did that - do you?” Avery asked in near panic, standing and pacing the cabin’s small living room.

“No, no, I mean, who did you tell anyone about what Red said?” the sheriff pressed.

“Oh, I just told Samuel and I think his brother Jonathon was there too. It was down at the city garage. Jonathon really got upset. Told Samuel they should do something. He added that even Red and Charles believed Rick Hill had it in for him and the mayor.

“Samuel said there was nothing they could do. They didn’t own a newspaper.

“Jonathon said they would talk later and left. That’s how I remember it,” Avery said.

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“Jonathon’s always been the hot-head of the two,” the sheriff said in an agreeable tone, being careful not to upset Avery into silence.

“You got that right and he’s smarter, too,” Avery agreed.

“Anything else happen? Did Samuel bring up your conversation with Red again,” Eddy Bill asked easily.

“Oh yes. A few days later, I was by the city garage and he told me Red told the mayor the same thing he told me – about how he and Charles felt about Rick Hill and the Crier stories.

“Sounded like Red told both of us the same thing,” Avery recalled.

“How’d the mayor take what Red said?” the Jordan County’s chief law enforcer asked.

Avery squirmed in his chair, hoping to break the sheriff ’s stare and looking out at the slowly flowing river, “Not sure I want to get into that.”

“We were doing so well. Avery, this is damned important and I’m not going to tell anyone what you tell me,” Eddy Bill said, an edge returning to his tone. “I’ve kept your secrets for years. You can trust me, you know that.

“Stop this shit and tell me what the mayor said to Samuel,” the sheriff said, standing up with this 6’ 2” frame towering over the 5’ 7” beer joint owner.

Message delivered.

“Samuel said the mayor felt like Red and Charles were really saying something had to be done about the Crier.

“And he said the mayor mentioned ‘that the newspaper stories were going hurt the candidates we were backing in the election.’

Samuel said there was no doubt the mayor thought something should be done about the Crier.”

“Did you ever talk to the mayor about this?” Eddy Bill asked, trying to tie up all the loose ends “No, just with Samuel and that one time when Jonathon was there,” Avery assured.

“How did Jonathon get hooked up with those three boys?” the sheriff asked, knowing this might be a question Avery wouldn’t address at all.

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At first, Avery didn’t respond but then, on recalling some of his prison experiences, turned to the sheriff.

“Samuel asked me if I knew some boys who might want to make some money and did not care how they made it. I mentioned those two older boys thinking he might want them to do some work for the city digging ditches or some hard work like that. They got the younger one involved.

“Never imagined anything like the fire and roadblock,” he added quickly.

“That shooting Jim Dowling just blew everything up. I mean, that was just crazy. But that’s Jonathon. He’s always been a little bit around the bend,” Avery offered.

“Avery, do you know if Charles spoke with anyone about how he and Red felt about the Crier?”

“Never heard a word about that,” came the assured response.

Very troubled, Eddy Bill stayed at the cabin after Avery left, mulling over what he’d just heard.

He’d worked with the old-line in Jordan County politics for years. This fits the pattern of Charles always staying in the background while Red was more out front. Avery’s story clearly fit the pattern.

Now that Eddy Bill had the pieces of the puzzle, he didn’t know what he would do. He owed his rise in Jordan County politics to Red and Charles. But there was a limit to what he’d tolerate.

What gnawed at him was the shooting of Jim Dowling – a fine young fellow lawman – whose career ended because of a conspiracy evidently put in motion by his own political benefactors. Likewise, it seemed with the attempted murder of the Crier publisher.

He could live with the political maneuverings, but when it came to anything criminal, that was the line which Eddy Bill would not cross or support those who did.

In reality, he felt Red and Charles probably weren’t technically legally guilty of any crime, but it was clear they set in motion the wheels that led to the fire, Dowling’s shooting, and the attempted murder of Rick Hill.

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To Eddy Bill, it was clear from what Avery said the mayor and Samuel had discussed burning down the Crier after the mayor’s conversation with Red. Furthermore, that made it all, but certain the mayor was the brains behind the planning of both crimes.

It also seems certain the motivation came (just as Charles and Red had discussed) from Red’s conversations with Avery and the mayor.

As he went back over the situation, the sheriff was thankful Rick Hill suggested he stay far away from the whole mess and let the FBI handle it.

He shook his head, thinking how close he’d come to letting his feeling about Jim Dowling’s shooting lead him into the middle of that investigation.

What am I going to do with what Avery told me? he thought, puffing a cigar as he sat in his favorite rocking chair looking out at the slow-flowing Greenbrier River and thinking about the shooting that ended Jim Dowling’s promising law enforcement career and the ambush that nearly killed Rick Hill and his passenger.

Then it hit him right between the eyes as he took the last satisfying drag off his once-a-month cigar – “Hell, do what I did before – let the FBI handle it.”

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35 Mud Gets Clearer Eddy Bill was certain the Crier publisher had a backchannel to the U.S. Attorney in Charleston.

The premise of the sheriff ’s call to the Crier publisher was to say he had some additional information on Edward Whitmore’s case. He knew that would bring Hill right to his office.

The Jordan County Sheriff also was certain the inquisitive Crier publisher would, as always, ask some other questions which would allow him to steer the conversation to the Crier fire.

His plan was to use the infamous “some folks” to bring up what Avery had related without divulging the source. Using the same ploy, he’d work in his own suspicions about up what might have transpired in putting together the conspiracy to eliminate the Crier as a force in the last election.

As he expected, the newsman rushed up to the courthouse to get an update on Edward’s case.

Taking out his notebook, Rick settled into one of the comfortable chairs in Eddy Bill’s private office.

“Things have been pretty quiet since Edward’s arrest. Been wondering what was going on,” the publisher, now turned reporter, observed.

“Don’t get me close to this one, but it seems there’s talk of him just working out a plea deal to keep his family from going through a trial,” the sheriff offered.

“Any idea when that might happen?”

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“Wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t happen in the next week or so.”

“Seems certain he’ll get some jail time,” the publisher posed.

“No doubt about that. If it’s a year or less, he could do it here, but it’s more likely to be in a state minimum-security prison,” the sheriff offered, not disclosing his behind-the-scenes maneuvering to keep his good friend out of the local jail, in the long run, that would be harder on Edward’s family.

“I appreciate the heads-up. I know this whole mess with Edward is hard on you,” Rick said, showing the sheriff some unexpected sympathy.

Ever the reporter, Rick Hill followed up, “Anything new about the FBI still nosing around the county trying to find more about the fire and roadblock cases?”

Trying to look surprised at the expected inquiry, Eddy Bill said, “There’s something I’m hearing that you must not connect me with at all.”

Thinking the only development that could be in that category would be that information was circulating about others being involved beyond those already convicted, the publisher quickly agreed to the condition.

“Some folks are saying Red told the mayor that he and Charles understood why he and Samuel were upset with the Crier stories and they considered them to have been unfair,” the sheriff said in a hushed tone.

“They are saying the mayor and Samuel might have taken that as a green light to do something. Red and Charles weren’t involved in the actual planning or anything. But the mayor and Samuel might just have gone with it. It got out of hand with Jim Dowling’s shooting.

“He nearly died and his career as a policeman is gone,” the sheriff said.

“I helped get him in the training program at the State Police Academy when he was appointed to the Lawnsville force. He is just a fine young man,” Eddy Billy concluded.

“Nobody thinks that Samuel, Jonathon, and the three thugs planned the fire and the roadblock. If this is true, it ties up loose ends,” the publisher said, putting his notebook down.

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“This is just not something I can run in the paper. It’s just rumors on the street,” he said.

“There’s nothing I can do with this. But thanks for the information on Edward’s case. I will do some checking on that,” he said as he headed for the door, not mentioning but thinking this information could answer that key question - “who’s was really behind the fire and roadblock?”

Using the private phone number the U.S. Attorney had given him during the earlier investigations, Rick dialed it just as soon as he got back to the Crier’s office-in-exile.

The next day on the drive to the capital, Rick thought about how he was going to present what he learned at the Jordan County courthouse the day before. He was certain the U. S. Attorney felt the same way he did about the inability of those convicted to plan the details for the fire and the roadblock.

The Crier publisher was surprised the U.S. Attorney granted his unusual request the two of them meet alone.

“Given that the sentencing in the fire case is in a few weeks, I thought you want to know this,” Rick said after providing the details of “what I picked up in Lawnsville,” not identifying the source other than to say he felt it was creditable.

“If this is true, it could have been the mayor who came up with the plans for both crimes. Samuel and his brother ran with it and Samuel got the three thugs involved,” Rick suggested “I’m sure that many in Lawnsville felt your stories were unfair to the city administration, so the conversations Red had with the mayor and Avery are not enough to tie Red to the commission of the crimes. Giving an opinion is not a crime,” the federal prosecutor explained.

“Not sure how we can check out what you just told me. Don’t believe it’s worth pursuing, given we have no source,” the U.S. Attorney said, not wanting to let the newspaperman know the potential importance of the new information.

“If it turns out the mayor is indited for this role in the fire and roadblock planning, hope you’ll give me a jump on running the story,” Rick asked, reporter’s hat fully in place.

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Smiling, the federal prosecutor rose from his chair, “Not sure this will come to anything close to an indictment, but I appreciate your driving all the way down here to tell me. Have a safe drive back to Lawnsville.”

Hell, maybe I came all the way down here for nothing. He might think I’m a real conspiracy nut, Rick thought as he drove out of the federal courthouse garage.

The Crier publisher didn’t imagine that before he got to his car, the U.S. Attorney had two of his assistants in his office explaining how they would use this new information to turn the screws on Samuel in their sentencing negotiations.

Two days after Rick’s visit, two assistant federal prosecutors were sitting across the table opposite the Lawnsville Street Commissioner and his attorney.

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36 Turning the Screws Opens the Door “Samuel, you’re are facing at least 25 to 30 years for your part in planning the Crier fire, accessory to the attempted murder of a policeman, and accessory to the attempted murder of Rick Hill and his passenger.

“We believe others were involved in planning those crimes.

If that’s true, they are free while you will be sitting in prison on the other side of the country. We are asking your cooperation in prosecuting those individuals,” the veteran assistant prosecutor explained patiently.

“What makes you think anybody else was involved,” Samuel asked, tired from the weeks locked behind bars.

“We are not aware of any other trouble you’ve ever been in.

So it seems reasonable that someone might have convinced you to commit these crimes and then leave you to face prison while they go free.”

Samuel closed his eyes and immediately the vision of the mayor lying in his testimony about the dump truck scheme.

“Damn him,” Samuel spouted as he opened his eyes and looked at the two federal prosecutors.

“The mayor was involved in every bit of the planning of the burning down the Crier and the roadblock. Neither one of us were at either. Jonathon and those three did both.”

“Was it the Crier stories that got him riled up?”

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“It was. A lot of folks in town thought the paper was unfair to the mayor and me over that dump truck thing. One day he came down to the garage and said we had to do something about the Crier. He said he’d heard from a lot of folks in town the paper was out to get him and me.

“Then me, the mayor, and Jonathon got together. The mayor took the lead with details and we settled on how it would be done. Jonathon was all fired up and told me to get some guys to help him.

“The mayor said to make sure the Crier was shut down. We ought to not only burn it down but also dynamite the press.

“I asked Avery if he knew some guys that would like to make some easy money. I didn’t tell him what the job was. He gave us two names and they got another guy.

“It was going along great until the policeman came into the paper and Jonathon shot him. That was just plain stupid,” Samuel concluded as he slumped back in the chair.

“What about the roadblock?” the federal prosecutor asked.

“When the paper came back right before the election, the mayor decided we really needed to solve the problem once and for all. He said the Crier stories were hurting our candidates.

That’s when he laid out plans for the roadblock.”

“Did he mention that Rick Hill was to be killed during the ambush?”

Samuel hesitated, not sure how to proceed. Then he remembered the mayor’s testimony that indicated it was Samuel and his brother who might have come up with the crimes on their own. He also felt his brother was facing maximum sentencing for shooting the Lawnsville policeman, so his rolling over on the mayor wouldn’t affect his brother’s sentencing one way or the other.

“He did. Said that was really the only way to solve the problem for good. Jonathon said he’d be the one that would kill Rick Hill.

The others were told to shoot into the woods. They thought the whole thing was just to scare Hill to get him to stop running those stories.”

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“Are you willing to tell this at a trial?’ the assistant U.S. Attorney anxiously.

“Damned right I will,” Samuel said firmly, smiling inside at the prospect of getting back at Wayne Adkins, who had suggested in his testimony that Samuel and his brother might have decided to burn down the Crier and kill the publisher on their own.

“What happens now?” he asked, his lawyer seated next to him.

“We’ll just wait to hear how the feds want to move forward. I expect you’ll go first in front of the grand jury and then testify at the mayor’s trial,” he said, looking toward the federal prosecutor.

“That’s it, I should be back to you all in the next few days.”

Next, the federal prosecutor met with Jonathon Johnson, who backed up his brother’s story.

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37 What Goes Around Really Comes Around Three days later, Rick Hill picked up the phone, expecting to hear Anne asking him to pick up something at the grocery store on the way home from work.

Instead, he heard the formal tone of the Public Information Officer (PIO) for the U.S. Attorney, “Be sure and cover tomorrow morning’s 8:00 a.m. special city council meeting. Please don’t mention this call to anyone.”

Stammering, Rick blurted, “Hell, why’s that there’s nothing much on the agenda.”

“I can’t say anymore. Consider yourself lucky that I called at all,” the PIO curtly lectured before the click filled Rick’s ear.

Rick busted out of his office and hurriedly summoned Al in for a closed-door conversation about a modified production schedule for tomorrow’s Crier.

After the hubbub of the primary election campaign had died down, the Crier’s deadlines were set so the Crier would be to the guardian angel’s plant in time to be ready for the route drivers between noon and 1:00 p.m.

Without giving specifics, Rick explained he wanted room left on the page one layout for a four-column picture, eight-column headline, and 15 inches of copy.

“Is it the Second Coming?” Al asked excitedly.

“I haven’t a clue, just playing a hunch,” Rick responded to his suspicious right hand.

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“Right, and the farmer hauled another load away,” Al said over his shoulder as he left the publisher’s cubbyhole office.

It was just after 8:00 a.m., and Rick was on the front row taking notes when the federal agents interrupted the Council meeting attended only by the mayor, City Council members, city staff, and a group of Girl Scouts speaking for a proclamation supporting the annual Cookie Sale. That resolution was approved just before the agents arrived. The room was dead silent as the lead agent read the arrest warrant while two other agents had their shotguns at the ready.

The warrant included details of how the mayor had plotted along with Samuel and Jonathon to burn the Crier to the ground.

Then when the paper resumed publishing, he put together the plan to ambush and murder Rick Hill on that deserted country road.

Wayne Atkins glared at the Crier publisher, who was taking pictures of the entire episode.

“You did this, you son-of-a-bitch,” Wayne Adkins yelled at Rick as he was led into the waiting four-sedan to take him to the federal courthouse in the state capital.

Rick had posted Al outside to get pictures of the handcuffed Lawnsville Mayor coming out of city hall surrounded by the shotgun-toting agents.

“What did they do about the Girl Scout Cookie Sale?” Al asked, unable to control his laughter as he and Rick headed back to the Crier.

“The council backed the cookie sale and make sure you run a couple of hundred extra copies,” Rick responded.

Rick saw some humor in the fact the resolution supporting the Girl Scout cookie sale passed just before the federal agents placed the mayor under arrest. So, in spite of the seriousness of the main subject of the story decided including it would be a nice touch.

Almost as soon as the mayor was led in handcuffs from City Hall, Lawnsville’s gossip network sprang into action from city hall to the courthouse to the beauty shop and quickly to Red’s cleaners.

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Red dismissed the first call as a joke, but after the fifth call, realized indeed the mayor had been arrested for conspiracy in the Crier fire and attempted murder of the paper’s publisher.

Immediately he began to worry his conversation with the mayor about the unfairness of the Crier stories might become part of the trial.

“Well, we knew Samuel and Jonathon and those boys didn’t plan all this by themselves,” Charles said upon hearing Red’s report.

“The mayor just went around the bend after everybody in town was talking about how unfair the Crier stories were. I heard it everywhere,” Charles said, contemplating Red’s concern about the conversations with the mayor and Avery. Charles was pleased he was able to again maneuver Red to be out front in one of his schemes.

“Wayne’ll see some real time between this and beating up Rick. It sounds like the case might be open and shut. Didn’t hear a thing from my friend in Charleston. They really had this one under wraps.

“I’ll come by after closing so we can talk,” Charles offered just before they hung up.

“Even if your conversations with Wayne come out at the trial, I’m sure there were a lot of folks in the county talking about how hard those stories were on the mayor and Samuel. They decided to do what they did on their own,” Charles said, responding to Red. “Hard to believe Samuel might have rolled over on Wayne.

They have a lot of history. Getting into that dump truck scheme was just stupid and then Jonathon shooting Jim Dowling got the FBI and U.S. Attorney involved,” Red said as the two paused to take a long pull on their cans of cold, refreshing lemonade, satisfied their role as puppeteers would remain hidden.

Lawnsville Mayor Indicted for Crier Fire, Officer Shooting, Attempted Murder of Crier Publisher

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...screamed across the top of the Crier’s front page. Under it a picture (the second time in six months) of federal marshals leading Wayne Adkins out of the Lawnsville City Hall in handcuffs.

Quoting from the indictment given to him by one of the arresting federal agents, Rick wrote, “Lawnsville Mayor Wayne Adkins has been indicated by a federal grand jury for his role in planning the fire which burned the Crier building to the ground and resulted in the wounding of a Lawnsville police office and the roadblock ambush where the attempted murder of Crier Publisher Rick Hill and Larry Browning took place.”

The indictment described in detail how the mayor had conspired with Samuel and his brother Jonathon to silence the Crier because of stories critical of Lawnsville’s city government and others thought to be hurting candidates Wayne Adkins was backing in the recent primary election.

“As part of the conspiracy, Wayne Adkins specifically came up with the idea to ensure the Crier ceased operation by placing dynamite under the press during the commission of the crime,” the indictment read.

The most serious part of the indictment indicated it was the mayor who suggested that Crier publisher Rick Hill be killed in a roadblock after the Crier resumed publishing. The indictment continued, the plan called for Jonathon Johnson to fire the fatal shots. Others involved in the roadblock thought the crime was just to scare the publisher into toning down coverage of local political activities.

The story reviewed the mayor’s earlier federal charge for beating the handcuffed Crier publisher. Also prominent was the fact the mayor was a strong supporter of the old-line slate of primary election candidates who, with one exception, were soundly defeated in the recent primary election.

As is often the case in Jordan County politics, when one domino falls, it sets in motion a chain reaction.

The two old-line kingpins were calm as they sat in the office at the cleaners. Before either said a word, they took a slow drink of the cool libation.

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“Charles, it seems to be playing out about the way we thought.

The mayor was right in the middle of both the fire and roadblock from the beginning,” Red said.

“He’ll do some real time for both. I think it’ll help us in the General Election because it ties both the fire and trying to kill Rick Hill cases to those Crier stories about that dump truck scheme,” Charles responded.

140

38 Left Hanging Out to Dry With the conclusion of the two trials and the arrest of Wayne Adkins, the U.S. Attorney could now turn his office’s attention to the Lawnsville Crier story on complaints about the appointment of poll workers that raised the possibility of voter fraud in the primary election. He realized it was possible the complaints were just because the former poll workers had missed out on the Election Day payday. But he had learned that what you first see in Jordan County wasn’t always what was really going on.

As a result of complaints to the Jordan County Commission and the resulting Crier story, the new poll workers appointed in the five precincts for the primary election were painted by the gossip network as being part of a scheme to cast fraudulent ballots in that election.

Those rumors caused particular pain to the Jones clan, most of whom lived up on the mountain in the center of the county.

The clan had been old-line supporters for years. Three Jones had been appointed as poll workers in two of the five precincts – one was a lead poll worker. While many in the family had been involved in politics before, none had ever been connected publicly to questionable election practices until now.

One family member and Sally’s cousin, Jeremiah, took the accusations extremely hard. He had lost his wife to a tragic car wreck in late 1959, about six months before primary Election Day. He only agreed to take the lead poll worker position after 141

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two personal visits by Red. Still, in the midst of his mourning, the two visits by the FBI agents investigating the poll workers’ appointments upset him so much he was rushed to the hospital with chest pains after their second visit.

Jeremiah hadn’t shared with anyone what he agreed to do in his precinct after the polls closed. After closely reading the Crier stories on the changes at the five precincts, Jeremiah was concerned somebody would give the paper the details of what was planned.

It wasn’t the first time he’d committed voter fraud to help keep the old-line faction in power. But that, his only other act of voting fraud, was years before and ironically was done at the behest of Red’s father.

Some of the lower-level poll workers, including two Jones cousins, who agreed to serve in one of the five precincts, felt betrayed by the old line. They were beginning to realize what they agreed to do was a cover for the lead poll workers to commit voter fraud.

Sally Jones was very upset after visiting her cousin, Jerimiah, in the hospital one Sunday after church.

She felt this scheme was responsible for the stress that put Jeremiah in the hospital. Looking back, she felt Red had misled her two cousins too.

“They didn’t treat you right – just set you up and now the FBI has been to your house twice,” she said while holding her cousin’s hand as she looked at the oxygen mask covering his face. “It just ain’t right.”

Sally thought back to the day after the primary election when she saw Red taking all that money from the safe deposit box he and Charles shared. She told Jeremiah what she’d seen at the bank.

“Red made all that money from the election and then tried to do this – set you all up. Something has to be done,” Sally said to her now fully attentive older cousin.

“I’m carrying a burden and I just don’t what to do about it.

This is just a mess,” Jeremiah said right before she left the hospital.

As she left, she swore to herself that she would have to tell someone. But whom could she trust?

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Sally had to find a way to pass along the information so it wouldn’t come back on her and cause her to lose her job at the bank. Income from the job was essential to her family since the only job her husband, while a good man, was able to hold was the school janitor job he got courtesy of the old-line dominated school board. Maybe I should just forget it, Sally thought.

But recalling her cousin struggling to breathe rekindled her resolve.

Sally Jones knew about Baxter Edwards’ reputation for being a straight-up man. Her mother had worked as a cook at the school where Baxter’s mother taught. The two had become friends and kept in touch after they retired.

Anybody watching would see nothing unusual as Baxter helped his mother to the car and drove up to visit another Jordan County school retiree and close friend, Martha Jones.

The two retirees greeted each other with a hug and took tea in the kitchen as their children went off to the seclusion of the comfortable living room. Sally Jones was a bit nervous.

“Baxter, I really appreciate you coming up to see me,” Sally said as she sat on the couch her parents owned for all of their 65 years of marriage.

“You can’t tell anyone where you heard what I’m about to tell you. It would cost me my job at the bank and God knows what else would happen.”

Surprised by the tone coming from Sally, who he knew as quiet and unassuming and who could barely say “hello,” Baxter wasn’t sure what was coming next.

“You have my word, Sally.” All he knew was Sally’s mother told his mother Sally needed to talk with him on a matter of extreme importance.

“Why don’t you just start? It’ll be okay,” Baxter said softly, his curiosity soaring.

“Really, there are two things. My cousin, Jerimiah, who lost his wife in November last year, was appointed lead poll worker at one of those precincts that’s been in the Crier. He didn’t want to do it but Red came out to his house twice to ask him. You know he’d known Red’s father and had worked elections for 143

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him for years. Well, the stress from the complaints at the county commission and two visits from the FBI were too much. It all caused him to have chest pains and end up in the hospital. Not sure what was going on at that precinct. He still won’t talk about it. Red came out and talked to him after the FBI’s first visit. I can tell he’s still worried about it.”

“Don’t blame him for being worried. The FBI doesn’t mess around. You said that there were two things on your mind,” Baxter said softly.

“They might be connected. The day after the primary election, Red came into the bank and signed into the safety deposit box he and Charles Beauregard had jointly.

“I really was wanting to know what was going on, so I took my time leaving the vault where the safe deposit boxes are,” she said, taking a long drink of iced tea to soothe her nerves and coat a now parched throat.

“Baxter, he dumped out piles of money – lots were $100 bills.

The whole table was covered. I left quickly. He didn’t even notice me. He was too busy emptying the box.

“I only got a quick look as I was leaving the vault. When he came out, he had an old briefcase that was bulging.”

Baxter successfully fought the urge to jump and cheer. He had suspected this for a long time. Red and Charles were making a lot of money off elections and now to have it dumped in his lap was just overwhelming.

“Sally, why are you telling me this?”

“Baxter, it just seems what’s been going on ain’t right. FBI is going around talking to folks. I’m afraid my cousin could be in big trouble.

“I didn’t know what to do, but I knew you would help me out.

What do you think? My name can’t come out,” she pleaded.

“But you want to get the information to the right people so Red and Charles have to pay for this mess,” Baxter asked.

“What do you mean? Will I have to talk with anybody? I just can’t do that, Baxter.”

Baxter knew he had to lay it out for her, blunt and to the point.

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“I can take this to the FBI. I’ll tell them everything you’ve told me. And tell them you don’t want to speak with them. I’m not sure that’ll be good enough. Red and Charles might get away with this if you and your cousin won’t talk to the FBI.” “I just can’t,” Sally said, trembling. “It would just be too much.

But it’d be terrible if they got away with all this. I just don’t know what to do.”

“Sally, I’m off tomorrow. I’ll drive down to Charleston and meet with the federal people and call you tomorrow or early the next day,” Baxter assured as his mother called from the kitchen that she was ready to go home.

“How’d the visit go with Sally?” she asked casually, really wanting to know every detail.

“Oh, we had a good visit. Talked a little about high school and the reunion coming up in the fall,” he reported.

“That’s nice,” she said, remembering how much Baxter was like his late father when it came to keeping things to himself.

When he got home, Baxter took out the card the senior FBI agent left on that last visit.

“The agent picked up on the second ring. Baxter got right to the point.

“I need to see you tomorrow.”

The agent was taken aback by the blunt tone, “I can be in Lawnsville by noon.”

“Absolutely not here. I’ll be there at 9:00. I need the U.S. Attorney to be there – just the three of us,” Baxter instructed.

“I’m not sure that’ll happen. His schedule is always pretty tight,” the agent answered, well aware of his boss’s reluctance to meet with people from outside the office.

“I’ll be there at 7:30, so we can meet before you open up.”

“I’m going to have my boss come to work an hour early tomorrow. So this better be good, or my ass is in big trouble,” the agent responded.

“See you at 7:30,” Baxter responded curtly and quickly hung up.

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39 Two Wrongs Make a Big Right The U.S. Attorney was focused on every word as the investigator took notes. Baxter related there was a lead poll worker from one of the five precincts that might be willing to discuss the plot to cast illegal ballots after the polls closed. Next, he said someone had come to him who saw Red Ball get into a safety deposit box full of cash that probably came from illegal election activities.

Baxter didn’t mention Sally’s name in relating his previous day’s conversation.

“Baxter, these two things, particularly from the poll worker, could very well raise the election-related investigations in Jordan County to an entirely new level. It’s not possible to move forward without me at least having a conversation with that poll worker.

Will you speak with them and explain how important that is?” the federal prosecutor asked.

“I will do it tomorrow if my source can arrange it,” Baxter replied.

The U.S. Attorney continued, “There’s no law against having a safe deposit box full of money. And we cannot get into it without a warrant and having the owner of that box present when we open it. And we’d have to prove it was obtained illegally.”

“The only condition made before my conversation with the source was they did not want to talk with anyone but me about the safety deposit box,” Baxter explained.

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He knew he had to stand his ground, “There are very strong feelings here. Just giving this information about the safety deposit box could result in my source losing a job vital to their family’s wellbeing.”

The federal prosecutor let out an exasperated breath, “We’ll explore the options, but it seems even if they testified, we would have a tough time developing a case on the money. I can’t promise they wouldn’t be called before the grand jury.”

“Without collaboration, I just don’t believe we would have a chance for conviction on that,” the U.S. Attorney offered, concerned he was facing another situation in Jordan County where someone who committed crimes would walk away free.

“Damn, you’ve got to come up with another approach, or these crooks are going to get off scot-free after putting in place a conspiracy to steal an election and accumulating thousands of dollars in election cash,” Baxter added over his shoulder as he slammed the door.

Knowing that some of the information he just got could be the key to bringing down the corrupt Jordan County political dynasty, the U.S. Attorney was certain it would be a stretch, if not impossible, to come up with a case on the money.

But the matter of the conspiracy to cast illegal ballots seemed more promising. The key was for Baxter to convince the person who served as a lead poll worker to talk to federal investigators.

The drive from the state capital back to Lawnsville was difficult for Baxter not because of the winding roads but because it seemed that Red and Charles could very well continue to get away with the decades-long corruption that was Jordan County politics.

Little did he know that the slowing moving state road tractortrailer in front of him carrying a bulldozer he was now cussing could possibly play an important role in the downfall of the oldline’s political empire.

The day following his meeting with the U.S. Attorney, Baxter met with Sally Jones and explained that it would be difficult for federal authorities to make a solid case about the safety deposit box full of money.

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However, the information about election fraud was much more promising.

He carefully explained the U.S. Attorney asked that he (Baxter) talk with her cousin about what Red had asked him to do at the precinct where he was the lead poll worker.

“I’ll go see him tonight and call you tomorrow. He’s still grieving over his loss – they were married more than 50 years.

Not sure how far he wants to go with this,” she said, certain her cousin would not want to get involved.

Jeremiah, in a strong, clear voice, laid it out for her, “Sally, just wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t do all I can about what Red tried to do. He set me and others up at the other four precincts to fix the election, knowing we could have gone to prison if the law found out.

“On top of that, what you saw at the bank-- him with all that money makes it worse. He and Charles made a lot of money and would have probably made a lot more if we had stolen enough votes to win the election,” Jeremiah spewed.

“I’m 78 and don’t know how much more time I have before I’ll be with my beloved Sarah again. I just can’t let this go.

Our family has always supported Red, his father, and even his grandfather. Now, this, it’s too much,” her cousin said in as strong and determined tone Sally had never heard before.

“I’ll bring Baxter to see you tomorrow,” she promised.

Baxter was blunt, “Jeremiah, the U.S. Attorney asked me to tell you how very important your talking to him could be. He needs to know exactly what you did at the precinct and who asked you to do it. He would like to see you as soon as possible.

“I can drive you down to Charleston whenever you say,” Baxter explained, anxious about what the response might be.

“Baxter, this might be one of the most important things I’ve done in my 78 years. I’ll think a bit more about it and maybe ready Friday morning,” Jeremiah said.

On the other end of Jordan County, another who’d been a lead poll worker in another one of the five precincts was having a much harder time with the same situation.

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Without comment, Thomas Dingess listened as the federal investigators laid out what they felt was planned in the precincts that he found uncomfortably close to the truth.

“Did you talk with Red Bell about casting illegal ballots after the polls closed this past primary election day?”

Shaking his head, “I’m not sure I totally understand what you described. But I know enough to know that if I did anything like that, I could go to prison. It’s just not something that I’d be involved in. Red didn’t say anything like that to me,” he said in a low voice.

Undeterred by the denial, the federal investigator pressed,” You do understand I’m giving you an opportunity to tell the truth about what happened, which could significantly reduce any prison time you could face. If someone else comes forth with the truth, you would be facing much more time away from your family.”

Thomas Dingess hadn’t thought about what he faced in such stark terms and was disturbed realizing the precarious situation in which he found himself. Maintaining his confident outward appearance, he stood and said, “I’m sorry, I don’t know anything about that.”

Surprised by the strong confidence of a potential prime witness, the disappointed federal investigator handed over his business card, half-heartedly asked him to call if he thought of anything else and left.

The investigators’ visits to the lead poll workers at the other four precincts resulted in even bleaker prospects for a star witness. And one, Jerimiah Jones, who seemed ready to open, ended up politely asking them to leave his house.

It was Wednesday, and Thomas Dingess would be off to Prayer Meeting with his wife after one of her special dinners. He barely touched his cornbread and beans - one of his favorites – as he thought about the seriousness of the crime he had committed at the precinct and then lying about it to the FBI. “Preacher, please say a special prayer for the Good Lord to give me some extra strength,” he whispered, so his wife wouldn’t hear, to the now worried pastor on the way out of the service.

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After a nearly sleepless night, he called Jeremiah and asked him to go to lunch.

“I’ve supported Red and Charles for more than 30 years, but this is just too much. Red just set us up. There’s no way around it.

But getting up in court is just too much to think about Jeremiah,” Thomas poured out.

“Well, what’s was going on for years is just not right and just got worse with this primary. I just think there comes a time when a man has to do what’s right – that’s the way I see it,” Jeremiah responded.

“I’ll need to pray on it,” Thomas said, finishing his lunch in silence.

After another restless and prayer-filled night, Thomas placed the call to Jeremiah. Given that he was on a party-line, he kept the conversation short, so anyone listening wouldn’t know the substance of his message. “I’m ready to talk.” Four words and a click.

When Baxter drove up in front of Jeremiah’s house at 6:00 a.m. sharp, he was surprised to see another man about the same age as Jeremiah coming down the stone walk toward the car.

“Baxter, this is a friend of mine who was the lead poll worker in one of the other of the five precincts. Do you think the U.S. Attorney would like to talk to him too?” Jeremiah asked almost apologetically.

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem at all, Jeremiah,” Baxter said, knowing the U.S. Attorney might turn cartwheels at having two collaborating witnesses in this nearly unprecedented case.

Upon hearing why Thomas Dingess accompanied Jeremiah Jones, the U.S. Attorney immediately put them in different rooms and assigned investigators to conduct the questioning.

In their separate interviews with federal investigators, Jeremiah Jones and Thomas Dingess laid out what Red Bell had told him was to be done after the polls closed.

“Red told me that after the polls closed, I was to take the poll books and slips and ballots to the rear of the room and cast 75100 ballots for the old-line slate.

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“When I asked Red what if the other poll workers said something, he said not to worry about that. The other poll workers, including the Republicans, would do what I, as lead poll worker, told them to do. In other words, there would be no questions or problems when the illegal ballots were cast,” Jeremiah explained carefully.

“I didn’t let what Baxter’s boys said about the vote count stop me. I took the poll books and ballots to the back and cast 77 votes for our slate.”

“Are you willing to testify to those facts before a grand jury and at the trial?’ the lead investigator asked.

“Absolutely, Red wanted me to do that while he and Charles made all that money. If I had done that election night and you all found out about it, I would have gone to prison. You bet I’ll testify,” Jeremiah said, looking the federal investigator in the eye.

Thomas Dingess comments to investigators mirrored Jeremiah’s.

After meeting with the investigators who conducted the two interviews, the U.S. Attorney met separately with Thomas and Jeremiah. They both confirmed how many votes they cast illegally - Jeremiah 77 and Thomas 80. He explained what he wanted them to do – repeat what they told the investigators to a federal grand jury and then testify at Red’s trial.

Both men agreed solemnly. They had been friends for years and solid old-line supporters. After this Election Day experience and the complaints before the county commission about the appointment of poll workers, the two had talked several times.

In one of those conversations, Jeremiah mentioned his cousin Sally seeing Red take all that money out of the safety deposit box.

Their support for the old-line was based on the tradition of their families feeling that political faction best served Jordan County and its citizens. However, all those feelings disappeared when they realized Red and Charles were using the political power and the hard work of their supporters to line their own pockets.

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U.S. Attorney asked, merely because they wanted to right a wrong that had plagued Jordan County for decades.

The federal prosecutor felt it was important to complete the investigation and get indictments before the General Election to send a message that such activities would not be tolerated.

While their actual words were different in some ways, on the key issue, they related exactly the same thing – Red Bell told both to select the names of 75-100 people who hadn’t voted, mark their names off the poll books, tear off poll slips and mark ballots for the entire old-line slate. Red told both not to worry about the other poll workers - they would all stay in the front of the room. Then after the lead poll workers voted the illegal ballots, the other poll workers would sign the precinct form certifying the count, which would be taken to the courthouse.

But Jerimiah Jones and Thomas Dingess weren’t the only ones from Jordan County to appear before the Federal Grand Jury. All the regular poll workers from the five precincts appeared and testified about the instructions they received from the chairmen of the Jordan County Republican and Democrat executive committees.

Their testimonies matched – they all – Republican and Democrat – were told to do exactly what the lead poll worker said to do and ask no questions. That was at variance with the instructions they received from the county clerk, who discussed the legal responsibilities they each had.

Hearing testimony from the regular poll workers, Jeremiah Jones, and Thomas Dingess, it did not take long for the federal grand jury to return indictments against Red Bell and Elmer Abernathy as well as the against Jeremiah and Thomas for conspiracy to commit voter fraud in the May 10 primary election.

The U.S. Attorney decided to hold the indictments under seal until an advantageous time to serve them and put Joseph Bell, Jr. and Elmer Abernathy under arrest. His thought was a month or so prior to the General Election would send a strong message to those who might be considering any illegal actions to affect the outcome of that election.

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Never imagining they would be facing federal election fraud charges in a few months, these same two Jordan County politicians were hard at work putting in place a scheme for the upcoming General Election.

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40 Fill in the Blank Elmer Abernathy was under pressure about filling the Republican General Election ballot vacancy for the county commission seat. He had been contacted by two Republicans, both members of the County Executive Committee, who expressed an interest in filling the slot.

Unlike Marvin Wood, who Charles and Red preferred, these two had indeed been public supporters of Republican candidates for years and had strongly opposed the old-line. Charles and Red needed to develop a strategy to persuade Elmer to support putting Marvin Wood’s name on the ballot. They weren’t sure that increasing the expected cash incentive would be enough.

“I understand Elmer’s in a bad spot, but neither of those two can win. Marvin is a friend of ours, well known around the county and has an excellent reputation AND, most importantly, can win. It’s really that simple,” Red observed to Charles.

“But Elmer sees the other two as possible threats to his holding on to the County Chairmanship. If he goes against them, they could get together with other committee members and vote him out. He’s worked with us pretty good over the years, so if a new Republican chairman came in, it could cause us problems,” Charles added.

“I wish Joseph still had the Crier. He could do a story on how strong Marvin would be and that would run the other two out of the race,” Red said. “Damn him for selling it.”

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Charles leaned forward smiling, “I got an idea. When Sammy takes over as Governor, he will be filling a lot of state advisory boards for a lot of departments. All have Republican seats. I’ll see what Elmer might be interested in. With the state park here, he might be interested in the Department of Natural Resources Advisory Board. That might be enough to get Elmer to see things our way on the county commission spot on the General Election ballot.”

“That might do it,” Red agreed.

“I’ll give Sammy a call tomorrow,” Charles said, finishing off his lemonade.

“Elmer, it’s important for us to win this county commission seat. You need someone on the ballot that can do that. Marvin Wood is known in the county. He’s served on the hospital board and does business all over. He gives you the best chance to win.

It would be best for the Republican party in the county,” Charles offered, seemingly concerned about the future of Republicans in Jordan County.

Sensing Elmer was not convinced, Charles continued, “When Sammy takes over as Governor, he’ll be appointing people to fill state boards which have both Republican and Democrat seats. I think you would be good on the state park board, seeing how we have one right here in Jordan County.”

“You really think I’d have a chance, Charles?” Elmer said, excited at the prospect.

“I talked to him yesterday and I think he’ll do it,” Charles assured.

“Charles, I just don’t see what I can tell those two to change their minds about running for county commission.”

“Well, Elmer, I got an idea that may work. Just tell them the party doesn’t have any money to put into the campaign and whichever one is put on the ballot must have $10,000 to put into the campaign,” Charles explained.

“Hell, that might do it, Charles. Let me think about it. We have an executive committee meeting next Tuesday. We won’t be voting on filling the ballot, but we could discuss in general terms how to approach it and I can bring up the money thing. I’ll let 155

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you know how it goes,” Elmer said, already enjoying the prospect of being appointed to a state board by the Governor.

“Wanted to talk a little bit about the ballot vacancy for the county commission seat. We don’t have to fill it until the next meeting, but let’s talk a little bit,” Elmer said, opening the meeting of the Jordan County Republican Executive Committee.

Lucy Barnes, who represented the southern part of the county, jumped right in, “I think either Joe or Don here would be good. Both have served on the county committee for years and either one would deserve it.”

Elmer turned to the two, “What do you think?”

“Well, I talked to Don and he’s interested, so I’ll step aside,” Joe Murray offered. “I know it’ll take a lot of time.”

Elmer looked around the room, “it’s not just the time. I really think that given how split the Democrats were in the primary, we could win this county commission seat. It’s been more than 50 years since we had a Republican on the commission. But whoever runs, it’ll take a lot of money and the party just doesn’t have any. I’d say it could take as much as $10,000.”

Using the high figure was part of Elmer’s scheme to scare off Don Brown, who was chomping at the bit to get on the ballot.

Don flinched at the number.

“I just can’t come up with anywhere near that. I’d really like to do it, but that’s just more than I can do. I appreciate your support Lucy, but it’s just too much.”

When Elmer heard that, visions of the appointment by the Governor flashed before his eyes.

“Do we have anybody that might want to take this on?” the county chairman asked, knowing that a response would be forthcoming as the result of a call he’d made that afternoon.

Amy McMillian, who represented the northern part of Jordan County, had not taken part in the discussion up to this point raised her hand, “Maybe Marvin Wood would be interested. I know he hasn’t been real active with the committee, but he’s a solid Republican and well known all over the county and might be willing to put the money into it.”

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“Not sure he’d be interested, but if the rest of you agree, I’ll talk to him,” Elmer offered, deliberately putting some skepticism in his voice.

All the committee members agreed it was a long shot but worth a try.

Given his earlier conversation with Charles, Marvin Wood readily accepted Elmer’s proposal. Members of the committee decided it would be better not to wait until the committee’s next monthly meeting, so a special meeting would be called the following week.

As with other local political candidates, Rick made sure Marvin got the front-page story and picture in the Crier the following week.

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41 Changing Horses Not so Hard When he dropped off his column the day after the announcement, Joseph Ballengee asked Rick Hill what he thought of Marvin’s getting into the county commission race.

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll make it interesting. It should be a real battle, given how split the Democrats were in the primary. And remember Joseph, no mention of him in your column. We don’t want to be seen as taking sides,” Rick explained to the deflated former Crier publisher who had already thought about how he might be able to help Woods’ campaign in his column.

“But he’s done so much,” Joseph said, ready to launch a try at changing Rick’s mind.

“Joseph, no mention of Marvin at all. And nothing about the work of the hospital board either,” Rick said, leaving no chance of a misunderstanding.

“I would like your opinion on a theory I have. Do you think Red and Charles will support Marvin Wood?” the Crier publisher asked, knowing Ballengee was close to the two.

Flattered that Rick asked his opinion on such an important matter, Joseph motioned toward the cubbyhole office.

“I’m not sure they would work with the Republicans on this.

That’s a stretch. It would mean double-crossing the Democrat nominee and make the split with Baxter even wider,” the former Crier publisher offered.

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“Well, keep your ears open. I’d appreciate you letting me know if you hear anything,” Rick asked.

As he got up and headed for the door, Joseph said, “Sure, but don’t expect that will happened,” suspecting Rick would feed any such information to Baxter Edwards.

The next morning just as Rick sat down, the phone rang.

“Marvin Wood is about as much a Republican as I am,” Baxter bellowed.

“My, my, you are a cynic,” Rick responded, chuckling.

“Charles and Red got to Elmer Abernathy and put this thing together. It’s going to get bad. Are you going to cover they did that?” Baxter asked.

“I don’t go with rumors. If your candidate wants to make it a campaign issue with a public statement, that’s one thing, I’ll cover it. But damned if I’m going with street talk,” the Crier publisher said, making his point in no uncertain terms.

“I understand Red asked Joseph Ballengee to meet with Marvin to help put together the campaign. You might want to watch and see if any big changes are made in poll workers for the General Election,” Baxter said in what he knew was a futile effort to get any of this scheming in the Crier without his candidate making a public statement.

“You can bet I’ll be watching the poll worker lists. Otherwise, we’ll just see what happens. Thanks for the call,” Rick said as he hung up.

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42 Hospital Politics Could Make One Sick Marvin Wood didn’t resign the chairmanship of the county hospital board when he announced his candidacy for county commission. He explained he felt the board chairmanship was a commitment to the people and he didn’t want to fail to fulfill that commitment.

Initially, that decision sounded reasonable, but on further examination, many out in the county silently thought not. The hospital was second only to the school system in Jordan County for the number of employees who, with their families, could have a significant influence in the general election. But the hospitalrelated influence could be much more.

Hospital Administrator Will LeMasters, a behind-the-scenes old-line supporter, maneuvered the hospital’s finances so Marvin Wood, as hospital board chairman, was able to propose a general salary increase for hospital employees during the election campaign.

Given it had been several years since such an overall increase, it was something that Baxter, also a hospital board member, couldn’t oppose despite the fact it was an obvious move to make Wood look good right before Election Day. To offset the positive impact of the payroll move, Baxter decided to encourage Joe Ed Green to make the hospital’s use of a collection agency to go after those who couldn’t keep up with their hospital bills an issue in his campaign.

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Green had wanted to make it an issue ever since Marvin Wood got into the race for county commission, but Baxter was reluctant to drag the hospital into a political campaign. But an issue it became once Baxter saw Marvin Wood use the hospital employee pay raise in the campaign.

Rick Hill’s revised and re-ran a front-page editorial he had written when the collection issue first became public. The Crier publisher didn’t question the need for the hospital to collect its bills, but rather the poor judgment of allowing hospital employees to accept the free beach vacations from the private collection agency for managing the process.

The hardest-hitting part of the new editorial dealt with the fact that while the free vacations were discontinued after they were revealed in the Crier story, special bonuses (which matched the value of the vacations) were given to the billing department employees who implemented the collection policy.

Rick was incensed about the bonuses because the hospital administrator had told him with great flourish that he (the administrator) had stopped hospital employees from taking the free vacations from the collection agency.

The information about the bonuses came to the community news editor from a neighbor whose daughter worked in the hospital’s payroll office and had seen the checks for the bonuses.

From the reactions of the route drivers, Rick realized the collection issue was still a sore point to many Jordan County residents. The issue would get additional attention during the campaign.

Joe Ed Green used full-page Crier ads featuring pictures of the plush Myrtle Beach hotels where hospital employees spent those free vacations, as well as mock-ups of the bonus checks. Marvin Wood responded with full-page ads showing improvements to the hospital and the pay increase, noting the number of employees and how much the payroll raised put into the pockets of county families.

Baxter realized there were many more hospital employees than there were people who had been turned over to the collection agency. He was hoping the free vacations and bonuses 161

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given to hospital employees might turn the issue in Green’s favor.

But the combination of the near-unanimous vote of Jordan County Republicans combined with a strong turnout of oldline supporters could well elect Marvin Wood and keep Red and Charles in control of a major element of Jordan County government.

162

43 Doing Same Things Won’t Get It Done Joe Ed Green understood the challenge he faced. So, he decided to make a call that very few if any Jordan County reform candidates had ever made seeking the support from Jordan County’s blacks. Sitting across from Eleanor Dowling and her son Jim, Joe Ed just laid it out there.

“I’m being opposed by those who were behind the crime that nearly killed your son. I’m not well known by you all. I’m god-fearing, fair, and honest. I would appreciate it if you would support me,” he concluded, watching anxiously for the response.

“I’ve lived in Lawnsville all my life – nearly 70 years. This is the first time any candidate for any office has come to our home.

I’ve heard of you and never heard a bad word said about you. Not sure what I’ll do - if anything in this election. James here is still recovering and that’s my first concern,” Eleanor said.

Jim Dowling turned toward the candidate, “Mr. Green, we do appreciate your coming to see us. We understand that what happened to me had to do with politics in some ways. As my mother said, we’ve got a lot on our plate. But we will consider what you’ve asked.”

As he left the house, Joe Ed wasn’t sure if the visit would help his election chances. But he felt it was the right thing to do. And so was his next stop.

Eva set the tray with cookies and a teapot between them and sat waiting for what her former student had to say.

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“Mrs. Newland, this is the first time I have ever run for office.

I’ve been around campaigns and helped out over the years, but nothing like this. Things have gotten so bad that I decided it was time to put up or shut up. I hope you’ll help me. You can be sure that I’ll support the school board as much as I can. It’s going to be tough for me. The other side is putting together a really tough campaign with a lot of money. I don’t have any to spend. Just have to depend on folks seeing me as honest,” Bill Joe concluded.

“Well, Joseph, once a teacher, always a teacher, I haven’t been involved in an election for a long time. Just too old,” she said, not willing to acknowledge her role in the primary that helped elect a new school board majority.

“My friends and I are just too old to do much in the way of campaigning. We are barely able to make it to the polls on Election Day. We do realize it’s important for the county commission to support the efforts of the school board to improve our schools.

It’s nice to know how you feel in that regard. I appreciate your coming by,” the retired teacher said, already devising a plan to revive the Golden Caravan in November.

Again, Joe Ed Green left the meeting not sure he’d done any good for his campaign. But he did feel visiting with Eva was the right thing to do. He was certain the old-line would try everything they could – legal and illegal – to defeat him.

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44 It At First You Don’t Succeed…

“Red, the old poll workers in those five precincts have been after me. I told them it was up to the county chairmen, but they still blame me for what happened in the primary,” the county clerk told Red. “Well, Ruby, it’s important we keep the same ones we had in the primary, or it’ll seem like there was something to hide the last time. We don’t want that to happen. As County Democrat Chairman, I’ll take the heat on this. If anybody gives you grief, have them call me. I think Elmer will too. Would that help?’

“Oh, Red, that would be great. Some of the calls I’ve received are just bad. They’ve accused me of everything. So, I appreciate you doing that,” the relieved county clerk said.

In his visits a few days ago to the lead poll workers from the five precincts, Red found that two – Jeremiah Jones and Thomas Dingess - did not want to serve in the General Election. They both said it was because of all the complaints to the county commission meeting and related stories in the Crier.

In what would prove to be a serious mistake, Red didn’t pick up how troubled the two were and didn’t dig deeper as to why the two didn’t want to work the precincts - he already had replacements in mind.

The other three lead poll workers were ready and willing to not only serve but were all set to implement the earlier primary election plan to cast illegal ballots after the polls closed. They 165

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even discussed a new way to steal votes. After the polls closed, they would open the ballot boxes, remove ballots cast for Joe Ed Green and replace them with ones marked for Marvin Wood – the Republican candidate. That way, the total vote count would remain the same in case Baxter’s reformers monitored the final figures reported to the courthouse.

Red and Charles had agreed a “fix” inside the five precincts could be critical to Marvin Wood winning the county commission seat and the old-line maintaining a degree of political control in Jordan County. They were optimistic but wanted some Election Day insurance.

Marvin Wood had upped his campaign budget to $12,000 with even more possible. Then Sammy Monroe, their close friend and Democrat nominee for Governor, was sending along at least that much, and other statewide candidates would ante up appropriately, so the two were assured they would have enough election cash to fund a strong precinct organization with a significant sum left over to line their pockets.

Red and Charles were confident of a win for the commission seat – Elmer Abernathy was putting together an organization in at least half of the county’s 30 precincts, something that hadn’t been done by the Jordan County Republicans in anyone’s memory. On top of that, Red was getting the old-line organization ready to make one of the strongest General Election efforts in years.

Because of the heavy Democrat registration in Jordan County, the old-line focused on primary elections to get its board of education candidates elected and their other candidates nominated for the county offices to secure the party’s nomination for the General Election.

Normally the old-line spent very little in the General Election campaigns for local offices. They did a bit for the statewide races to show those candidates that the old-line still controlled Jordan and the surrounding counties. All to justify what they ask the statewide candidates to contribute for “organizational expenses” in the General Election campaigns. Red and Charles would spend more on this General Election because of the importance of electing Marvin Wood to the county commission.

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When the Crier story revealed, with only two exceptions, the same poll workers appointed for the General Election in the five precincts were the same ones appointed for the primary, the U.S. Attorney decided to unseal the indictments he had secured months ago against Joseph “Red” Bell, Jr. and Elmer Abernathy.

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45 A Full Empty Bowl? Look Again To Red and Charles, it seemed the U.S. Attorney had come up empty-handed in the voter fraud investigation several months ago. Charles learned from his friend, who had contacts in the federal courthouse, that nearly 39 witnesses were called before the grand jury investigating voter fraud in Jordan County. But there were no indications that any indictments had been returned. In fact, the friend said the word around the federal courthouse was that the U.S. Attorney’s office was very disappointed with the results of the investigation.

Red knew all the lower ranking poll workers from those five precincts had testified before a federal grand jury several months ago but dismissed its importance since no indictments had been announced. Also, right after the grand jury, Red talked to several of those called before the grand jury and they said they were only asked about a conversation they had had with Red about what to do at the precinct.

So, the two political kingpins felt their plan for voter fraud could be implemented in the general election with no worries.

While Marvin Wood was campaigning hard throughout the county, the two knew the “extra” 400 to 500 votes from those five precincts could ensure his victory and maintain a major portion of their control of county government.

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Rick was writing a story about an uneventful board of education meeting when the phone interrupted.

“You might want to pick up your cleaning and also have one of your staff members at Doctor Green’s office on Second Avenue in about 15 minutes,” the Public Information Officer for the U.S. Attorney said before he hung up.

Not sure what was going on, but certain the Crier had to be at both places, Rick ran for a camera and headed toward the cleaners. He told Al to get a camera and head to Doctor Green’s office, “now.”

As he turned the corner, Rick saw a dark four-door sedan stop in front of the cleaners and three FBI-types get out and headed into Red Bell’s business.

Rick had the camera ready as a smiling Red Bell was led out in handcuffs, shaking his head. One of the agents handed Rick a copy of the indictment.

“What’s going on, Red?” Rick asked, not believing what was happening. The agents stopped allowing Red to respond.

“They are charging me with voter fraud conspiracy when no votes were stolen. Big mistake, Rick,” Red said smiling as he was led to the car for the trip to a federal magistrate in Charleston.

Al was in front of Doc Green’s office when federal agents brought out Elmer Abernathy in handcuffs.

“What this for Elmer?” Al asked.

“Something about the primary election. But we didn’t have any candidates, so it must be a mistake,” he mumbled as he was put in the car by one of the agents who handed Al a copy of the indictment.

“Holy shit,” Al said to Rick when they returned to the Crier office.

Rick sat down to read the indictments when the phone rang.

“Is it true about Red?” the Jordan County Sheriff asked.

“It is. They also arrested Elmer Abernathy up at Doc Brown’s office. I’m still reading the indictments. But it seems like they are charged in connection to conspiracy to cast illegal votes after two precincts closed in the primary election. Jeremiah Jones and Thomas Dingess are also charged. They were the lead poll 169

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workers in two of the five precincts that caused so much trouble.

Have to get to work on the story.”

Since the arrests took place at businesses on Lawnsville’s main street, it was all over town instantly. Since Rick and Al had the only copies in town of the indictments, factual details were lacking, but that didn’t stop the gossip network.

“It was because Red took all that money from the Kennedy campaign,” said one report.

“He got caught buying votes at east end precinct was another.

Elmer told the Republican poll workers to not say anything when they saw votes being brought.”

Rick was hidden away in his cubby-hole office working on the story when Al burst in unannounced with pictures of Red and Elmer in handcuffs.

“I just can’t believe this,” Al said, looking over Rick’s shoulder, trying to get the details.

Bell, Abernathy Charged with Conspiracy To Commit Voter Fraud in May Primary When the paper hit the streets, the line stretched from the Crier front counter, out the door, and halfway down the block— surpassing the reaction to any of the other stories in Rick’s time as Crier publisher. The extra 200 papers Al had printed were gone in less than 30 minutes. The carrier that sold the Crier at the courthouse came back three times for more papers.

The charges included bribery of election officials (since Red had promised a bonus if old-line candidates carried the precincts) in addition to those related to the conspiracy to cast ballots after the polls had closed. Since federal offices were on the ballot, these were all federal charges. It was expected that state charges would follow. The Crier story noted the election tampering charge carried a 2 to 10 year sentence while the bribery charge sentence could be up to five years.

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hand, had only told the Republican poll workers to do exactly what the lead poll worker told them to do.

While the U.S. Attorney knew the trials would not take place until after the General Election, he felt the arrests alone would send a strong message that might well prevent voter fraud in the upcoming General Election.

“Are you sure?” Charles asked Joseph Ballengee, whose call had informed him of Red’s and Elmer’s arrests. “This just can’t be.”

“I was right in front of the cleaners when they brought Red out in handcuffs,” Joseph continued.

After the call, Charles immediately called his friend in Charleston and arranged for a lawyer to be at Red’s arraignment so bail could be posted immediately.

Charles didn’t connect Red’s arrest with the fact that two lead poll workers of the five involved in their primary scheme had declined to serve in the General Election.

Under oath, each of the regular poll workers (Republican and Democrat) separately testified Elmer and Red had told them to do exactly what the lead poll worker instructed and not ask any questions. One went further, “When I asked what if what they said was different than what the county clerk told us to do, Red said ‘she won’t be there’ do what the lead poll worker says.”

Since Red’s trial wouldn’t be until well after the General Election, Charles felt the arrest of his fellow kingmaker would not hurt the old-line effort to elect Marvin Wood. He was certain when combined with the solid Republican turnout, the old-line’s strong precinct organization, and the plan for the five precincts would bring victory.

In addition, he and Red were confident the combination of the two families in opposite ends of the county, the black community and the Golden Caravan of retired school employees, which contributed to the old-line primary defeat, would not be factors in the General Election. Edward Whitmore wouldn’t have an impact either – the disgraced former board of education president would quietly plead guilty in the teacher beating case.

So they didn’t have to worry about a repeat of his stupid pre171

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primary political statements and actions that significantly hurt the old-line’s slate in the primary.

Likewise, Wayne Adkins’s public profile would be all but invisible since his trials for attempted murder charges in the Crier fire and roadblock cases, as well as charges for beating the Crier publisher, would be well after the General Election.

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46 A Secret Trial That Isn’t Charles picked up his phone to dial the Jordan County prosecuting attorney’s office to make sure Edward Whitmore’s pleading was on track to be done before the general election.

About two days later, the clanging of his phone interrupted Rick Hill’s pondering the mayor’s legal problems.

“Edward Whitmore is in the courthouse – think the judge might be there too,” the creaking voice of his ace 85-year old anonymous ace reporter said in her unique, quaint tone that always brought a smile to his face. Then the click.

The Crier publisher rushed out of his office, grabbed a camera, and called for Al and the community news editor to do the same.

His plan was to have a camera at the courthouse’s front and back entrances while he went up to check out the courtroom.

He wanted to make sure Edward couldn’t be sneaked out of the courthouse without a Crier staffer getting a picture of him in handcuffs.

Rick wasn’t surprised Eddy Bill hadn’t called him, given the sheriff ’s lifelong friendship with Edward.

Edward’s loyal and long-suffering wife, Lucille, was in the front row of the nearly deserted courtroom as Edward and his lawyer stood before the judge who motioned for Rick to come up the aisle. The jurist’s hand went up when Rick raised his camera.

The procedure was swift – the judge asked if Edward understood the charges and after the response gave the sentence of 1-5 years in the state minimum-security prison at Huttonsville.

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As Rick followed, the two state policemen stood back as Edward’s sobbing wife took his arm, and then they led the former Jordan County Board of Education president to the sheriff ’s office and took off the handcuffs. Eddy Bill gave Edward a hug, stepped back, and motioned the couple into his private office.

Lucille followed Edward into the office the sheriff had vacated to allow the couple to have a personal goodbye before the troopers took him on the nearly three-hour drive to the state prison. Rick remained in the hallway. He entered the sheriff ’s office after the two officers led Edward away and Lucille left with her sister by another entrance.

Belinda “Billy” Amherst, the Crier community news editor, got several page-one pictures as Edward was led out the courthouse backdoor in handcuffs.

“Tough day,” Rick said as he entered the sheriff ’s office.

“I feel so sorry for Lucille and the kids. Edward just lost his way. This is just terrible.” Eddy Bill said, sinking deeper into this plush leather chair.

“How long do you think he’ll serve?” Rick inquired.

“At least a year, maybe two. Her arm is permanently paralyzed.

She’s lucky it wasn’t worse. No telling what would have happened if her neighbors hadn’t broken down the door.”

Edward’s plea eliminated a messy trial in the Jordan County Courthouse during the general election campaign. In their cocoon of self-delusion, Red and Charles’ arrogance had convinced them their decades-long hold on a significant portion of political power in Jordan County was assured with the behindthe-scenes alliance with the Jordan County Republicans.

One thing lacking in their analysis was a clear understanding of the deep-seated sense of betrayal that, in the last primary election, had moved the people of Jordan County to say “enough” and repudiate the old-line’s decades-long political dominance.

There was no doubt the election would be close to fill the county commission seat.

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47 Not Seeing What’s There The rancor that was part of the primary election campaign was gone.

Red’s General Election planning committee was reporting less opposition as they went door-to-door across the county.

It seemed, to them, there was a “return to the fold” movement among old-line supporters. Only two mentioned they had heard anything about the hospital’s aggressive bill collection policy, or the questionable vacations/bonuses given to hospital employees implementing the policy. Red assumed that meant the issue was dead as a campaign issue.

But reality was far different. Joe Ed Green and his reform supporters found receptive voters as they hammered on the issue in the thousands of in-home visits they were making in every corner of Jordan County.

And there was a big difference in the lead up to this General Election that hadn’t been present in any General Election in Jordan County for at least 25 years - Crier coverage was balanced, surprising political observers on both sides of this campaign.

Old-line supporters were sure the coverage would be tilted to favor Joe Ed Green. Many in Baxter’s faction expected to see the same thing, not understanding Rick Hill was not their “Joseph Ballengee.” In fact, each candidate had complained directly to the Crier publisher about what they considered unfair coverage of their respective campaign.

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Taking great comfort, Rick smiling thought, we must be doing a pretty good job if both sides are pissed off.

To get a feel for how the campaigns were going out in the county, Rick visited with some of his route drivers. He did it individually in his small office, knowing they were more likely to speak frankly without others listening.

“It’s a bit strange. Hardly any of my friends who support the old-line are mentioning Joe Ed Green. Only a few even have his signs in their yards. Now all of Baxter’s people have Joe Ed signs all over the place. Another thing, we only have a few Republicans out our way, but they all have Marvin Wood signs all over the place. It’s just strange,” the route driver who covered the route in the northern part of the county reported.

That mirrored what Rick got from the route drivers in the other parts of the county. He remembered his conversation with Baxter right after the primary. “Rick, Red and Charles will throw in with Abernathy, put someone close to the old-line in the Republican slot for the county commission seat and come together.”

Shaking his head, Rick remembered laughing Baxter out of his office. Now, upon reflection, Rick realized Baxter’s premonition was right on target.

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48 If Everybody’s Mad; Doing Something Right The Crier publisher felt enough people had come to him with comments about the campaign for the country commission seat that he could go with a column about it. He took great care to keep it candidate neutral.

“Since the May Primary Election, a number of Jordan County political observers from all sections of the county– both Democrat and Republican – have come to this writer with the same observation. Given the heated primary campaigns, I found it strange that those with differing political positions on almost everything could have the same opinion on anything political.

BUT it has happened.

“People on both sides believe that after a bruising primary campaign where the old-line incumbent candidate for county commission Bill Joe Hamrick lost to Joe Ed Green, many of Hamrick’s supporters will be supporting Marvin Wood – the Republican candidate – in the General Election.

“Republicans who have expressed an opinion to the Crier are delighted at the prospect of having the first Republican in 50 years on the Jordan County Commission.

“Both Red Ball, the Jordan County Democrat Executive Committee Chairman, and Elmer Abernathy, the Republican County Chairman, strongly deny any such cooperative effort.

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Both strongly endorsed their respective party nominees for the county commission seat. But the rumor persists.

“People from out in the county reported to the Crier that signs for Joe Ed Green were rare in the front yards of normally devoted old-line supporters. They claim that’s an almost ironclad confirmation the cooperative rumor is true.

“Republicans are united in their push for Marvin Wood’s candidacy and seem eager to have the old-line support.

“Indeed, this is an epic campaign in the colorful annals of Jordan County political history.”

Hamrick, the Democrat incumbent, defeated by Green in the primary, refused to comment when asked who he was supporting.

“Let the people decide,” he curtly told Rick Hill.

Rick didn’t believe his short opinion column on the editorial page would change anybody’s vote. But he did feel it served two very important purposes. First, it provided some insight into the behind-the-scenes political maneuverings of the Jordan County political apparatus. Second, it got people thinking and talking across the county. Both, the Crier publisher thought, fulfilled an essential responsibility of a newspaper – informing its readers in an objective manner about pubic issues no matter how controversial in an objective manner.

The last sentence of his column offered representatives of both county political parties space on the editorial page to take issue with the thoughts he expressed.

Neither Red nor Elmer took Rick Hill up on the offer – but a lot of others did - using words like – “stupid,” “far out,” “out of touch.” Further, supporters of both candidates continued to accuse the Crier publisher of trying to help the campaign of the other candidate.

Ads from each candidate resulted from Rick Hill’s column – Joe Ed Green reminded voters he had won a hard-fought Democrat primary, noted his community service, and hit Marvin Wood on the hospital’s heavy-handed collection policy.

Marvin Wood’s ad focused solely on his considerable community service, including the hospital board, and reputation as a fair and successful businessman.

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49 Following the Money – Finds Empty Pocket The unknown factor was whether the strong anti-old-line feeling from the primary would carry over into the General Election. Red and Charles were confident of their Golden Rule of Politics – money, money, and more money bringing the win.

Baxter’s main concern was, without the heated campaigns for the Board of Education, whether his reform would turn out for the General Election as they did for the primary.

At all his election war committee meetings, Red emphasized to his district captains that attention needed to be given to getting their voters out, with emphasis on those who hadn’t voted in the primary. He increased the vote-buying budgets for the seven precincts where the practice flourished and arranged for an additional car to haul voters in all 30 Jordan County precincts.

With the two exceptions, for the General Election, Red and Elmer kept all the poll workers who worked the primary at the five precincts where the vote-stealing scheme was planned. The only changes were for the replacements for the two-lead primary election poll workers who mysteriously declined to work the General Election.

After the last meeting of his war committee before the general election, Red was very optimistic. Given how hard the old-line had campaigned against Joe Ed Green in the primary, the solid old-line supporters had little problem going with Marvin Wood. There wasn’t as much negative reaction to Wood 179

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being a Republican as Red and Charles had expected. Only two of the eight on the committee said some folks were mad about the hospital’s bill collection policy. Red missed the fact that all the others shook their heads in agreement indicating the subject was still an issue across the county.

Red asked if they got any questions about his being indicted for voter fraud. All said they got such questions. When Red pressed, they added people were satisfied when told the indictments resulted from the complaints made to the county commission by those not hired as poll workers for the primary.

Also, folks accepted the premise the charges would be dropped after the General Election. Red was satisfied the made-up answer he had given them had worked.

Red didn’t think it was strange that not one of his election war committee mentioned anything about the people’s reaction to the Crier fire and roadblock trial verdicts or the indictment of the mayor (who the public saw as an old-line leader) as a coconspirator in both. He and Charles just assumed the people had forgotten about the connection of the mayor to the old line.

As Rick Hill pondered the coming General Election, he reviewed the role of the three groups that were responsible for the old-line primary election defeats – the Golden Caravan, the Marcum and Hammer families, and the solidarity of the county’s small black community. “They won’t be there this time – at least with nowhere near the influence, they were in the primary. It just won’t happen,” he concluded.

The clanging of his phone ended Rick’s pondering.

“Well, how do you size this one up,” Baxter asked without any small talk.

“I don’t see how Marvin Wood can lose,” came the publisher’s response. “What do you think?”

“This is even stranger than the primary. Hardly anyone has mentioned the fire and roadblock convictions or the indictment of the mayor or the arrests of Red and Elmer Abernathy,” Baxter said.

“A lot are talking about the hospital collection policy. But you’d hardly know there was a General Election,” Baxter added.

“I don’t know if that’s enough to get them out to vote. One thing 180

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that is the same as the primary – the people are referring to stories in the Crier. Not so much about the trials, but that column you wrote about the county commission race got their attention.”

Rick agreed, “I got the idea my column did get some discussion going. There were a number of letters to the editor. I’ll tell you some had such language we couldn’t print them. Some people were really mad – both sides said I was helping the other candidate.

“What do you hear out in the county, Baxter?”

“It’s as quiet as I’ve ever seen a General Election. Not sure we can get Bill Joe elected. We just have to keep working. We spent all our money in the primary on the board races. So, we’re depending solely on volunteer help for the General Election.

We’ve asked people to volunteer their cars and pay for their own gas,” Baxter concluded.

It was Thursday, and the Crier had returned to its pre-fire five-day-a-week schedule - so only two more Crier issues before Election Day. A few ads had come in for the Governor and Attorney General races in addition to the county commission race. Nowhere near as much advertising as with the primary with the board and presidential campaigns.

“Come in,” he responded to the knock. It was Joe Ed Green with some material to put together full-page ads for tomorrow’s and Monday’s paper.

The other was one along the lines Baxter had just mention – finish the job. It mentioned the terrible record of the board of education under Edward’s old-line-backed leadership. It noted the county money being in non-interest-bearing accounts and the vote against funding for lifeguards at the 4-H camp that closed the swimming pool for hundreds of Jordan County 4-H campers.

As usual, the candidate paid in cash, thanked Rick, and left.

About thirty minutes later, Marvin Wood came in and paid to run his standard full-page ad twice - in Friday’s and Monday’s Crier – again, the candidate counted out the cash payment. That was in keeping with Rick’s firm belief – “losers have short memories and don’t pay for ads after an election. It’s cash up front.”

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50 Rounding the Turn Hot County Commission Race Coming Right Down to Wire Rick’s balanced lead Crier story for the Friday before the General Election reviewed the county commission race with particular attention to the specific issues raised by both candidates.

The portion of the story that talked about Joe Ed Green’s charges against Marvin Wood over the hospital collection policy included mention of the free vacations and bonuses given to hospital employees implementing that policy. In addition, Joe Ed told Rick that the “kick the rascals out” feeling remained strong among Jordan County voters and would carry him to victory.

Making sure to be fair, Rick included Wood’s statements on progress, including the recent pay raise the hospital had made while he had served as board chairman and the call for a change in the political make-up of the county commission. “After 50 years, it’s time to have a Republican on there,” the two-faced, behind-the-scenes old-line supporter said.

Interviews were included with both county party chairmen – who said they were working as hard as possible to elect their party’s nominee. Rick Hill didn’t believe Red Bell, so he took great care to put all of his comments on the subject in quotes.

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Of the 50+ letters to the editor published in the Crier since the primary supporting one or the other county commission candidates, not one supporting Joe Ed Green – the Democrat nominee - came from a known old-line supporter. Rick felt that gave credence to his feeling the old-line had a clandestine alliance with county Republicans. That was the main reason Rick was certain Marvin Wood would be the next member of the Jordan County Commission.

The lead story on Monday – the day before Election Day – emphasized the importance of the county commission and listed its powers which included some degree of control over every operation of county government – including the Board of Education. It noted the spirited campaign for the office confirmed its importance.

An accompanying front-page editorial remarked everyone was equal at the ballot box with one vote and urged all citizens to vote. It also opined that people who don’t vote really don’t have any right to complain after the election if they don’t like the actions of those elected.

Unlike other years, Red had two meetings – not just one with the “specialists” (aka vote buyers) instead of the normal one the Sunday before Election Day. In the meeting early the week before Election Day, he emphasized they needed to personally contact their normal “buys” before Election Day and make sure they made it to the polls.

“We need an extra push because we need every vote we can get. I’ve upped all your buy goals by 20 to 25 votes per precinct and added a $50 bonus if we carry your precinct for Marvin Wood. Also, you’ll have an extra car at each of your precincts.

We want to get every vote out.”

At the Sunday meeting, each of the “specialists” reported they made the calls urged in the earlier meeting and were certain they would surpass the ambitious goal Red had set. Combined with the plan set for those same five precincts targeted in the primary, Red estimated the illegal votes the old-line would get would be about 1,200 (assuming the bought votes stayed bought and didn’t change once inside the voting booth). His confidence in Marvin Wood’s election was high. His tea with Eva added to that feeling.

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Eva let both Baxter and Red know in their separate pregeneral election teatimes, she would not be doing anything other than voting. She did not even get up from her rocking chair after their visits, confirming their feeling her health was continuing to deteriorate.

“We did a little in the primary, but even that fell flat since a lot didn’t even show up to help,” she explained - careful not to say anything that would confirm their suspicions about her role in the Golden Caravan that appeared at every Jordan County precinct in the primary.

She quickly changed the subject and inquired of both men about how their families were doing. The two meetings were pleasant, but both Red and Baxter noticed that Eva seemed even more feeble than they had remembered.

The crafty 81-year old retired teacher was at her evasive best in those two visits – and had both Red and Baxter convinced that the Golden Caravan would not roll in the General Election.

In reality, Eva was even more forceful in the effort for this election. She motivated those who drove in the primary by saying two things, “if we don’t have the county commission to help, the board wins won’t mean much,” followed by “this’ll be my last one.” Only two who drove in the primary didn’t respond positively. But Eva wasn’t the only one working to duplicate primary election efforts.

Ed Marcum and his beloved wife, Esther, made good on their promise to make visits up on Longview Creek and the home of the Hammer patriarch and Emma, his bride of 50-plus years.

Both agreed the frequent visits had been too long in coming.

Since that first meeting right after the primary, they had begun to do business again – cattle, sheep, and some crops.

“This is just right – as it should be,” both agreed. Those few people outside the two families who did know of the reconciliation had no idea what had brought the two patriarchs together again.

But to most, the feud was still going.

While many of their conversations were about their business dealings, now a week or so before General Election Day, Big Ed Marcum asked Basil Hammer, “what do you hear about the election?”

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That started a frank discussion that recalled the double-cross both suffered in the primary campaign. While not discussing either candidate for county commission, both agreed that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for those candidates tied to the old line to regain either one’s trust again.

Then they discussed the Crier editorial about the possible old-line-Republican behind-the-scenes collusion.

“Seems Red and Charles are trying to pull something again this time,” Basil Hammer offered. He related a conversation he had with an old-line supporter who bought some hay just the week before.

“He’s been old-line for 30 years and he was talking up Marvin Wood. It seems Charles and Red have thrown in with Elmer Abernathy. Gotta watch those two every minute,” Ed Marcum said. Then the two agreed that to keep Red and Charles’ precinct captains off-balance on Election Day. They would have their families go to the polls late afternoon and early evening rather than their normal early morning voting time.

“They will think we’re not going vote as heavy as we did in the primary,” Basil chuckled.

Now the two were more than ready to turn to a much more enjoyable subject - the antics and accomplishments of their combined 25 grandchildren.

And following the practice at their last visit at the Marcum home place, the two managed to go out to the towering Hammer barn to sample some of that family’s legendary moonshine recipe. “Ah, that should keep us going for a while,” Ed Marcum chuckled.

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51 Down the Stretch As the polls opened, Rick was at the Lawnsville precinct that had the reputation for vote-buying. Old Sheriff Brown was hard at work shaking hands with many as they came out of the precinct after voting. Rick was sure those on the receiving end of the handshake were getting cash for their vote.

He didn’t bother to bring a camera along as he did primary Election Day. He just wanted to confirm this Jordan County tradition of vote-buying was alive and flourishing this General Election Day. And it was.

As he returned to the Crier office-in-exile, he wondered if the primary upheaval would repeat itself or would this precinct return to its historical rule of bending to the old-line’s Golden Rule of Politics – money, money, and more money. Or would these folks take the General Election Day cash and then vote against the old-line as they had in the primary.

Just as Rick settled into his creaky office chair, Joseph Ballengee came by to drop off his column – about five hours earlier than normal, the present Crier publisher noted.

“How’s the election looking, Rick?”

“Haven’t heard a word. Has anybody told you FBI agents are in the county today?” Rick asked to gauge the former publisher’s reaction.

“No, No, are they here?” Ballengee asked in near panic.

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“Don’t know, but with Red and Elmer’s indictments seems like they might be nosing around,” Rick answered, delighted to see his predecessor’s harried reaction.

“Sorry, I don’t have time to visit,” Joseph said as he made a hurried departure.

“Red, has anyone called about seeing any FBI people out in the county?” the former publisher asked as he burst into the cleaners.

“No, only calls I’ve gotten is about the turnout – it seems to be heavy, maybe even as much as the primary, in our strongest precincts,” Red responded, “Why? What’s up?”

“Just dropped my column off at the Crier and Rick Hill asked if I’d heard anything about FBI agents being around today. He said since your and Elmer’s indictments, it just seems natural the U.S. Attorney would have sent some down here for Election Day. I’ll stop back by the paper this afternoon and see if he says anything else.”

Red was reaching for the phone as Ballengee left the cleaners.

He told Charles about the conversation and suggested he call his friend with contacts in the Federal courthouse in the state capital. “Damn, this could cost us,” Charles said in a rare use of profanity. “I’ll get right back to you.”

“Our friend said the only thing he picked up was that the FBI has a team in the Wheeling area. They were sent in yesterday to check on reports of Election Day irregularities planned in three different counties. I’m here at Sammy’s headquarters and he says his people up there have noticed some FBI types up there at several precincts and county clerk’s offices,” Charles said.

Red relaxed. “That’s good news. They don’t have enough agents in the Charleston office to watch the whole state. Turnout here is good. Folks calling in say it’s almost as heavy as the primary in most precincts. Another thing we can be happy about, the vote is really down in the six precincts controlled by the Hammer and Marcum families. That’ll sure take a lot of votes away from Bill Joe. I’ll call you back after noon.”

Red and Charles both assumed that any FBI agents operating in the northern West Virginia counties came from the agency’s 187

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small state office in Charleston. Being from the far southern end of the state, they didn’t realize Wheeling was only 30 minutes or so from a larger regional FBI office in Pittsburgh.

That wasn’t the only Election Day mistake Red made.

He didn’t think it was significant enough to mention to Charles that two of his precinct captains mentioned a steady stream of retired school employees again driving older voters to the polls since none of the other precinct captains had mentioned it.

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52 Race Goes Past Finish Line – Hits Wall At the five precincts targeted by Red and Elmer Abernathy for election fraud in the primary, all the regular poll workers had again committed to the plan that would allow the casting of illegal ballots after the polls closed. “Do what the lead poll worker says to do,” Red and Elmer again had instructed.

“The plan this time was for the lead poll worker in each precinct to take the ballot boxes to the back of the room, open it and remove 75-100 ballots marked for Joe Ed Green and replace them with ones they had marked for Marvin Wood.

After an early September meeting with Red, the county clerk reluctantly agreed to make a “mistake” and send an extra 100 ballots to each of the five targeted precincts with the election materials so the ballot switch would not affect the number of unused ballots returned to the courthouse with the final vote tallies. That way, the number of ballots cast and the number returned to the courthouse would equal the number the records showed were sent to the precincts originally with the voter books and other election material.

This was all accomplished by the county clerk making an “innocent mistake” and ordering an extra 500 ballots from the ballot printing company. Each of the lead poll workers would put the ballots removed from the ballot boxes in a briefcase each carried, take them home, and burn them.

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Actually, this plan was less cumbersome than casting ballots for those who hadn’t shown up to vote because the lead poll worker didn’t have to sign the poll books for each of the “noshows” for whom they cast illegal ballots.

Joseph Ballengee stopped back by the Crier office about 1:00 p.m., saying there was something he wanted to check in the column he had dropped off earlier. Rick didn’t remember any other time Joseph had to check a column after turning it in.

“Wonder if it being Election Day had anything to do with that,” he chuckled to himself.

“Anything new on the election?” the former Crier publisher asked.

“Folks are calling in saying turnout about as heavy as the primary. No one has mentioned seeing anyone that looks like the FBI. Maybe what I heard was just plain wrong,” Rick said.

“Maybe the U.S. Attorney just thinks the indictments for voter fraud might just scare anyone from doing anything in the General Election.”

“That’s more than likely true,” Ballengee said, relieved as he hurried toward the door.

“Red, Rick said none of the folks he’s talked to since this morning have mentioned anybody that looked like FBI agents around anyplace. Said he might have gotten bad information earlier.”

“None of my folks in the precincts have seen anything either,” Red responded.

“Also, precinct captains had reported all day voter turnout was significantly down in the precincts where the Hammer and Marcum families vote.” That was a relief, given that the old line was beaten badly at those precincts in the primary.

Around 5:00 p.m., traffic increased tremendously at those six precincts. In fact, the lines weaved around outside all the buildings where the polling places were located. The late voter surge the two clan patriarchs planned to throw off the old-line precinct captains had worked.

That was not the only maneuver for this Election Day.

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In a primary reenactment at the five precincts, about 15 minutes before the polls were to close, Baxter’s “late voters” arrived at each of the precincts and, as in the primary, asked the number of voters who had already cast ballots. With a new voter fraud plan in place, the lead poll workers at each just smiled.

But those conniving smiles quickly vanished.

About 10 minutes before voting was to end, just as the lead poll workers were getting ready to implement the illegal voting scheme, a single dark, plain four-door sedan pulled up in front of each of the five precincts. Two FBI agents emerged from each car and entered the precincts.

An agent informed the lead poll worker they would remain and observe all the ballots being counted and follow the car taking the results to the courthouse.

This new tactic again derailed Red’s carefully contrived plan to steal an election.

For the first time in anyone’s memory, a lot of Republicans were in the crowd gathered in the Jordan County Courthouse for the announcement of the precinct-by-precinct general election returns. But another tradition was observed - Red was holding forth on one side of the stately courtroom and Baxter and his group on the other. Elmer Abernathy and the Republicans were between the two Democrat groups. Rick Hill took his place on the front row of the center section of seats.

While Marvin Wood carried old Sheriff Brown’s precinct, it was by the slim margin of 20 votes – far below the 65% of the vote old-line candidates normally got there.

In the two precincts where most of the black community cast its vote, Joe Ed Green won each with 60+ percent of the votes. In the six precincts controlled by either the Hammer or Marcum families, Green won by an average of 60 percent of the ballots cast. Red maintained his confidence until the last five precincts (the ones where his plan was to be implemented) came in.

His face dropped when the poll workers delivering the vote tallies to the county clerk came in - each accompanied by two FBI agents. Rick Hill was able to get pictures of those processions.

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Red quickly left the courtroom immediately after the final vote count for the county commission seat was announced. – Joe Ed Green won by nearly 1,200 votes.

As Rick Hill got up to go to the Crier office to write his story of the latest ballot box battering of the old-line, he got a slight nod from Baxter celebrating with his stunned followers.

“This might have been as bad as the primary,” Red reported to Charles, who had to go into another room because of the noise in the background from Sammy’s victory celebration.

“Marvin only carried 10 precincts and none of those by more than 30 votes. And on top of that, the FBI went inside at our five precincts, watched the ballots being counted and followed the cars carrying the ballots all the way to the courthouse. Our plan didn’t have a chance. I’ll have the precinct tallies for us to go over when you get back in town.”

“This is just hard to understand. I should be back in Lawnsville by Thursday night,” Charles said, trying to grasp what had happened to his political fiefdom.

Joseph Ballengee understood it all – the Crier remained an important element in the political scene in Jordan County. But now - a big difference - it was no longer a mouthpiece for the old-line political faction.

The former publisher was very surprised by Rick Hill’s preelection wrap-up stories on the county commission race. As with the stories leading up to the primary, the Crier stories included complete coverage of both candidates – their positions on the issues and their statements about their opponents. In neither election did the Crier news attempt to help candidates - just reported what they said. And Ballengee thought, that was enough.

What really spelled trouble for the old-line, in Joseph’s opinion, was the people came to realize the Crier stories were true. And, as in the primary, delivered a searing defeat to the political faction that ruled over Jordan County for decades.

Also, he felt the stories about the appointment of primary poll workers, in part, were responsible for Red and Elmer Abernathy being indicted for voter fraud.

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Further, unlike Red and Charles, Joseph Ballengee felt the fire and roadblock trials, the mayor’s indictment as a co-conspirator in those two crimes, and Red’s indictment for voter fraud had changed the county’s political landscape in a way that could be permanent.

He planned to have a sit-down with the two old-line leaders in the next week or so.

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53 Winner Paves the Way Ballengee wasn’t the only one to make that analysis about the Crier influence. Baxter was convinced because of the newspaper’s transformation, county voters might not ever return the old-line to its former place of control in Jordan County. And to many, if Red was convicted, the old-line’s grassroots political organization in the county might not survive.

During the celebration party for his winning the governorship, Governor-elect Sammy Monroe took Charles aside to discuss the requests he and Red had made concerning the river property.

“First, Charles, I appreciate very much your and Red’s help in both the primary and general in those counties down there. It spelled the difference in the primary and got me the nomination.

Couldn’t have done it without you two,” the Governor-elect said, taking Charles’s hand before turning to an important manner.

“I’ve already talked to the new Commission of Transportation I will appoint, and the road you and Red asked about has been given a top priority, and work should start in not more than a month after my inauguration. So, you’ll know we are widening the road and will pave it all the way from Route 20 through your land and all the way to the river for the new boat ramp. We’ll make sure that the road won’t lessen the number of lots you can get. Also, we should have the federal grant for expanding the Public Service District water service in the area in the next

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six months. I think you all will be pleased, Charles. Thank you again.”

“Well, Sammy, uh, I mean Governor, we were glad we could help. Red will be down for a visit in the next couple of weeks. I think you will appreciate our recognition of your help on the road,” Charles responded.

195

54 Puppeteer Becomes One At The End Of The String When Red was led into the courtroom to stand trial for conspiracy to commit voter fraud, a lump formed in his throat when he saw his wife and two children in the front row right behind the defense table. He thought they had an understanding for her and the children not to attend because of the embarrassment.

Elmer Abernathy’s family did not attend the trial.

After Red left Lawnsville two days ago to meet with his attorney prior to the beginning of the trial, his kids asked for a family meeting with their mother. “He’s our dad, no matter what, and he’s always been there for us.” While she was proud of them, she tried valiantly but unsuccessfully to talk them out of it.

Rick Hill sat across the aisle and nodded to the three and their accompanying preacher as he took his seat.

After the opening arguments, Jeremiah Jones and Thomas Dingess were the first two witnesses for the prosecution.

Their testimony mirrored each other – their families have a long history of supporting Jordan County’s old-line political faction for at least 25 years. Both had worked as inside poll workers in the past and participated in illegal election activities for the faction in elections prior to the just-past primary.

In response to the prosecution’s questioning, they told the same story. Red Bell has visited them separately and asked each if they would be the lead inside poll worker for their respective 196

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precinct. Only after they agreed did he reveal the plan for them to cast 75-100 illegal votes after the polls closed. He assured them all the other poll workers – Democrat and Republican – would follow their instructions and not interfered or object to their illegal activity.

Red assured both the other poll workers would not follow the instruction given during the training provided by the Jordan County Clerk. Jeremiah Jones admitted to casting 77 illegal votes for the old-line slate after his precinct closed and Thomas Dingess said he cast 80.

The prosecution’s next witness was the Jordan County Clerk Ruby Miller, who was responsible for the conduct of elections.

She outlined the duties of each of the poll workers duties – ensure that each voter was on the voter rolls, signed the poll books, only got one ballot, and count the ballots once the polls closed. Two of the poll workers – one Democrat and one Republican, were to take the results and the election materials to the courthouse once the process at the precinct was completed.

Further, the lead poll worker was to assure all these procedures were followed.

To hammer home the point, the U.S. Attorney asked if it was illegal for a poll worker to cast any vote after the polls closed.

The county clerk answered with a whispered “yes.”

The prosecutor pressed, “Is it the legal responsibility of poll workers to report to the county clerk any illegal activities by another poll worker that they observe inside a voting precinct?”

Seeming to sink deeper into the witness chair, the county clerk answered in an even softer voice, “Yes.” Next came all the regular poll workers in all five precincts where all-new poll workers were appointed for the primary election. Each testified their respective county chairman – Red Bell for the Democrats and Elmer Abernathy for the Republicans – told them to follow exactly the instructions they received from the lead poll workers once the polls had closed.

They were not told what the lead poll workers were going to do, but only to follow their instructions.

The poll workers at the two precincts led by Jeremiah Jones and Thomas Dingess testified illegal votes were cast. Poll workers 197

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in the other three testified when the lead poll worker took the poll books, ballot and poll slips and moved to the back of the room, their collective protests convinced the lead poll workers not to cast any illegal ballots.

One summed it up, “We told the lead poll worker not to do it because of the questions that some last-minute voters asked about how many votes had been cast. They said if more votes were reported to the courthouse, they would report us to the FBI. We all decided that we couldn’t take that chance.”

The prosecutor hammered home that point by asking Jeremiah Jones, Thomas Dingess, and every poll worker in those two precincts if when the poll closed, did the lead poll worker take the ballots, voter rolls and poll slips to the rear of the precinct’s voting room. The answer in each case was “yes.”

Then came the question upon whose answer the prosecutors’ case depended, “Did the lead poll worker cast illegal votes after the polls closed?”

All the poll workers in the two precincts answered “yes.”

By midmorning of the second day of the trial – final arguments were presented.

Red and Elmer’s defense attorney knew convictions were a certainty because of the number of witnesses confirming the casting of illegal votes at the two precincts.

After the lunch break, the case was given to the jury.

The court adjourned for the day with no indications of the jury’s progress.

Unexpectedly, just an hour after resuming deliberations the next day, the jury filed back into the courtroom.

While Red Bell was resigned to being convicted, the words “guilty on all counts” still jarred him. He slumped in his chair, lowering his head calling on the Lord for strength.

He turned toward his wife and two children and preacher.

She mouthed, “I love you - we’ll make it.”

The judge then announced the sentencing would be in four weeks – a time that would give the U.S. Attorney to seek Red’s cooperation in some pending matters.

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Crier readers were not surprised by the verdicts against Red Bell and Elmer Abernathy, but they still read the story closely for all the details. For years, they assumed that voter fraud was taking place in the county. But they were surprised by the story’s details of exactly how it was done.

But the harsh spotlight of bad publicity would have to be shared by the old-line.

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55 When Change Isn’t Having been around Jordan County politics for more than 30 years, Baxter was well aware that even some of his reformers felt, as the old-line did, that “To the winners go the spoils.”

While the feeling didn’t permeate as deep within the reformer faction as it did among old-line supporters and officeholders, it was nonetheless lurking on the fringes in the minds of a few reformers.

It was strongest among those who had family members fired by the old-line officeholders over the years. It was this “now see how you like it” attitude that Baxter had to guard against, particularly with the school board, where the reformers now had a solid 4-1 majority.

He’d managed to get the agreement to renew the contract of Superintendent Elwood Hugh. It had not been easy. Maynard George, a new board member in particular, was hard to convince.

Maynard remembered his aunt, a teacher, had been transferred to a school in the far end of the county because a member of her family had run for a school board seat with backing from Baxter and the reformers.

The teacher, his favorite aunt, nearly had a nervous breakdown from the experience and had since retired. But her nephew still held a grudge against Hugh, who was superintendent at the time. He relented when Baxter reminded him that he was elected in large measure because of the Candidate Nights the 200

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superintendent has maneuvered to get held at each of the county schools during the last election campaign. It was at those events the old-line school board incumbents managed to offend nearly everyone attending with their arrogance and dismissive answers to people’s questions.

Maynard George was one who felt it was payback time for the years of old-line dominance of Jordan County. And the fact his daughter-in-law was assistant principal at an elementary school is where he was going to even the score.

He began his skullduggery by visiting the veteran school principal who had held the position for about ten years. During the visit to the school, which he had requested to supposedly see the recent renovations, he and Helen Black, the principal, returned to her office so she could answer any questions the new board member might have.

Unexpectedly his first question was, “Have you thought about retirement?”

“Not for about five years. There are some things I still want to accomplish here, and by then, Sam will be ready to retire from the railroad and we want to travel,” she responded, still puzzled by the “out of left field” inquiry.

“You might have heard that Sarah Ann Brown is retiring as principal out at Spring Hill at the end of the year. I know you are from that part of the county and have a lot of friends out that way,” he said.

“I’d heard about Sarah Ann. She’s a good friend. I heard the school might be closed,” the now-on-guard principal replied.

“Well, Becky Ann (his daughter-in-law) really enjoys working here and has great ideas for the school,” he said. “She really was a fine teacher and seems to be getting along well as assistant principal.”

“She really is doing well since I appointed her last year. It’s so much different from the classroom, but she’s adapting well,” the principal answered, now understanding the real reason for the visit had nothing to do with the renovations.

Helen felt the mention of Sarah Ann’s retirement was a not too subtle threat that she could be moved out to a far end of the 201

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county where she hadn’t lived for 20 years if she didn’t retire to make way for the new board member’s daughter-in-law.

Realizing his attempt had been totally rebuffed, Maynard continued, “It would be nice to see Becky Ann move up in the next year or so. Give my best to Sam. I really appreciate the tour.

The school is really in fine shape. Let me know if there’s anything you need,” he said as she walked him to the school’s front door.

When she returned to her office, the principal hurriedly pickup up the phone and called Eva Newland, who had been her mentor during her early years in the Jordan County School system.

“Sure, I’d love to see you. Stop by after school,” Eva said but found the call very troubling.

“That bastard,” Eva responded after hearing Helen Black’s report on the new board member’s visit to the school.

The principal was stunned. She’d never heard Eva say such a word during their 20-year acquaintance.

“We supported him. He’s turned out to be no better than the bunch we threw out,” Eva spewed.

“Let me think on this. I might have an idea or two,” she said as she poured tea and turned to a discussion of their grandchildren and flowers they planned to plant in the coming spring.

Elwood Hugh walked up Eva’s walk, very curious as to why he’d been invited to tea, certain it would be an interesting conversation.

After complimenting her on the newly planted flowers in her front yard and taking notice of the handyman putting a fresh coat of paint on her kitchen, the Jordan County Superintendent put down his cup and asked the question he knew would reveal the reason for the invitation, “And how are things with you, Eva?” For the next 10 minutes, he listened silently as the highly respected former elementary school principal told about the conversation she had with Helen Black about the threats she’d received from Maynard George, a newly elected member of the board of education.

He listened as Eva confirmed his concerns about the newly elected board member. His stoic face revealed no reaction, but it was clear he was focused on what she was saying.

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“Eva, I had not heard anything about this. And I’m not sure what I can do if the board is determined to move forward on it.

But be assured I’ll look into it.”

“Elwood, this is no different than what the ones just voted out did for years. This can’t stand,” Eva said softly, but with intensity.

As he walked back down the walk to the gate in the white picket fence, the troubled superintendent was contemplating his options and none assured success.

Maynard George wasn’t about to stop his effort to help the career of the mother of his two grandchildren, so he arranged to have lunch with an incumbent board member, Hattie Mae Cooper, who was known to bounce back and forth between the old line and reformers on the board.

“Hattie Mae, I’d appreciate your help on this. It seems to me we just need to make sure that new blood comes along to keep the school system moving forward. Helen has done a great job, but it might be time for a change there. Can I count on you?” Maynard George asked, following up on their general conversation about Jordan County schools.

The two-term school board member was certain Maynard would not be contacting her if the other new members weren’t already supporting him.

“Seems reasonable to me. We always are looking for new folks to move up in the system,” she said, having already decided to support the new board majority.

Maynard George was surprised at how easy it had been to persuade Hattie Mae to support his plan. He likewise would have been surprised to know that the next day she would be having lunch with another incumbent member of the board, Sam Keaton, a staunch supporter of Baxter and the reformers.

She was astonished at her fellow incumbent board member’s reaction, “You mean Maynard hadn’t talked with you?”

“Hattie Mae, this is the first I’ve heard about this. Not so sure that’s the way to go. Helen Black is one of the most respected principals in the country and Becky Ann George has only been an assistant principal for less than a year.

“We’ve got two weeks until the next board meeting. Let’s just sit on this. Okay?” the new board president asked.

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“Yes, of course. On second thought, it did seem a little strange,” she said.

Baxter knew he had a problem after the call from Sam Keaton.

Damn, this is like something that Edward Whitmore would try and pull, he thought.

“I Hear Maynard George is trying to get rid of Helen Black so his daughter-in-law can be principal at the Point Elementary School,” the 85-year managed to get out between the rasping coughs. Then the click.

“How does she find out this stuff,” Rick asked himself as the click echoed in his ear. As usual, the 85-year old didn’t include her source – a close cousin who was painting Eva Newland’s kitchen when the Jordan County School Superintendent was visiting.

Flattered by the call from the Crier publisher, Maynard George listened carefully to the pointed question – “Have you talked to anyone about getting Helen Black to retire as principal at Point Elementary?”

Failing to grasp the impact his answer could have, the new school board member answered, “Well, Helen has done a wonderful job at Point Elementary, but we have to always look for young talent to bring along through the system. I had a talk with Helen about it.”

“What did she say when you suggested she consider retiring?”

Rick asked, casting a wide net with the question.

“She indicated that she really was considering retiring at some time in the future,” George answered.

“Are you suggesting that she be replaced by Becky Ann George?” Rick Hill pressed his reporter’s hat perched securely on his head.

“That would be something the board would have to decide.

I’m sure interested in keeping the school system fresh with new talent,” he said as the interview ended.

Satisfied the 85-year-old had again supplied a tip for what would become a major Crier story, Rick Hill dialed the superintendent’s office.

“We don’t expect any changes in the principals at any county schools,” Elwood Hugh answered crisply. Expanding his 204

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answer for emphasis, the superintendent added, “I don’t plan to recommend any changes or transfers of any principals for the next school year.”

“So, a change at Point Elementary has not been discussed?”

“Not in this office.”

Nice move, Rick thought as the superintendent took himself out of the line of fire.

The Crier publisher wanted to be safe, so thought he needed to check a bit further before deciding whether a story was merited.

He looked down the list of board members and selected the one most likely to talk.

“Oh, I’d heard some talk about a change at Point Elementary, but not sure anything will come of it,” Hallie Mae Cooper said with no hesitation.

“Yes, Becky Ann George was mentioned as the logical successor if a change was made. But like I said, I really don’t believe there’ll be a change,” she concluded.

Sam Keaton confirmed to Rick Hill that he had discussed the matter with board member Cooper and they agreed that such a move was something that wouldn’t take place.

Helen Black declined to discuss or even confirm that such a conversation took place. Rick was satisfied the conversations had indeed taken place.

Despite Move by Board Member no Change Seen for Point Principal Rick’s story emphasized the matter was discussed in separate informal conversations between board member Maynard George and Principal Helen Black, between board member George and board member Hattie Mae Cooper and between board members Sam Keaton and Hattie Mae Cooper. He was not privy to the conversation between Eva Newland and the Point Elementary principal nor the one between Eva and the superintendent–there were some things even the Lawnsville gossip network didn’t pick up.

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Baxter became more uncomfortable as he read the news story and the last paragraph hit him between the eyes – Rick Hill made a comparison between what Maynard had done to the threat Edward Whitmore had made to fire an elementary school principal who would not support him for his re-election to the board.

In addition to the page one story, the Crier publisher had written a scathing editorial taking the newly elected school board member to task for trying to exert political pressure on the filling of positions in the Jordan County school system. The editorial even suggested the offending board member had betrayed the thousands of Jordan County citizens who, with their votes, said they wanted politics out of the school system.

“It’s good to see you’re consistent in calling out everybody.

I’m embarrassed about what happened,” Baxter said.

“As you should be. Hell, the whole county should be. Given what we’ve been through with Edward Whitmore’s service on the board. Baxter, I’m really surprised this happened. I didn’t believe it when it first came to me. What is it about Jordan County?” the Crier publisher asked.

“We just have some people who’ve been beaten down so long by the old-line that they want to get theirs. Years ago, Maynard had an aunt who was hounded out of the school system by some of Red and Charles’ supporters. I thought he was over it. But he was ready to get his when he got on the board,” Baxter said, aware it was an unsuccessful attempt to justify that which could not be justified.

“Will he stay on the board?” Rick asked curtly.

Baxter thought before answering, “I doubt he’d resign. But you just never know. It might be a good thing.”

The whole episode really made Rick Hill question if things could ever get straightened out in Jordan County politics.

While Maynard George was upset by the editorial, he was distraught by the phone call from his daughter-in-law after she read the Crier front-page story.

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help. You might have been trying to help me, but you’ve made it impossible for me to work in Jordan County.”

As the Board members filed into the meeting, Maynard was the last to take his seat.

Board President Sam Keaton moved through the routine agenda’s first six items efficiently. He paused when coming to the personnel item and called on Becky Ann George to address the board in public.

“Members of the board, I’ve had the pleasure of teaching in Jordan County for the past five years and it has been most rewarding. Because of recent events, I submit my resignation as Assistant Principal at Point Elementary School as well as a teacher in the county school system. Thank you.”

The ten citizens attending the meeting were stunned. Then in unison, they stood and applauded out of respect for the sobbing teacher.

Tears rolling down his cheeks, Maynard George asked for recognition.

“Mr. President, members of the Board, I’m announcing that at the end of this meeting, I will tender my resignation as a member of the Jordan County Board of Education. I apologize to members of the board and especially to my family for the embarrassment I’ve caused both. Thank you.”

Stunned, Board President Keaton called for a motion to adjourn.

Baxter was relieved to hear the news. Given recent developments, he felt every action the new board took would be under a cloud with Maynard George as a member.

Given the ever-changing nature of Jordan County politics, Rick Hill was sure it wouldn’t be long before the Crier’s harsh spotlight would swing back on the old line.

As if the local news wasn’t exciting enough for the Crier publisher, he was to soon be at the center of a story that would bring the national press to Lawnsville.

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56 A Little Help From Big Hand to Cut Ribbon Rick Hill always enjoys his daily trips to the post office because it was so unpredictable, made so by the characters who make Lawnsville a special place. This was certainly going to be one of those occasions.

“The Good Lord will have a special place in hell for Maynard George,” Emma Crooke, a retired schoolteacher and guardian of all things proper in the Jordan County seat, offered as she held forthright in the middle of his normal path to the Crier post office box.

It was evident to Rick Hill that Emma felt his sole purpose at this particular moment in his life was to listen in awe to her omnipotent insight concerning the state of things in Lawnsville with today’s chosen subject, the condition of the county’s school system.

“What are you going to do about it, Mr. Hill?” she asked from under her special spring “go to the post office” bonnet.

“Good to see you on this beautiful day, Mrs. Crooke. We certainly will be keeping an eye on it. It is indeed interesting,” he offered, hoping his conceding that her chosen subject was “interesting” would satisfy her and allow him to escape, without further instruction and back to the protective haven of his small cubby hole at the Crier’s temporary offices.

“As well you should, young man. As well you should. We are certainly watching the Crier closely on this,” she pontificated 208

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using the “We” that included not only her carefully selected retired teacher friends, but indeed her entire church circle at Lawnsville’s self-appointed moral compass.

He scrambled to gather the normal Monday extra heavy pile of mail that overflowed from the Crier box, not taking the time for his normal routine of scanning the envelopes for anything unusual.

Once ensconced in his refuge, he began separating the mail into separate piles – bills to be paid, checks to be deposited, news releases to be distributed to appropriate staff members – then he stopped when the delicate envelope with the satin touch seemed to raise out of the pile – a one-line, three-word return address – The White House. A beautiful, handwritten address in the finest calligraphy he had ever seen.

The Crier publisher gently put it aside, saving it for a private opening after he finished sorting the remaining envelopes and delivering them to the various staff members. Ignoring their questions, he hurried back to the cubby hole for the grand opening.

He expected some type of form letter or standard message, so the handwritten “Dear Rick” got his undivided attention. The next word, “congratulations,” had an equal impact.

Dear Rick, Congratulations on your winning the Pulitzer Prize.

You and your excellent staff are certainly deserving of this outstanding recognition for your example of journalism that is a standard all others in the profession should emulate.

I understand the new Crier building is nearing completion, and I would consider it a privilege if my schedule allows, to attend that auspicious celebration. A member of my staff will contact you in the next week or so to see if that would be okay.

Again, congratulations. Your courage is inspirational for Americans everywhere.

Sincerely, Jack 209

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With trembling hands, the Crier publisher reread the note several times to make sure it wasn’t a vision. It wasn’t. “Jack” simple enough, BUT this “Jack” just happened to be President of the United States!!!

Rick immediately called Anne to see if she could meet him for lunch at Susie’s. She was in the middle of washing a load of clothes and scheduled for an afternoon bridge game, but agree after he explained, “I’m holding in my hand something that our grandchildren will cherish one day.”

He got to the local gathering place early, excited about the envelope in his jacket pocket. Anne arrived a few minutes later, obviously curious about his mysterious phone call two hours earlier.

“This better be good, I’ve got dirty clothes all over the kitchen and I’m gonna be late for bridge,” she said smiling, not certain his surprise could match the hype.

Rick smiled and handed her the envelope face down.

“Holy shit,” she said a bit too loud for the church ladies at the next table.

Her eyes got bigger as she read the hand-written note from the President of the United States.

“What are you going to do?” she asked, grinning from ear to ear.

“Tell him no, of course,” he responded.

“The hell you are,” she replied, laughing.

“This will be the biggest thing ever hit Lawnsville. Every politician in the state will be here. It’ll completely fill Loomis Park across from the Crier. I mean, I can’t believe it.

“I’m so very proud of you. It still makes me angry people don’t appreciate what you’ve done for the whole county. But I’m beginning to understand that’s just part of the job,” she said, bending across the table to give him a kiss on the cheek.

“Well, what’s next?” she asked.

“Just wait for the call, front my White House contact. I won’t really believe it until then,” he said.

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“It’s the White House,” Community News Editor Billie Amherst blurted out, getting skeptical glances from the whole Crier staff.

Rick said calmly as if he got such calls every day, “Okay, thanks, I’ll take it in my office.” They all stared.

Ten minutes later, he emerged from the office to find every staff member walking towards him. It was difficult for the Crier publisher to accept the fact he’d just been given the private number of a senior White House staffer in case he had any questions. He just ignored his expectant staff and walked toward the back shop with a story.

“Oh no, you don’t,” Billie said, blocking his way. “What the hell is going on?”

“I can’t tell you until Friday afternoon,” he said to the excited but disappointed staff.

Friday, the Crier staff all reported to work an hour early as if that would make the afternoon arrive quicker.

“Where are you going?” Billie asked as he headed for the Crier front door.

“Have to go to the football field and meet the helicopter,” he said with a flat tone that just made the community news editor more curious.

“Right, and I guess you’ll bring Santa back with you.”

“We have some important visitors from Washington coming.

They want to see our new building,” he said as he closed the door leaving his confused staff behind.

Two Secret Service officers stationed in Charleston also met the team of five from the Presidential Protective Division. Rick led them to Lawnsville’s small downtown. They parked in front of the nearly completed new Crier building.

Rick smiled as he looked across the street. The entire Crier staff was on the corner.

“I’ll be back in an hour or so and we’ll have a staff meeting.

Al, call Susie’s and see if she’ll deliver lunch.

He guided the Secret Service team through the new building, then across the street to the park, and then along Main Street, explaining the normal parade route. One of the agents took pictures from every angle.

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The lead agent explained the date selected might need to be changed, or it could be called off altogether.

“A member of the President’s advance team will work with you.”

The sight of seven mysterious men in dark suits, one with a camera, drew curious stares from folks in Lawnsville downtown, and before long, a small crowd was following the group around.

None approached Rick Hill, but questions were being asked among themselves.

After about two hours of inspecting the area around the new newspaper building and park across the street from every angle, the agents thanked Rick and departed, explaining they would return a week or so before the Crier ribbon cutting.

“Well,” Billie Amherst bellowed as he walked in the door.

“I have to make a phone call, then we can meet,” he said, disappearing behind the closed door of his office.

He smiled as he dialed the number of “his White House contact” to check what was and wasn’t releasable about a possible visit by the President of the United States to Lawnsville.

He sat in the middle of his staff and solemnly began, “Okay, here’s the deal. The President had the White House call because he wanted to know how much a subscription to the Crier costs.”

“Bull shit,” Al’s comment led the chorus of similar reactions.

“It’s possible the President might attend the ribbon-cutting for the opening of the new Crier building.”

He certainly didn’t expect the silent reaction from his staff.

Then they, as if under the baton of a maestro, began talking all at once.

“Know that it’s a long-shot what with his schedule of international travel in the coming months, but he would like to do it.”

Rick took out the White House envelope, held it up, removed the handwritten note, and handed it to Billie Amherst, whose eyes widen as she realized what she was holding.

After each staff member had read the Presidential message, he continued, “We won’t know until a day or two before. I have changed the date to increase the chance he’ll make it.

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“In talking with my White House contact, I found he meant every word of his talk when he visited with us during the campaign last May. They indicated he followed the trials and even scanned a copy of the Crier a couple of times while they were going on.”

“I’ll have a short story on page one today about it. Otherwise, we just keep putting out the paper. We’ll take a tour of the new building this afternoon if you want. Any questions?”

“Is there anything we have to do? I mean to get ready just in case,” Al asked.

“Yes, I need you to give me your Social Security numbers, full names, and birthdays so I can send them along to the White House for a security check and that’s about it. They will be visiting Lawnsville a couple more times to check things out in case he does make the trip. Just remember it is a long shot, but we should be flattered he’s even considering it.”

Roars engulfed the area around the high school football field as the two Marine helicopters circled carrying the President of the United States and the other with staff and the national press pool.

Rick Hill, Anne, Charlie, and Harriet stood beside Mayor Wayne Adkins as the official welcoming committee.

The President hardly acknowledged the mayor as he shook hands and gave a bear hug to the Crier publisher before greeting Anne and quickly giving both children a souvenir White House coin.

Al, who got White House press credentials for the visit, was snapping pictures with two cameras around his neck.

People lined the motorcade route five-deep from the football field, through the Cales neighborhood, on to downtown before stopping in front of the new Crier building. The presidential cars were parked down the same alley from which those who burned the building just over a year ago walked up that fateful early morning.

Early that morning, a Secret Service team inspected the two hay wagons brought from the Marcum and Hammer farms – one for the press corps, including film crews from every state 213

And Raise Hell

television station and the other for the President, Rick, and other speakers.

“Rick, I’m privileged to be here today with you and your staff as we celebrate the Crier returning to its rightful home. Your bravery and devotion to a free press is an example to which every media outlet in this Nation should aspire.

“I bring greetings from a proud Nation.”

The President’s remarks were short, but summarized what Freedom of The Press meant to the country. It also spoke to the important role that the Lawnsville Crier held in the community.

“The Lawnsville Crier is not just about political coverage – it supports worthwhile community projects and events, gives recognition to those serving the community and to the achievements of students at every level of the school system.

Jordan County is most fortunate to be served by such a news medium that cares so much for the well-being of this community,” the President concluded.

The ribbon-cutting itself was anything but traditional – in the center was Anne, Charlie and Harriet, with Rick standing next to the President. They were flanked by the rest of the Crier staff, route drivers, student paper carriers, and Reginald Lawrence Thurmond III, publisher of the Overton Times, who had printed the Crier when it returned after the fire. Rick gave the scissors to the President, who put his hand over Rick’s as they cut the ribbon together.

Rick then gave the President a short tour of the new building ending in the front office with the staff at their desks. The White House photographer snapped away as the President went to each Crier staff member individually as well as Reginald to offer his personal congratulations.

He then thanked Rick again as the Crier publisher escorted the nation’s chief executive to the front door. As the motorcade roared to life and headed back to the waiting helicopters, Rick turned to the staff, “Now let’s get this paper out.”

With the exception of the page one story and pictures of the ribbon-cutting, the special edition of the Crier had been laid out the previous day.

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As the new press rumbled to life printing its first edition, Rick Hill was in the front office smiling, looking up at the large plaque that dominated the wall facing the Crier’s front window “It’s a newspaper’s duty to print the news and raise hell.”

Editorial, Wilbur F. Storey, Chicago Times, 1861 And an unexpected development in the politics of Jordan County would certainly give the Crier publisher a golden opportunity to do put that slogan into action.

215

57 Road To A Payoff Early the next week, Rick Hill was just finishing up the layout for the Crier’s front page when his crusty community news editor growled he had a call.

“There’s a state road crew working on a road on private property on Beulah Road on the Greenbrier,” said the frail voice of his 85-year old anonymous source. Then a click before the Crier publisher could say a word.

Knowing the perfect record of this anonymous tipster, Rick grabbed a camera and headed out to Beulah Road.

Approaching the turn, Rick remembered this as a mostly pot-holed, seldom-used road that led from Route 20 down toward a lovely old abandoned farm along an isolated stretch of the Greenbrier River.

It was only used by the locals who kept the best fishing spots along the riverbank secret from the thousands of vacationing fisherman who flocked to Jordan County in the spring and summer.

As he turned off Route 20, Rick thought he’d made a wrong turn - he saw a new wide two-lane road, state road workers using machinery to clear a ditch on one side of the formerly narrow Beulah Road, a huge roller smoothing newly laid asphalt on the other side going down toward the river. It was obvious the work had begun a number of weeks earlier.

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About a half-mile or so from Route 20, Rick came to an open gate with a “no trespassing, private property” sign on it. Just beyond the gate was another state road crew and several asphalt trucks and rollers from a private contractor ready to smooth the freshly applied asphalt on another stretch of the new two-lane road.

Hurriedly, Rick got out of the car and started taking pictures making sure to get the sign on the gate with the crew and state trucks in the background.

It didn’t take long for the state road crew foreman to head towards him, “you can’t take no pictures here. It’s not allowed.”

Rick said he was from the Crier and was taking the pictures on a state road.

“What’s your name?” Rick asked the startled state employee.

“None of your damned business. Now get the hell out of here before I call the state police,” he snarled.

“Thank you, I’ll be leaving,” Rick said, getting in the car, locking the doors, and heading back to Lawnsville with the page one picture for tomorrow’s Crier.

Of course, he’d have to call the county state road garage and ask what the crew was doing.

“Didn’t know a crew was out that way. I’ll have to get back to you,” the county road supervisor said, stumbling over his words, wondering how the smartass publisher found out about this “offthe-books” job that had come straight from the new Governor’s Office.

“Just tell him the crew wasn’t’ supposed to be out that way it was just a mistake,” the regional state road director ordered in a tone that didn’t invite any question. “But he’s got pictures. The crew was working with road graders, asphalt trucks, and rollers,” the Jordan County Road Superintendent protested.

“I just told you what to say,” the Regional Director barked and hung up.

After hearing the blatant falsehood, Rick thanked the county supervisor for getting back to him and turned to write the caption for the page one photo that would be the talk of Jordan County before the sun set tomorrow.

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One picture included the “private property – no trespassing” sign and the state road crew, asphalt company dump trucks, and bulldozer in the background ran across the top of page one.

The caption below it included the direct quote from the county road supervisor, “The crew went to the wrong place. It was just a mistake.”

On the way back from taking the pictures, Rick stopped by the courthouse to check the property records as to who owned that property.

The records listed the owner as Joseph McDowell, the late father of John McDowell, a man Rick’d hired once to do some carpentry work at the Crier. When he heard Rick on the phone, John was excited, thinking he might be getting another carpentry job.

“No, no, don’t need any more work right now, but maybe after we get settled here in our new building, I’ll be giving you a call,” Rick said, thinking the potential for work might make the man willing to talk about the land.

“Yeah, we decided to sell that land. It wasn’t worth much, just 300 acres sitting at the end of that old road and out in the county along the river. Lawyer Hugh Bird helped us find a buyer. He did good. We cleared $6,000. Said he had to work really hard to get that much. Even cut his fee in half for handling it for us.”

“When did you all sign the papers to sell?” Rick asked.

“Well, daddy died in early January. Oh, it was this February 14, Valentine’s Day. We all joked we got a big present this year.

We got our money real fast. There are four of us kids, so we got $1,500 apiece,” he proudly reported.

“Who bought the land?” Rick inquired.

“Wait just a minute, some company I’d never heard of. I’ll check the papers,” the heir said, putting down the phone.

He gave the name of a company, River Play, Inc. Rick had never heard of the company either.

“Since the courthouse records still have your father as the owner, I’ll have to use that in the story,” Rick carefully explained.

“Lawyer Bird told us it would take him some time to get to the courthouse to change the records.”

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Rick thanked him and was ready to hang up. “Now don’t forget us when you need that carpentry work. We’ll do it real fast.”

After restating that was his intent, Rick hung up, amazed the family had sold that property for a lot less than what it was worth.

He called a friend of his in Charleston who made frequent trips to the State Capitol and asked him to check on the company with the Secretary of State’s business registration section. Rick was in luck. The friend was just leaving his office for the seat of state government and was glad to help out his former college classmate.

“This company is new. Was registered with the Secretary of State in early February and the one who filed the paperwork was a lawyer by the name of Bird from there in Lawnsville and the directors listed are Charles W. Beauregard, Jr. and Joseph Bell, Jr.,” Rick’s friend reported barely an hour after Rick’s request for help was made.

The first photo caption noted “that county property records showed Charles McDowell, deceased, as the owner.” Since he was using only county records, Rick did not use Lawyer Bird’s name, the name of the new company, or Charles and Red’s names as directors. Once the deed was officially filed in the county property records that would merit a separate story.

The second picture of the road crew was on Crier’s page 3 and showed the faces of a number of local state road workers so there would be no mistake at least part of the work was being done by those from the Jordan County state road garage.

Oh, it was not uncommon for a state road crew after a snowstorm to plow out an old-line supporter’s driveway at times or dump leftover asphalt from a state road paving job on a friend’s driveway. But these pictures showed a full construction and road paving crews and equipment – both from the state and a private asphalt-paving contractor.

Red was chatting at the counter when his regular Crier carrier dropped off the paper face down on the counter, so he continued to chat with a customer and didn’t pick up the paper until the customer was gone.

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His face was purple with rage by the time he finished reading the caption below the four-column front-page picture.

Red knew that the Governor’s office subscribed to all the newspapers in the state, so Sammy would see the picture in the next day or two. Best if he hears it from me, Red thought as he dialed Charles’ number.

“That could cause us some problems and the questions could go to the governor,” Charles said after hearing Red’s colorful, four-letter word laced description of the two Crier photographs.

“I agree you’d better call the Governor just as soon as we get off the phone,” Charles smoothly observed, quickly agreeing with Red’s offer to become associated with this problem.

“Thanks for calling Red. It could be bad, but I’ve got an idea that could solve our problem,” the Governor responded smoothly to Red’s near panic tone.

“I needed a little cover on widening and upgrading that road.

The two acres you all deeded to the state cover it, so we can say the paving is to put the boat ramp on one end. It won’t be in the middle of the vacation home part of the development and it won’t be promoted, so won’t get much use. But it gives some justification for the new road.”

Red breathed a little easier when he got off the phone but his turning back to the front page of today’s Crier brought a bit of heartburn. He was surprised the land transfer had not been filed at the courthouse since he and Charles had paid for the property almost a year ago.

“How long can you hold off filing the property transfer?” Red patiently asked Bird.

“I’m getting ready to file it next week,” Bird explained. “The McDowells are upset getting connected to all this, but I can get them another $250 each on the land deal. I think they’ll be okay with a little more delay in the filing.

“If you can get me $1,000, I’ll call the boys to tell them I made a mistake, and they all have $250 more coming. Then I’m sure they will be quiet until things settle down,” Bird assured Red, who quickly agreed to the plan.

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Rick Hill had been checking the land records every week for several weeks when River Play, Inc. finally showed up as the purchaser of the McDowell land along the river. The filing listed the sale price and each of the four McDowell heirs.

Using a picture which hadn’t run with the earlier story, Rick included the sale date, the price of $6,000 that had been paid for the 300 acres, River Play, Inc. the purchaser, Hugh Bird as the attorney handling the sale and Red and Charles as the company’s directors.

To follow up on the Crier’s previous coverage of the road’s construction, Rick called the Department of Highways regional supervisor and got a quote to include in the story “After checking, I found the road work wasn’t a mistake at all. This project is to take the road all the way to the river. It seems the property owner has given the state two acres to put in a boat-launching ramp on that property.” Rick noted in the caption there were three other boat-launching areas on public land within three miles – one less than half-mile away - of the River Play site, each much closer to Route 20.

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58 It Just Keeps on Rolling As the two assistant U.S. Attorneys took seats around the sparse government-issue conference table, one handed his boss two issues of the Lawnsville Crier he’d received at home, “things just don’t stop in Jordan County.” The circled by-lined stories

by Crier Publisher Rick Hill were about the state widening and repaving the new road for Red and Charles’s real estate development along the Greenbrier River.

After carefully reading the Crier stories, the U. S. Attorney pointed at the front pages, “For something like this road to happen, orders had to come from the State Capitol. And you can bet the Governor was involved and will receive a payoff for his help.

“Given he could be facing up to five years in prison for voter fraud, I suggest we bring Red Bell in for a little chat about how the governor might be involved in this road project. It’s a shame we don’t have anything on Charles Beauregard. He’s right in the middle of this. But we just don’t have any proof on him. And, I believe if we ask Red to roll over on Beauregard, he could very well clam up and not agree to cooperate with us at all. They go back 30 years or so. We can’t take that chance. Also, the poll workers said they only met with Bell about the illegal voting scheme. Beauregard’s name was never mentioned on that one either.”

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“Mr. Bell, your conviction for voter fraud is a serious matter.

The sentence for those crimes could send you to federal prison for up to five years, and you can be certain we’ll find all the prisons on this side of the county are full when you are sentenced,” the U.S. Attorney explained.

“Did you bring us in here just to lecture us on points of law,” Red’s attorney asked impatiently.

“Oh, no, we want to discuss an offer that could reduce the time Mr. Bell will spend in prison,” the U.S. Attorney carefully responded to Red’s attorney’s outburst. The U.S. Attorney and his top assistants had decided they would hit Red Bell with all the information and suppositions they had – not holding back just because it all hadn’t been confirmed.

“We believe that Mr. Bell intends to pay the Governor a bribe for his putting the new road to the River Play property along the Greenbrier River. Further, we believe the cash for that bribe is or at one time was in Mr. Bell’s safe deposit box he shares with Charles Beauregard at the bank in Lawnsville,” the federal prosecutor continued.

Sliding a document across the table to Red’s attorney, the U.S. prosecutor said, “We have placed all safe deposit boxes to which Mr. Bell is a signatory under seal. They can only be opened with both representatives of this office and Mr. Bell present.

Red silently let out a breath of relief – he had removed the election money the day after the primary and split it with Charles.

Red didn’t react verbally, but his face was beet red and sweat formed on his forehead as he turned toward his lawyer, who then asked the federal lawyers to leave the room so he could confer with his client.

“Red, what do you want to do?” the lawyer said, purposely not asking about the accuracy of the U.S. Attorney’s mention of a safe deposit box(es) full of cash.

“I would like to talk with my wife over the next couple of days,” Red said, almost whispering.

His attorney explained Red’s response to the offer and suggested the three get together later that week – on Friday.

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In a tense and tearful conversation, Red and his wife discussed all the aspects of his situation. In a silent agreement observed over their entire 24-year marriage, she was never involved in his political activities. Frankly, she wasn’t interested in the least.

“What will I tell the kids if I have to go to prison?” he sobbed.

“How could I ever face them?”

“The Lord will get us through this no matter what. You are their father and they’ll understand this is all political. They will love you at least as much as they do now,” she said through cascades of tears.

“It’s tough being away from you and the kids for a day or two when I go to Charleston. Even thinking about being in prison on the other side of the county is too much to even think about. It would literally kill me,” Red said as he held his beloved wife.

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59 Almost Finished Puzzle Has Key Piece Missing “Red, did they mention anything about how Charles fits into any of this?” she asked.

“No, not a word. We just talked about my visit with the Governor next week,” he responded, thinking it was possible Charles would come up in his conversation with the U.S. Attorney on Friday. Tomorrow he had an appointment with his preacher to discuss his dilemma.

“I don’t ever get into your politics, but it just seems to me that you do most of the work organizing things for elections here in Jordan County and Charles spends most of his time running back and forth to Charleston, rubbing shoulders with the big wigs there.

“This is like he’s not involved, but you all meet all the time.

How in the world was it he wasn’t arrested like you? It just seems something’s not right,” Red’s wife said, her rage coming through the tears that streaked her cheeks.

Red didn’t respond, but his mind was focused on one thing that was always a part of all the plans he and Charles put together – it was him who implemented a plan while Charles mostly stayed totally in the background.

It seemed to be more so with the just past May primary election. Charles spent a lot of time meeting with their favored candidate for Governor. It was during those discussions Charles successfully solicited Sammy to agree, if he was elected Governor, 225

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to put the road into the river property where he (Red) and Charles would make tens of thousands of dollars.

In all other incidents, it was always Red who was out front when it came to illegal activity.

Oh, they always split the money 50-50 they accumulated from each election, but it was always Red who talked directly to people about vote-buying, precinct organization, and implemented the precinct voter fraud. And the most glaring episode of him feeling set-up was he was the one that was to give the cash bribe to the Governor – not Charles, who travels to the state capital frequently.

The U.S. Attorney hadn’t mentioned his flipping, offering evidence against Charles and testifying against his life-long friend, but he was certain that would come at some point.

“Before we go any further, we have some questions which need to be addressed,” Red’s attorney said, sliding a piece of paper across to the U.S. prosecutors.

“I’ll go over them and we can discuss them, but we want your answers in writing. First, will Mr. Bell go on trial for bribery in this case if he agrees to testify against the Governor? Second, what is the maximum sentence he would face in that charge?

Third, what will be the maximum sentence he’ll face on the two voter fraud charges? Fourth, if he goes to prison, where will that prison be? Fifth, will there be a fine in addition to the sentence?

Sixth, will Mr. Bell be required to testify in any other trials or have any other legal obligations to the U. S. government other than those we’ve already discussed?”

After looking over the list, the U.S. Attorney gave a measured response, “Depending on the depth of his testimony against the Governor, it is possible Mr. Bell would end up serving a maximum of two years in federal prison (in either Pennsylvania or Kentucky), no fine in connection to the three cases – two for voter fraud and the one for bribery. As for testimony in any other cases, we will have to discuss that and get back to you. There are several investigations going on that involve things in Jordan County.”

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“We will wait for your written responses before we make a decision on whether we can move forward,” Bell’s attorney said.

“I will say the prison time is troubling.”

“You will get a written response tomorrow. Is it agreeable to set another meeting week after next?” the U.S. Attorney asked.

When they got back to his office, Red’s attorney was blunt, “Red, this is going to be tough negotiating. They want the Governor’s ass on a platter. It will all depend on how much you can get the governor to say during your meeting. They will want you to wear a recording device.”

“Two years is a long time. I’m just not sure I can handle it,” Red said softly.

“Well, it’s a hell of a lot better than 10 to 15 on the other side of the country,” the lawyer pointed out.

“Do you have any idea what else they are investigating in Jordan County?” Red asked.

“I don’t, Red. I was going to ask you the same thing.”

“There hasn’t been any talk on anything else. But it seems they are really spending a lot of time on something,” Red said, wondering how in the world the U.S. Attorney knew he had a safe deposit box full of cash. If they know that they have to be looking at Charles too, he concluded.

Red was in a quandary. Should he mention to Charles his discussions with the U.S. Attorney or not. He and Charles had been friends since high school and close political allies for more than 30 years. But this was different. Red was now confronted with a situation that could mean five years in federal prison on the other side of the country away from his family if he didn’t make a deal with the U.S. Attorney to bring down the Governor one he had worked hard to elect. Red would have to give the U.S. Attorney his answer at their meeting the next day.

“I believe it’s best for us if I agree to do what the U.S. Attorney is asking. I might have to go the prison for a couple of years, but it will be in either Pennsylvania or Kentucky. It will put me out of politics, but that’s fine. It was getting too much in the last two elections. Dad left enough money for us to live on, so that’s not

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a problem. But I’ll have to talk with the kids in the next couple of weeks.”

“Red, I know, with the Good Lord’s help, we will be okay – all of us, including the kids. I’m right with you,” she said, taking his head in her hands. After a fitful night’s sleep, Red woke early. He set out on something he should have done a week before.

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60 Boat Ramp Reels in Big Fish Looking over the road now completed from Route 20 through his and Charles’ property and down to the river, Red thought the development would move forward regardless of what happened in the Governor’s bribery case and provide some money for his family when he had to go to prison. The just-completed survey showed more than 200 one-acre lots could be carved out of the land, more than half of them right on the river and most of the others just a block back.

Red wasn’t the only one checking on the progress of the road construction. Rick Hill was out on Beulah Road about an hour before Red and got several photographs of the newly widened and paved road from Route 20 and ones showing it beyond the “no trespassing” sign and on down toward the river.

Rick didn’t realize the impact of the photographs. Thousands of people living out in more rural areas of Jordan County would be really mad, given the roads in front of their houses were filled with potholes and hadn’t been paved in at least five years. Now they see the two political kingpins get a brand-new road to their vacant land along the river.

In a tense three-hour conference with his lawyer before his scheduled meeting with the U.S. Attorney, Red realized his situation might get even worse as a result of the next day’s meetings.

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“Red, it’s possible the other cases you might have to testify in could be against other people from Jordan County. I don’t know who might be involved, but it just seems very likely,” his attorney said.

“I’ve made the decision to take the deal. It’s best for my family.

It won’t be easy, but I don’t believe there’s any other choice.

Red was trembling as he stood in a hotel room just a block from the state capitol as the federal agent adjusted the small Nagra tape recorder he would wear to trap the newly inaugurated Governor.

Last week in his meeting with the U.S. Attorney, he had been given an idea of what the conversation with the governor should include. Federal agents knew Red had thought a lot about the conversation with the governor, but they were concerned when they saw how nervous their star witness was. They began to doubt he would be able to concentrate on essential points to include in the conversation with the governor. They shared glances of concern as Red departed for the statehouse.

“Red, it’s been too long since we’ve had a chance to catch up,” the new governor welcomed.

“I was out the other day. The widening and paving make a great entrance to the development. The surveying is about complete, so we should start selling lots in three months or so. Any idea when the grant might come along to extend the water system?”

Red said, placing the bulging envelope on the governor’s desk.

“Charles gave me the details on what all was needed to make that road right for you all.

“Glad to hear it went so well. I told the highway commissioner to make sure it was first-rate,” the Governor said, picking up the envelope and counting the $10,000 in $100 bills whose serial numbers the federal agents had in their records.

“Charles came by to visit last week and said the road work was almost finished. You know, he first mentioned the road to me way before the primary. It seems it really turned out well. He also said you would be by to see me with this. I appreciate it,” the Governor smiled, holding up the envelope Red had placed on his desk before putting it in his top right-hand desk drawer.

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“Seems like you all might be able to get at least 200 lots.

Giving the state that two acres for the boat ramp gave us good cover to move forward with the road.

“Don’t worry about the ramp disrupting the development.

We won’t have any signs on Route 20 directing people to it. But we’ll put up a lot of signs to the other boat ramps along 20. Glad I could help you and Charles with this.

“You’ll need to have that Public Service District to request a grant for the water line extension. We will need to put that request with our final application to Washington. When we file it, I’ll have one of my folks follow up, so it shouldn’t take long to get it approved.

“One more thing. It would be nice if you could set a good lot aside for my daughter and her new husband.”

After assuring the governor the wedding present would be no problem, the two exchanged pleasantries, Red left and walked back to the hotel. The agents retrieved the Nagra tape recorder and hurried back to the U.S. Attorney’s office to review the tape.

When Charles’ name was mentioned by the Governor, the U.S. Attorney smiled in disbelief. Until that moment, the U.S. prosecutors only had suspicions about Charles’ involvement but no proof about criminal activity.

After listening to the complete tape, a member of the U.S. Attorney’s staff called Red’s attorney and ordered that Red be brought directly to his office.

“When the Governor said he discussed this project with Charles that provided proof we hadn’t had about Charles’ criminal activity. So, we will be putting Mr. Bell before a federal grand jury day after tomorrow. We’d like you two over here this afternoon,” the federal prosecutor told Red Bell’s attorney.

“I won’t testify,” Red blurted out.

“Then you’re looking at five years in prison on the other side of the country,” the federal prosecutor said as he got up to leave the room.

“May I confer with my client for a few minutes? Then hopefully, we can continue this conversation,” Red’s attorney almost pleaded.

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“I’ll be back in 15 minutes.”

“Charles had been my close friend for more than 30 years. I just can’t do this,” Red pleaded.

“Red, this is coming out as I told you it would. They hold all the aces. Your choice is to not cooperate and be sentenced to a long prison term or testify – those are the only options you have.”

Red slumped back in his chair, the truth of what his lawyer just said weighing on him, “With the tape of your meeting with the Governor, they are going to indict you for bribery of the Governor – that could be another 10 years if they want to press it. Remember Charles set you up. Think about it – why didn’t he give the money to the Governor?”

With his head in his hands, Red trembled, “Let’s just get it over with.”

Two days later, as the capitol opened for the day, a team of four federal agents armed with a day-old indictment walked into the Governor’s Reception room and asked to see the Governor.

The receptionist’s mouth gaped when the agents flashed their badges in response to her very efficient “Do you have an appointment?”

In an “almost too good to be true” coincidence, the Capitol Press Corps, including some with television cameras, was preparing for a press conference later that day with the Governor at one end of the reception room and with cameras rolling, they were eyewitnesses to the Governor being led out in handcuffs to a waiting FBI four-door sedan which had come up on the sidewalk right outside the capital’s west entrance.

Before they handcuffed the Governor, the federal agents served him with a court order for him to open the wall safe behind a picture in the entryway to his office. They retrieved the envelope Red had delivered two days before. Back in their office, they dusted the bills for fingerprints and would check the $100 bills’ serial numbers against the ones they had in their records.

Red was arraigned before the federal magistrate right before the Governor. They exchanged stunned nods as they passed in the hallway outside the federal courtroom.

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Bells were ringing on the United Press teletype machine in the Crier newsroom, indicating a story of some importance was about to move over the wire. Neither Rick nor Al paid any attention, but the community news editor dashed over to watch the story come across.

“Shit,” the first and only curse word Rick had ever heard come out of Billie Amherst’s mouth bounced off the Crier’s freshly painted office walls. The other staff members all laughed out loud at this new human side of their cantankerous but lovable fellow staff member.

“Red Bell and the Governor have been indicted and arrested for a bribery scheme involving the property up on the Greenbrier,” she announced with much flair.

The story explained in detail the arrangement between the Governor and Red to get the road and water line to the property Red owned with Charles. Also detailed was the scope of the riverfront development and the fact that Red had delivered $10,000 cash to the Governor. The story did not mention Charles Beauregard, the property’s co-owner, and federal prosecutors were quoted as giving a “no comment” when asked if Charles Beauregard would be charged.

Red Bell, Governor Charged with Bribery In Greenbrier River Development Plan Complete with the previous pictures of the state road construction crew at the development’s entrance, the Crier story spelled out in detail the scope of the development. The story included the fact that Red owned the land in a partnership with Charles.

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61 Catching the One that Got Away The assumption around Lawnsville was that Charles had used his extensive political contacts in state government and beyond to avoid being held accountable for his role.

A day after Red and the Governor’s arrest, Rick Hill’s phone rang, “Be in front of 201 Bluestone Avenue in 15 minutes,” the now familiar voice of the U.S. Attorney’s Public Information Officer barked before the sudden click.

Grabbing a camera, Rick bellowed, “Al, hurry, get a camera come with me.” They arrived in front of Charles’ house just as the two plain black sedans pulled up.

Four federal agents got out – two with shotguns, one went to the rear of the house, and the other followed the two agents with the warrant to the front door.

“Holy shit, it’s all coming down,” Al said in his best, amazed, bewildered tone.

Charles opened the door in his pajamas and bathrobe. He listened as the arrest warrant was read, opened the storm door, and let the agents in. He emerged fifteen minutes later in suit and tie, handcuffed and led to a waiting car by the two agents and trailed by the two with shotguns.

Rick and Al got pictures of it all. An agent handed Al a copy of the warrant.

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lately. She screamed when she saw the handcuffs and shotguns and said, “Dear Lord, this can’t be,” as she headed home to call the beauty shop with the latest from Bluestone Avenue.

The only difference between the two arrest warrants was Charles was charged with conspiracy to commit bribery while Red’s charge was more serious since he actually made the payoff.

Just as Rick got settled in his office to write the story, Joseph Ballengee came in the cubby-hole office to drop off his column.

“Anything new?” he asked more as a greeting than a serious effort seeking information.

Casually Rick responded, “Not much. Charles Beauregard was just arrested at his house by federal agents and charged in connection with bribing the Governor.”

Joseph, stunned, dropped in the chair next to Rick’s desk and remained silent. “I can’t believe it. He and Red both are sure to go to federal prison,” the former Crier publisher said, struggling to regain his composure. After a few minutes, he got up and left with no goodbye.

Red had come back to Lawnsville right after appearing before the federal magistrate to post bail and was at work at the cleaners.

“Red, Charles just got arrested,” Ballengee said as he came in the door.

“Are you sure?” Red responded.

“Absolutely, Rick and Al were outside his house when they led him out in handcuffs,” Ballengee said, still dazed from the developments of the last two days.

“Do you know when the trials will be?” he asked, a bit uneasy but unable to control his curiosity.

“In three or four months from what I’ve been told,” Red responded “I hope it goes well for you and Charles,” Ballengee said as he turned to leave.

Charles Beauregard Indicated for Bribing Governor in Greenbrier Development Case

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Old-line supporters were shocked. Charles Beauregard was looked upon as someone who operated under the protection of political connections in Charleston and Washington. The story gave the particulars of how he approached Sammy Monroe back before the primary election concerning getting the road improvement to increase the access and value of the 300 acres along the Greenbrier River he and Red Bell had purchased. It even included the fact that as part of the deal, Red and Charles agreed to give a riverfront lot to the Governor’s just married daughter and son-in-law.

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62 Going off Script Brings Unexpected Ending While the indictments of Red and Charles certainly rocked the foundations of not only Jordan County politics but that of the entire state, it was the trial of their Mayor Wayne Adkins that would get the strongest reaction from the people of Lawnsville.

Red and Charles were political operatives who were primarily behind the scenes – Wayne Adkins was different – very different.

He was an elected official - more connected to the general public. Not only had he been elected – but re-elected two times overwhelmingly!!!

Knowing the sheriff had sources all over, Rick Hill wanted to get Eddy Bill’s insight about the case against the Lawnsville mayor.

Welcoming a conversation with the Crier publisher that didn’t involve his friend Edward’s case, Eddy Bill accepted Rick Hills’s request to come by the courthouse.

“How do you see Wayne Adkins trial playing out?” Rick Hill asked.

“From what I hear, the evidence ends with him. So, I believe it’ll be over pretty fast. Word is his defense will go after Samuel hard. They will say Samuel is trying to get back at the mayor for his testimony in the two trials. Case will not be a slam dunk.

Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s acquitted,” the sheriff said.

“Really?” the surprised Crier publisher asked.

“It’ll be close.”

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Walking back to the Crier office, Rick thought about what the sheriff had said. What a mess if the man who planned the crimes gets off while the ones who committed them sit in federal prison, he thought as they entered his crowded office. The first trial for Wayne Adkins was for the Crier fire.

Rick wondered if Jonathon Johnson would back up his brother’s testimony concerning the mayor’s involvement in each of those cases.

Another aspect of the case involved Rick Hill directly. He had informed the U.S. Attorney Red Ball had conversations where he told the mayor and Avery that he (Red) and Charles didn’t blame the mayor and Samuel for being upset by the Crier stories. Red added the two felt the Crier stories about the city government were unfair and suggested that Hill was out to get the mayor.

Rick thought it was highly possible that the U.S. Attorney might, to gauge the mayor’s demeanor in that conversation, call Red Bell as a witness. Likewise, it could put Red’s personal feelings about the articles on the record.

While the case against Lawnsville Mayor Wayne Adkins was extremely important, the trial itself would not be long. The only prosecution witnesses so far were former Street Commissioner Samuel Johnson, his brother Jonathon, and Red Bell.

The U.S. Attorney was far from certain the mayor would be convicted.

Settled in his front-row seat, Rick Hill watched as the first witness - Samuel Johnson - was sworn in.

The prosecutors made sure he was dressed in a coat and tie rather than the bright orange jail coverage he wore when he was brought to the courthouse. Likewise, for his brother.

He was first asked to identify the Crier stories about the city renting his brother’s dump truck for $1,200 a month.

“How did it come that the rental arrangement was made?”

“The mayor and I were sitting around one day talking about how we might be able to get some money from the city. I said there was a lot of street and water system work that needed to be done and maybe I could say the new city dump truck needed

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repairs and we could rent one of those trucks Jonathon had for his contracting business.

“What was the mayor’s reaction?”

“He just laughed and said, ‘great, that will be easy to do. How about $1,200 a month?’ I said that was a bit high. Then he said he’d have no trouble getting the council to approve it. We came up with it in about 15 minutes. Council approved it at its next meeting. Jonathon got $300, mayor $500, and I got $400.”

“How long did the arrangement last?”

“Four months until Rick Hill put that damned story in the Crier,” Samuel said, his anger evident.

“What was your reaction to the story?”

“I was pissed and told the mayor so. He said we had to do something about that paper. I agreed.”

“When was that?”

“Day that first story was in the Crier. I got upset and stormed around city hall. He took me to his office. Got me to quiet down.

I did and that’s when he agreed something had to be done. Said we’d talk later.”

“When did it come up again?”

“Avery came by the city garage one day and said he’d been talking to Red, who said he and Charles felt the stories in the paper weren’t fair and understood why we were upset. And then Red told the mayor the same thing. The next day the mayor and I met with Jonathon and decided the paper should be burned down. I said I’d get some guys to help him.”

“Did Mr. Bell attend any of the planning meetings?”

“Oh no. Really he was just saying what a lot of people in town were saying – Rick Hill at the Crier was just out for the mayor and me.”

Next on the stand was Jonathon Johnson, who confirmed Samuel’s testimony adding that Wayne Adkins pressed to burn down the Crier as soon as possible.”

“Did he give a reason for being in a rush?”

“Oh, yes. Said that the stories about the dump truck were bad enough, but some others were hurting all our candidates in the primary election.”

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Then Red Bell took the stand.

Red confirmed that he had had conversations with both the mayor and Avery about the Crier dump truck stories.

“A lot of folks in town felt the same way. So, we were really just talking about what everybody else was talking about.”

“When you talked to the mayor about the Crier stories, what was his response?”

“Oh, he got upset just talking about them – about what you’d expect.”

“Did he ever indicate he felt the Crier should be eliminated?”

Wayne Adkins stiffened, moved to the edge of his seat, anxious to hear Red’s response.

“No, never heard him say anything like that. It’s just hard to believe he’d do something like that,” Red lied.

Red’s answer caused Wayne Adkins’ defense attorney to visibly wince. It didn’t come out that Red was really surprised by the crime and the lawyer felt that was the way the jury heard it too.

“Did you ever talk with Samuel Johnson, Jonathon Johnson, Charles Beauregard, or Wayne Adkins together, in a smaller group or one-on-one about burning down the Crier?”

“Never,” Red replied.

“Did you have any idea before the fire that it was going to take place?”

“No, couldn’t believe it when it happened,” Red said.

The defense’s first three witnesses were the young men that Jonathon had recruited to participate in the crime. Under sharp questioning, all three testified Wayne Adkins never attended a meeting about the crime, nor was his name ever mentioned by Samuel or Jonathon Johnson.

“Again, you are certain Wayne Adkins never attended any planning session for the crimes, nor was his name ever mentioned?” The same question was asked all three and each confirmed the mayor was never mentioned.

The U.S. Attorney recognized this testimony could alone bring an acquittal for the Lawnsville mayor.

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Then, under cross-examination by an assistant U.S. Attorney, the last of the three to testify, Donnie Joe Smith, went a bit further - off the carefully planned script of Wayne Adkins’ defense attorney. In response to the prosecutors’ question, “so all the planning was done by you five?” – “Well, that one time before the fire, Samuel said he’d have to check on something and would get back to Jonathon the next night.”

Caught off-guard, the defense leaned forward suddenly since Smith’s ad-lib comment hadn’t ever been mentioned in his sessions coaching the three on their testimonies.

The federal prosecutor caught the sudden move out of the corner of his eye and recognized that Donnie Joe Smith’s last point might be important. Since the prosecutor’s case was tittering on the edge of defeat, he thought, what the hell, have to give it a try.

He slowly went back to the prosecutor’s table, picked up a sheet of paper, and walked directly to the front of the witness stand, nodding slightly to the jury.

“Mr. Smith, can you recall what the subject was that Samuel Johnson said he had to check on?”

“It was something that we were supposed to do, but I just forgot,” the young man stuttered.

“Did he mention who he had to check with?”

“No,” came the nearly whispered response.

“Then you assumed at the time, it was a person he had to check with?”

“Oh yes, definitely.”

The defense attorney jumped to his feet, “I object. The question is asking the witness to make an assumption about somebody’s state of mind – clearly inappropriate.”

The judge concurred, but the jury had already heard both the question and the timid reply.

“Your honor, we’d like to recall Samuel Johnson to the stand,” the prosecutor said.

The judge granted the request as tension shot up in the courtroom and Wayne Adkins’s eyes were glued on the door to the witness room.

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Unaware of why he was called back to the witness stand, Samuel stared directly at the mayor as he crossed the front of the courtroom.

On the front row of the spectator section, Rick Hill knew the answer to the prosecutor’s next question could well be the difference between Wayne Adkins being acquitted or spending the next 25 years or so locked in a federal prison.

Once Samuel Johnson was reminded he was still under oath, the U.S. Attorney asked the court reporter to read aloud the last part of Donnie Joe Smith’s testimony.

“Now, Mr. Johnson, would you please tell the court what it was you had to check on and with whom you had to check.”

Wayne Adkins’ head was in his hands.

“I needed to check with Wayne Adkins about whether he still wanted us to put dynamite under the press before we set the fire,” Samuel replied in a voice that no one in the courtroom had trouble hearing.

“And what did the mayor say when you asked him?”

“He said ‘blow it to hell.’”

Pounding his gavel, the judge tried to quiet the spectators who were buzzing after the answer.

Rick Hill looked over at the defense table where Wayne Adkins was in a near state of shock and his attorney just closed the folder he held.

After order returned, the U.S. Attorney suggested it would be a good time to break for lunch, wanting the jury to have just completed testimony to think about during the break.

Before adjourning, the judge announced when court reconvened, final arguments would be presented.

In his closing, Wayne Adkins’ defense attorney referred to Red’s testimony extensively – “In all their conversations, the defendant never once indicated he was going to do anything to silence the Lawnsville Crier. Red Bell was one of Wayne Adkins’ closest friends (a gross exaggeration), one he could talk to about anything, and such an extreme action was never discussed.

“Three of those who participated in this crime have testified they never saw Wayne Adkins or heard his name mentioned in 242

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any meetings about the planning of the burning of the Lawnsville Crier.”

Expectedly, he didn’t mention Samuel’s revelation that tied the mayor tightly to the crime. The defense attorney trudged on.

“The only two men that dragged the mayor into the middle of this plot are two that made a sweet deal with the U.S. Attorney in exchange for their testimony in this trial.”

Rick Hill noticed the jury was focused on these remarks.

Hell, he might be acquitted, the Crier publisher thought.

Then, it was the U.S. Attorney’s turn – he slowly walked toward the jury in his grandfatherly gait for his final argument.

First, in a slow, unhurried tone, he responded directly to the defense attorney’s suggestion that Samuel and Jonathon Johnson had made a sweetheart deal with the U.S. Attorney’s office to have their sentences reduced in exchange for testifying against Wayne Adkins.

“These men remain and will remain under sentences of 25-30 years for the federal crimes for which they have been convicted.

They did not and will not get a reduced sentence for testifying in this trial. Does that sound like a sweet deal to you?” he said to the jury, where several members seemed to nod in agreement.

The federal prosecutor then went on to recall Samuel and Jonathon’s testimony ending with Samuel’s saying he met with Wayne Adkins about placing dynamite under the Crier press.

“Blow it to hell, was Wayne Adkins’ response.”

The jury began their deliberations shortly after 3:00 p.m.

Veteran courtroom observers agreed Samuel Johnson’s lastminute testimony hurt the defense’s case for acquittal of the Lawnsville Mayor for his part in the conspiracy to burn down the Crier. Charges also included being an accessory in the nearfatal wounding of a Lawnsville police officer.

Those in the U.S. Attorney’s office weren’t certain of a conviction.

After two and a half hours of deliberations, the jury requested dinner be brought into the jury room – clear indication progress was being made toward a verdict.

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Thirty minutes later, the jury asked for the transcript of Samuel Johnson’s last testimony.

At 7:30 p.m., the judge called for order in the court. There was a delay while the crowd scrambled to fill nearly every seat in the cavernous stately courtroom.

“Guilty,” bounced off the walls. Without warning, Wayne Adkins lunged over the railing behind the defense table, trying to land a punch to Rick Hill’s face. The Crier publisher used his cane to block the mayor’s s fist. Adkins didn’t have a second chance as three burly U.S. Marshalls threw him to the floor - handcuffs quickly put in place.

“You did this. I’ll get you if it’s the last thing I ever do,” Adkins screamed as he was unceremoniously dragged from the courtroom.

After calling for order, the Judge calmly announced sentencing would be in 5 weeks.

Lawnsville Mayor Found Guilty In Crier Fire, Policeman Shooting Since Donnie Joe Smith’s testimony was the same day the verdict was rendered, Crier readers learned of Wayne Adkins’ connection with the dynamite placed under the Crier press in the same story with the guilty verdict. They devoured every word – several were standing on the sidewalk outside the Crier office, deep in thought, reading every word.

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63 People Search Souls Rick Hill’s Crier story was not long, but it conveyed the intensity of the testimony, particularly the prosecutor’s dramatic recalling of Samuel Johnson to the witness stand. The story ended with a detailed description of Wayne Adkins’s outcry as he attempted to assault the Crier publisher after the verdict was announced.

This Crier story affected Lawnsville citizens differently – much differently and deeper - than the ones following the other convictions in the fire and roadblock cases.

Wayne Adkins’ conviction stood out – it was much more personal even than the arrests of Red Bell and Charles Beauregard, who had been fixtures in Jordan County politics for decades. Those two were just political operatives, organizers who were behind-the-scenes hardly ever out before the public.

This was much different - Wayne Adkins’ conviction put a stain on where they lived – their hometown.

The person just convicted was the mayor of their town, their county seat – a man who they elected three times to the prestigious position – each time with a bigger margin of victory.

Here was a man who had coached their sons in Little League, a man who always bought the first box of Girl Scout cookies each year he was in office, a man who visited the funeral nearly every time a Lawnsville family gathered to mourn one of their own.

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A man who officially welcomed all distinguished visitors – the governor and U.S. Senators, even a President of the United States – to their town.

Wayne Adkins was not a shadowy character like Samuel and Jonathon Johnson; he was not a thug like the three others convicted for the crimes.

Of, course the people knew he often played politics, but it was accepted that’s what elected officials do from time to time.

But this shocked them – guilty for burning down their paper and the near-fatal wounding of a city police officer and still facing charges for the attempted murder of the Crier publisher.

This conviction was a gut punch for the people of Lawnsville.

It brought home in no uncertain terms the depth of the political corruption they had allowed to rule over them for decades.

This conviction raised troubling questions. Coupled with the voter fraud indictments, it seemed that the very people in whom they had placed their trust were stealing from them – enriching themselves with public money—and committing shocking crimes to hold on to their ill-gotten political power. All this while nearly all the people in Jordan County were working hard, playing by the rules and paying their taxes while their public officials were pocketing a significant amount of that tax money.

“Why hadn’t we realized all this before? It was right under our noses,” they observed.

Many Jordan County citizens understood it was their Lawnsville Crier and its courageous publisher that relentlessly pursued the truth despite the life-threatening obstacles that tried to keep that truth from them.

There were no hushed conversations on the street corners.

People were standing alone on the sidewalk outside the Crier office, silently reading, some shaking their heads. Even the beauty shop was eerily quiet with eyes focused on the Crier front page.

“How did this happen?” was the silent question all were asking.

Rick Hill wondered if Wayne Adkins would plead in the roadblock case or go through another trial. If there was a trial, the Crier publisher was certain the U. S. Attorney’s harshest questioning would be to see if Red Bell can be connected with 246

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this conspiracy. The federal prosecutor seriously doubted that was possible, but he was determined to give it his best effort.

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64 Puppeteer Becomes Puppet Connecting the dots with the testimony in the Crier fire trial and his conversation with the Jordan County Sheriff, it was clear to Rick Hill that Charles and Red had come up with the plan to plant the seed that grew into the two crimes of burning the Crier and the attempted murder of him.

But it was also clear that Charles had maneuvered Red Bell into being the puppet out front while he remained secure and hidden in the background. In coming up with the plan, the political kingpins understood a slight push would very likely set off the hair-trigger tempers of the mayor and Samuel Johnson to move to silence the Crier before the primary election. That push, as explained by Eddy Bill, was for Red to tell the mayor and Avery that he and Charles understood why they were upset with the “unfair” Crier stories. It worked to a point – the Crier was burned to the ground before the election. But a Lawnsville City policeman interrupted those committing the crime and was shot and nearly killed by one of the criminals. And that brought in the FBI. But there was another aspect of the situation that Red and Charles didn’t count on.

That element was the resolve of Rick Hill, the Crier’s young publisher. Despite having his newspaper burned to the ground, despite the delaying of the insurance check by an old-line supporter, Rick Hill, about nine days before that key primary

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election, brought the Crier back and with it the truth for the paper’s readers.

But those who burned the Crier weren’t finished. Two days after the Crier reappeared, they set up a roadblock where the young publisher was targeted for murder on that deserted country road. Not even being shot stopped the dedicated journalist.

All this was set in motion by Red’s conversations with the Lawnsville Mayor and a shady bar operator in little Lawnsville.

But despite the behind-the-scenes maneuverings of Red and Charles, the crimes still were connected to the old-line faction.

That was because the hard-hitting Crier stories about the crimes always noted the mayor was a veteran of the old-line faction and publicly supported its candidates in that election.

First, Jonathon Johnson, his brother, Samuel, the Lawnsville Street Commissioner, and two local thugs were tied to the cases by a third thug who agreed to testify against them. And all three had been hired about a year ago to work as temporary workers on a city construction project. Then before the last election, the mayor had appeared at school candidate nights to speak in favor of the three old-line incumbent members of the school board.

They all were defeated badly. But Wayne Adkins had a more pressing problem.

He had a decision to make – plead in the roadblock attempted murder case or face what surely would be more damning testimony from the Johnson brothers. The charges, in that case, were much more serious since it was a murder plot from the very beginning. In the case of the Crier fire, they didn’t set out to shoot Policeman Jim Dowling.

A problem for the former Lawnsville Mayor was there was no room for striking a bargain. The U.S. Attorney had no intention of negotiating. All the mayor would get out of a plea would be to avoid the trial.

Red Bell was concerned about what might come out in the second trial. He vividly recalled right after the Crier reappeared just before the primary election, Wayne Adkins’ screaming tirade at the cleaners - “I’m going to shut up Rick Hill once and for all.” Just he and Wayne were in the cleaners at the time, but Red 249

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thought Wayne might have told someone about the conversation.

And that person could very well testify about it, bringing Red’s name into this second trial.

The trial connected with the Crier fire had taken its toll on Wayne Adkins – but his sense of betrayal was all-consuming. To him, Rick Hill had been out to get him from the first time the Crier publisher had attended a city council meeting.

After an extensive conversation with his lawyer, Adkins learned he could be facing 15-20 years in federal prison for his role in the conspiracy to burn the Crier. On top of that, if convicted of the attempted murder, he could get another 15 years. He could die in prison.

Adkins’ attorney was confident about the chances his client could be acquitted in the roadblock trial. But for the unfortunate slip by Bobbie Joe Smith on the witness stand, Wayne Adkins could have been acquitted in the Crier fire trial.

With the conviction, under provisions of the Lawnsville City Charter, the mayor was automatically removed from office. And the maneuvering to replace him was already well underway.

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65 And in the On-deck Circle Benjamin “Ben” Howland was first elected to the Lawnsville City Council in the same election that initially put Wayne Adkins in the mayor’s chair. The two had been high school friends, with Howland being the favorite receiver for Adkins, who was the star quarterback on the state championship runner-up team.

Red recruited both for the old-line slate. Wayne was more of a glad-hander, while Ben was more reserved, a deacon in his church – one of the biggest in Lawnsville and owner of a popular men’s clothing store on the main street.

The two had the same view of city government. Howland became Wayne Adkins’ strongest supporter on the council and, in fact, was the only member of the council aware of the particulars of the dump truck rental scheme.

While he didn’t share in the proceeds from that illegal scheme, he did receive a monetary reward from his auto dealer brotherin-law, to whom he steered city vehicle purchases. Likewise, the mayor received an under-the-table payment for those overpriced city transactions.

The veteran city council member shared Wayne Adkins’ displeasure of the Crier stories about the dump truck rental scheme. But given the councilman’s low-key approach to politics, he saw the stories as just a minor irritation rather than a transgression demanding strong retribution.

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But the two were close on the politics of running Lawnsville’s city government. They took care of their friends and themselves.

For example, they gladly stepped forward to represent the city at conferences around the state and took full advantage of the expense account opportunities by submitting fraudulent expenses ensuring they received reimbursement far in excess of their actual expenses.

Because the mayor knew Howland would find unacceptable the plots to burn the paper down and to kill the young publisher, the councilman was not aware of those crimes until the headlines blazed across the Crier front page.

In fact, after a conversation with Wayne Adkins, Howland was certain Samuel and his brother just went off on their own in both the fire and roadblock crimes.

While those two crimes went way beyond anything in which he’d be remotely involved, Howland wasn’t above sending the Crier publisher a message.

He was with the mayor in front of the Crier office the day Lawnsville’s chief executive ordered the police chief to detain Crier route drivers and impound their cars with the paper’s daybefore primary election edition.

Ben Howland’s only disagreement with the mayor in the six years both served on the city council was when Wayne Adkins assaulted the handcuffed Crier publisher in the mayor’s city hall office. The two never spoke about the incident, but the mayor was aware it permanently fractured their relationship.

When the mayor was charged with the beating, Benjamin Howland began thinking about running for mayor in the next city election.

Once the mayor was indicted for his part in the conspiracies to burn the paper and murder Rick Hill, Howland moved quickly to seek the support of other council members to be appointed mayor if Wayne Adkins was convicted.

Next, he talked with Red Bell about getting solid old-line support for the city election. Red was non-committal initially, but later after talking with Charles, Red let Ben know old-line support would be there when the time came.

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As a result of that encouragement, Howland contacted oldline stalwarts in the city and established the foundation for a solid organization in every city precinct.

After Red and Charles were charged with the federal crimes, Ben was concerned those developments could have a negative impact on his efforts. But when he checked back with those would-be supporters, he found them as strong if not stronger in their support for his run for mayor.

Ben didn’t comment as nearly all of them ranted about the lies printed in the Crier about Red, Charles, Wayne Adkins, and the old-line candidates and officeholders.

“It has been a terrible time for us. I appreciate your helping in this election so we can straighten things out,” he responded.

Long before Howland’s moves, Baxter and his reformers were well along with preparation for a strong slate of candidates for the next city election. Those efforts began just after the old-line’s debacle in the primary. Baxter was well aware of the behind-thescenes maneuvering Howland was taking to position himself to succeed Wayne Adkins.

Part of Howland’s plan was to replace on his slate all of the other incumbent members of the council in hopes of separating the slate as much as possible from the administration of Wayne Adkins. One of his motivating factors for seeking the office was the under-the-table monetary opportunities available to him as mayor.

Ben Howland had already approached a former county road superintendent to serve as city street commission. Howland made the selection because the former county road superintendent was well versed in inflating the price of paving contracts which would allow for kickbacks for both from a favored contractor.

The old line had always been strong in the city of Lawnsville, so Baxter was certain it would be a tough fight. He planned on tying all the mess with the Johnson brothers and the former mayor to Howland since he was known to be a strong supporter of the now-convicted former mayor.

Ben also had ambitions beyond the Lawnsville city limits.

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Despite facing sentencing for voter fraud and a federal bribery trial, Red Bell continued to go into the cleaners six days a week.

Over the past week, nearly all of his campaign committee had stopped by to say how sorry they were and sending best wishes to Red’s family. Several broached the subject of what would happen to the old-line political machine while both he and Charles were “away” as they delicately put it.

Of the six on the committee, Red thought only Joe Brown (Joseph P. Brown, III), the most reserved and thoughtful of the members, had the grasp of the overall countywide political landscape to step in and lead the old-line Jordan County political operation. Joe’s father and grandfather had both been members of the campaign committee in years past and had established a solid reputation for the family in political circles across Jordan County.

In addition, Joe was also acquainted with all of the old-line contacts in the adjacent counties, so he would be able to hold together the regional political coalition to attract “organizational expenses” from statewide candidates in the election campaign, particularly the primaries. Also, Red felt the others on the committee would respond well to Joe’s type of leadership, follow him, and remain loyal.

He knew after his time in prison (he didn’t see how he could avoid it) he and his wife would move to Florida and spend at least six months a year there. And maybe even become permanent residents of the Sunshine State. But he felt a certain loyalty to those who had supported his efforts for the old-line over the years. So, he would try and come up with a plan for it to continue as a political force in Jordan County.

He’d heard the rumors that Ben Howland was exploring ways to expand his influence in Jordan County. Howland had a good reputation in Lawnsville generally. But in political contracts with the aspiring city politician, Red found him to have bad judgment and an arrogance that was unsettling. Further, Red felt Howland was ambitious to the point of not being a dependable member of the team if he could advance himself.

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In addition to wanting to succeed Wayne Adkins, Benjamin Howland did indeed hope to maneuver himself to take over the countywide old-line political machine. He knew Red’s support would be key. Ben’s motivation was as much monetary as political.

It had been so easy for him to make a few hundred dollars from steering city vehicle purchases to his brother-in-law, who just happened to be a local auto dealer. He thought about the considerable monetary possibilities if he could influence the direction of the millions in annual purchases made by Jordan County, as well as what statewide candidates would pay to be on the old-line slate in Jordan and surrounding counties. On top of that, he was counting up what he would be able to squeeze out of local candidates. He made a note to stop by and see how Red felt about his county ambitions.

“Well, Ben, we’ve been close over the years, but I really think you will have your hands full running for mayor. Then it’ll take a lot of time to straightened out the mess Wayne left at City Hall,” Red said with a bit more bluntness than normally found its way into his conversations.

“You might be right, Red. I know Baxter has been working on putting together a slate for mayor and council. It’ll be a tough race for us. Hope you’ll do what you can to help us,” Howland said, realizing his plans to take over the county-wide old-line machine would have to wait a year or two.

“I’ll do what I can, but I just don’t have a lot of time. I think you’ll run strong for mayor. I’m spending a lot of time with the family now the trial is coming up,” Red said, resigned to the fact Ben Howland would take over city government.

Howland wasn’t as confident about winning the Democrat primary for mayor, given the strong organization Baxter was putting together. Ben decided he needed some insurance.

He settled on a behind-the-scenes maneuver that could bring him and his slate victory. It was time for an out-of-the-way breakfast.

“Tom, if you don’t do this, Baxter and that bunch could win the mayor and all the council seats,” Ben Howland said to his closest ally on the council.

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“It’s really wild. Do you really think we can pull it off? I had planned we would be on the slate together,” Tom Arrington mildly protested.

“Well, we’ll have Leslie James running for council on our slate. He’s not well. Once we win, I believe it’ll be easy to get him to resign. I’ll support appointing you to that vacancy,” Howland said, laying out the scheme.

“The important thing is for you to run totally against Wayne’s method of governing. Come out strong against everything Wayne stood for,” Howland continued.

“That will have you and Preston Bigelow making the same points. That puts you close to Baxter’s slate – that’ll split the ‘change vote.’ I’ll run a middle-of-the-road campaign. So, I’ll have the solid old-line vote.”

“I think it’ll guarantee me and the slate winning. Then when Leslie James resigns, we’ll appoint you to the vacancy,” Howland said, pushing an envelope across the table – deal sealed.

Ben always liked the out-of-the-way dining room at Bluestem State Park lodge.

Tom Arrington walked into the city clerk’s office ten minutes before the filing deadline for the Lawnsville city primary election.

“My, my, this will make things interesting,” the bewildered city clerk said upon reviewing the filing papers.

“I just think we need a change. I’ll be running hard for this.

Ben and I just had a falling out,” Arrington said as he wrote the check for the filing fee.

Baxter was stunned as he read Tom Arrington’s announcement on the Crier’s front page. What in the world is going on? This has Ben Howland’s fingerprints all over it, Baxter thought.

Questions were bouncing off the Crier office walls when Arrington handed Rick the announcement.

“Thought you might be running with Ben in this one,” the Crier publisher observed.

“Well, things change sometimes,” Arrington responded mildly.

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Campaigning was spirited among the three candidates for mayor. Arrington was running by himself while the other two had full slates for the council seats.

During the candidate forums held in Lawnsville’s various neighborhoods, Howland and his fellow slate members took a low-key approach sticking to safe issues.

Preston Bigelow, the reformer mayoral candidate, called for change and to give the city government back to the people. Tom Arlington agreed with most of what Bigelow said, with one major difference – emphasizing he had much more experience in city government than anyone on the reformer slate, therefore, knew how to make change happen.

Crier stories on the candidate forums reflected the “need for change” message from Bigelow and Arlington, with the Howland slate offering a middle-of-the-road message - standing alone just as Howland had planned.

Howland’s strategy worked – he and three of his five council candidates won. Thelma Gleeson, a reformer candidate, won by 13 votes and independent candidate Fredrick “Freddie” Smithson, a local furniture store owner, won the fifth council seat by 25 votes. Since Leslie James was one of Howland’s slate to lose, so the new mayor didn’t have to worry about making good on his pre-election commitment to Tom Arlington.

Baxter was pleasantly surprised. He had expected Ben Howland and his slate to make a clean sweep. Lawnsville was the only place in Jordan County where the old-line maintained a strong base.

Baxter and Freddie were friends from their high school days, so Baxter was confident they could work together on many issues coming before the council. The two had several friendly conversations during the campaign.

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66 A Dirty Crystal Ball Sheriff Eddy Bill was disturbed almost immediately by the Howland administration. The new mayor had maneuvered to replace the Lawnsville police chief, Aubrey Wyatt, with Lance Frankford, a Jordan county native who has served as chief sheriff ’s deputy in adjoining Franklin County. Through the local law enforcement grapevine, Eddy Bill learned Frankford was suspected of getting kickbacks in his former job for protecting establishments that had gambling operations. The sheriff was not the only one in Lawnsville uneasy about the new city administration.

Rick Hill remembered Ben Howland was standing beside Wayne Adkins when the then-mayor had ordered route drivers’ cars carrying the Crier day-before-election edition be impounded by the city police.

Howland’s administration started out strong. He announced an extensive three-phased paving program to repair longneglected city streets. His hand-picked street commission selected a paving contractor who understood his inflated price was accepted so he could pay a significant kickback that would be split by the mayor and street commissioner.

Pictures of Mayor Howland cutting ribbons opening the newly repaved streets frequently appeared on the Crier’s front page. To Rick Hill, it seemed Howland was doing a good job of running the city. At least that’s how it initially appeared.

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Then the publisher visited the sheriff on another matter and asked about the new city administration.

“What do you know about the new police chief?” Rick inquired, anxious to get the sheriff ’s opinion.

The silence before the answer hung over the sheriff ’s office like a foreboding omen – a loud squeak came from the chair as Eddy Bill shifted uncomfortably.

“Haven’t heard too much about him since he took the job,” Eddy Bill crawfished - his best dancing shoes on.

Rick Hill’s ears perked up.

“Well, what did you hear about him before he took the job?” the Crier publisher pressed.

“You’re not giving up, are you?”

“You don’t seem happy. What’s up?” the Crier publisher asked.

“Let’s just say it was easy to gamble in Franklin County when he was chief deputy. That’s what I heard.”

Given the Jordan County’s Sheriff ’s excellent reputation for law enforcement, Rick Hill was certain such reports greatly disturbed Eddy Bill.

“Anything else?” Rick asked.

“Might want to watch him. That’s all I’ve got to say,” the sheriff concluded.

“The next morning, Rick Hill took a stroll to a part of Lawnsville he rarely ever visited. Looking through a grimy window, he could see Avery was already hard at work getting ready for his early lunch crowd.

Avery unlocked the door, curious why Rick was visiting, “What can I do for you. Are you lost?”

“Oh, just curious about something and thought you might be able to help me. Thought maybe it was time for you to return a favor,” Rick said mildly, alluding to the fact that none of the Crier fire or roadblock stories had ever mentioned the three thugs had been recruited at Avery’s. It was simple for Rick. That fact wasn’t pertinent to the crimes.

Avery was wary of what was to follow.

“Any gambling going on around town recently?” the Crier publisher asked.

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“Not here, not now. Folks do like to try their luck every now and then,” Avery answered a bit too quickly.

“Anywhere else in town?” Rick Hill asked. The Crier publisher noticed Avery’s back room that always had been closed off had been opened up and saw tables that hadn’t been there on his last visit.

“Oh, when new people come into office, things change. Can’t say anymore,” Avery answered before returning to his sweeping.

“Your back room looks nice,” Rick said as he left. Avery knew his lie was exposed.

Combined with the sheriff ’s comments, the subtle hint from Avery just might point toward a situation which the Crier publisher should be watching closely.

Rick thought about visiting the two beer joints down from Avery’s but decided to leave those visits for another day.

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67 Heeeeee’s Back “Getting out of his car behind the Crier building, Rick was surprised to see the once official Lawnsville town drunk coming toward him. “Hey Lester, thought you had moved to Florida permanently,” Rick greeted while exchanging a handshake.

“Decided to come back for a visit and do some fishing,” came the mumbled response.

“Anything new?” Rick asked, remembering the news tips Lester has provided over the years.

“Couple of guys got beat up bad outside Oswald’s late last night. Then the police came, beat ‘em up some more, and took them both to jail. Might have even taken them to the hospital.

From what I could hear, they owned money or something. I couldn’t hear it all. You got a couple of bucks?”

“No, but you can go up to Susie’s, get breakfast and tell her I’ll be in later today to pay the bill,” came the response. That was the same arrangement the two had had before Lester departed for his sister’s in Florida.

Rick called Billie Amherst into his office and shut the door, “Could you check with your daughter at the emergency room and see if the city police brought two guys in for treatment late last night or early this morning? Just got wind of something might have happened.”

“Yes, I’ll check. We’re having lunch today.

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“Tell her to keep the question between you all – just checking something out,” the Crier publisher cautioned.

“You bet I will,” Billie responded, welcoming the chance to cover something other than weddings, obituaries, club meetings, and birthdays.

Wearing a deep frown after returning from lunch, the community news editor motioned Rick toward his office. She carefully closed the door, the frown even more pronounced.

“You can’t let anybody know where this came from. She’d lose her job for sure. The police did bring two guys in late last night.

The doctor sewed ‘em up - – cut heads, busted lips. The doctor said it looked like brass knuckles or something like that was used.

“One said they were playing poker out at Oswald’s in the back room and caught the dealer dealing off the bottom of the deck, they mouthed off, and the fight started, and they got thrown out on the street. The police came and beat them again and then took them to the emergency room and then to jail. Are you doing a story, Rick?”

“Not sure there’s one out there. Thanks for checking.”

Rick Hill initially decided against doing a story on the fights.

That changed when he received reports four successive Monday mornings about weekend fights outside the bars. Lester Brown had witnessed several of the fights from the shadows.

Rick was working on the piece to run in a couple of days when an interesting thing came out of the blue.

Again, a perchance meeting between two old friends brought the Crier publisher another piece of the puzzle.

Billie Amherst picking up some vegetables for a special birthday dinner for her daughter, bumped into an old friend in front of the tomatoes.

“What’s wrong? You seem worried,” the Crier community news editor asked her life-long friend.

“You know, I’ve been working a little bit part-time down at the state police office – the extra money really came in handy.

Well, they are cutting me back because one of the troopers is getting transferred up north,” she explained.

“Sounds strange. Why?” Billie asked, sensing a possible story.

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“They’ve got orders not to patrol in Lawnsville at all. They got a call from Charleston and one of our troopers was transferred the next day. Since the city police force is small, the state police have been doing that for years,” Billie’s friend explained.

After talking about their kids and grandkids, the two said their goodbyes.

“I just love that grocery store,” Billie said as she entered Rick’s brand spanking new office.

When Billie related the conversation with her friend, it didn’t make sense to Rick. And he wondered why the state police were called off patrolling in an area of Lawnsville that was having fights in the streets.

“I think we might have a story here,” he told himself.

Next, the Crier publisher called the Office of the State Police Superintendent in the State Capitol about reports of cutbacks in patrols in Lawnsville.

“I’m not aware of any cutbacks at this time. We’re still undergoing some reorganization with the establishment of the new Department of Public Safely. Suggest you call the director’s office,” the superintendent dodged.

“There is some redeployment taking place. We find more of a need in the larger counties. So, some of the smaller counties that have had their own detachments will be sharing one with another county or two. It’s still being worked out. We should have an announcement in another week or two,” said the pastyvoiced spokesman for the new department of public safety.

Rick felt the answer had enough manure to adequately fertilize a good-size garden. Where do they find these people, he thought as he turned to his typewriter.

The story was not splashed across the top of page one, but rather a two-column one just above the fold.

It was a delicate situation, but one Rick felt needed to be addressed in the Crier beyond the small news story. So, the Crier publisher decided one of his rare page one columns would be the best way to approach. He would offer the mayor and police chief the chance to respond and include their explanations.

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Mayor, Police Chief Say Reports of Brawlson City Streets Unfounded; Can’t Explain State Police Patrols Ending in Lawnsville “According to reports reaching the Crier, brawls on Lawnsville streets are becoming a regular occurrence on every weekend night near the intersection of Third Avenue and Winter Street.

Those reports indicate that as many as six people are involved in each of the altercations, and that city police have responded.

“However, Lawnsville police records don’t include arrests for such offenses. Lawnsville City Police Chief Lance Frankford has told the Crier that such reports are gross exaggerations of what amounted to no more than a few verbal confrontations.

“Business owners in the area have told the Crier they are not aware of the degree of fighting that has been reported to this newspaper. They tend to back up what Chief Frankford said in a Crier interview.

“The Crier doesn’t normally respond in this manner to reports of this nature. However, given that the reports came from individuals in different parts of Lawnsville, from people that don’t seem to have an ax to grind, we felt a column on the subject was merited.

“Mayor Ben Howland told the Crier he has received no reports of fighting in that area. He added he was very surprised at the reports reaching the Crier.

“When this writer informed him that such reports were received each of the last four Monday mornings, the mayor said he suspected some of his political enemies were trying to discredit the outstanding job he’s doing as mayor.

“Another aspect of law enforcement in Lawnsville that leaves us with questions is the fact that state police have ceased occasionally patrolling city streets. According to the new Department of Public Safety, the change is part of a policy being implemented by the Governor Sammy Monroe Administration.

Both Mayor Howland and Chief Frankford said they didn’t know the change had been made.

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“Of course, we found the reports of fights on city streets to be troubling and were happy to give the mayor and police chief the opportunity to explain the situation to Crier readers.”

Ever the brown-noser, Ben Howland called expressing his appreciation to Rick for the opportunity to explain the situation to the citizens of Lawnsville. The call came after he and the police chief had a closed-door meeting to discuss the Crier column.

Police Chief Lance Frankford was not quite so enthusiastic about the item on the Crier’s front page. During that discussion, the police chief gave the mayor $250 cash as his cut from the slot machine vendor, the beer distributor, and the weekly payments from the three bars.

“Tell the guys running the machines and poker tables to keep that damned trouble inside. I’m sure folks will be watching really close after that article,” the mayor explained.

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68 A Warning Met with Warning Normally, the community news editor stopped by City Hall each morning to get a copy of the daily police log, but because of the Crier column on the reported street fights, the city police chief decided a message needed to be delivered.

The Crier publisher was surprised to see the chief and responded to his request for a private conversation by motioning to his office.

Declining the offer of a chair, the chief stood – thinking his 6’ 2” frame towering in front of the old desk would intimidate the 5’ 8” Crier publisher sitting behind it.

“Brought the police log over today because I wanted to give you a message. First, we don’t need the state police to patrol streets in Lawnsville. And I suggest it’s best if you just ignore any reports of trouble out by the bars.”

“Why’s that?” Rick Hill responded, his eyes never leaving those of the chief.

“Well, we wouldn’t want any other trouble to come over to this neighborhood around the Crier like happened before. This is such a nice new building,” the chief calmly said, clearly alluding to the Crier fire.

“Well, don’t know why you’d say that,” Rick said.

“Just a warning, people sometimes get riled up about what they see in the Crier,” the Lawnsville police chief glared.

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“Chief, I want to remind you the people that did that are locked in federal prisons and will be spending a lot of years there.

And you know the best way for you to keep the stories about the street fighting out of the paper is to make sure it doesn’t happen anymore. I appreciate your bringing over the police report by, thanks,” the Crier publisher concluded with a handshake.

Confused that his threat and stature didn’t faze Rick Hill, the chief walked back to the City Hall, knowing he and the mayor needed to have a conversation.

“You did what?” Ben Howland asked, his face turning red.

“Lance, Rick Hill doesn’t scare. He got shot and that didn’t stop him. Don’t do that again. Do you understand? I’ll handle him. We have a good deal going. Now, just make sure we keep any trouble over there inside off the street. We know the feds are already watching Jordan County and we don’t need any trouble to get them in here again.

“Right now, the best way to handle this is don’t do anything, and I mean anything to upset Rick Hill,” the mayor explained, mindful of what the Crier stories had done to his predecessor.

“Got it. Hell, we don’t want the feds in here. I’ll talk to the folks that run the tables and slots and have them keep all that inside,” the chief agreed.

For the next two weeks, the Crier publisher didn’t get any calls about fights in the street. But he got three anonymous callers who said the earlier fights happened when folks who lost at poker tables claimed they had been cheated and began to complain.

The Assistant U. S. Attorney pushed a copy of Rick Hill’s column on the street fights across the table. “Seems that state police cut back on patrols in Lawnsville at the same time fighting from bars has spilled over into the streets. Such an order can only come from one place – the governor’s office. This could be a big one. Let’s come up with some options on checking this one out,” the U.S. Attorney suggested.

“That’s just bullshit” – he bellowed when he read the mayor and police chief maintained they didn’t’ know the state police patrols had stopped the patrols.

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69 Sit Down and Shut Up The federal prosecutor wasn’t the only one to find the situation troubling.

The city council agenda seemed pretty routine - a proclamation, pay bills, appointments to several city boards, and staff reports.

First, the street commission said two vehicles – a dump truck and a pick-up needed to be replaced as soon as possible. “We got a lot of work set for this spring and summer, and we don’t want to get behind because we don’t have the equipment we need.”

Next, the new police chief first reported one of the patrolmen was leaving and he would like to advertise for a replacement.

That got quick approval from the council.

Councilwomen Thelma Gleeson asked the chief about the reported fighting in front of the three bars.

The mayor cut her off, “Thelma, as the chief and I said in the Crier column that was all overblown and not anything more than some yelling. The chief has talked to the bar owners and it’s all taken care of.”

“Mayor, I’ve received calls from people who have seen the fights in the streets. I believe, if our police department can’t stop it, we need to get the state police patrols reinstated,” Thelma Gleeson pressed.

“That’s enough, Thelma. The chief has it under control. Those folks you’re talking to are lying. I don’t want to hear any more 268

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about it,” the mayor scolded before abruptly turning back to the police chief.

Next, the chief reported that two of the patrol cars needed to be replaced and were not dependable for even routine patrolling.

That got Rick’s attention - two departments requesting new vehicles at the same council meeting.

Without any discussion with the council, the mayor instructed both the chief and the street commissioner to get with the city clerk the following day, put out bid requests, and complete the process three days before the end of the week. That was different than how purchases had been handled in previous city administrations.

Councilwoman Gleeson asked when the two patrol cars being replaced were purchased. The chief responded curtly, “Before I got here. It seems they should have been replaced last year.”

“We’re not mechanics. Our vehicles are used constantly and we have to depend on our department heads to know when replacements are needed, Howland added equally dismissive.

Not deterred, Councilwoman Gleeson asked, “Do we know when the two trucks were purchased?”

The mayor’s response was even more dismissive, “Thelma, do you want us to go to work in the city garage? Both of these department heads are to get with the city clerk and go forward with getting bids for these purchases as soon as possible,” Howland nearly yelled as the gavel shattered when he brought it down adjourning the meeting.

“Thelma, keep your damned mouth shut when you don’t know what you’re talking about,” the mayor bellowed as he left the council table.

Rick turned to the councilwoman, “Comment?”

“No, what he said and the way he said it speaks for itself.

He’s out of line,” she answered. Rick could have sworn she had a twinkle in her eye.

Councilwoman, Mayor Clash Over City Vehicle Purchases

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Introduced Crier readers to the council meeting – only the third under the new Howland administration.

Rick Hill was not successful after the meeting finding out when the vehicles were initially purchased.

“That all happened under the former administration, and those records are not in our files,” the mayor explained to Rick as they walked out of council chambers. From the look on the city clerk’s face when she heard the comment, Rick was certain that was not the case.

Without the records to back him up, Rick was left with quoting the mayor on the lack of records in the story.

To those reading the Crier story about the vehicle purchases, it appeared to be routine business, so there was no negative reaction.

When Rick got the phone call about an emergency council meeting set for Saturday morning, he had no idea what was on the agenda. When he arrived, he found there was only one item – approval of the vehicle purchases for a total of $73,000.

Before calling for the vote, Howland explained the two trucks were needed to ensure essential city projects were completed during the spring and summer construction season and the two patrol cars were essential for public safety. Because it would take three weeks for the vehicles to arrive, quick action was required.

The council approved the bids to purchase the four vehicles – all from the same local dealership for $73,000. The mayor explained it was the only bid received. The vote was 3-1-1. The mayor’s three allies voted yes, Councilwoman Gleeson voted no and, Freddie Smithson, despite the glaring stare from the mayor, didn’t vote, saying there wasn’t enough information.

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70 Loud Voice from the Mailbox One of the enjoyments about Rick Hills’ daily trips to the post office was the unpredictability of the treks. This bright Monday morning, the totally unexpected occurred – nothing at all happened – not a lecture from the keeper of all things proper in Lawnsville, not an irate Crier subscriber whose paper was not delivered the day before – just quiet. Ahhhhh.

Amazed at his good fortune, Rick glanced at the mail as he took it out of the large box on the bottom row. He noticed an unusual larger envelope - the address was not handwritten or typed – it was letters clipped from ads in an earlier Crier edition.

Rick’s walk back to the Crier office was brisk – he wanted at that envelope as soon as possible.

“Wow!!!” as he laid the mysterious envelope’s contents on his cluttered desk, got up, and closed the office door.

First, there were complete records for all four vehicles being replaced - when they were purchased, the purchase price, as well as the mileage as of the prior week. Two had been purchased from separate city auto dealerships. The other two were purchased through the state’s blanket purchasing contract that was available to all local governments in the state.

The information also included the current state bulk purchase program price for the vehicles whose local purchase the Lawnsville council had just approved. The state price for the vehicles was 11% less than what the council approved.

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Rick decided he would not run a story on this information until the new city vehicles were actually delivered to the city.

Mayor Howland personally called Rick to announce that all four new vehicles would arrive at city hall just before noon the following day - two weeks earlier than had been announced at the last council meeting. The Crier publisher assured him he would be there with camera in hand. When he arrived, all city hall employees, the mayor, and three members of the city council were lined up next to the shiny vehicles along with the dealer ready to hand his brother-in-law, the mayor, the keys.

After getting his pictures, Rick asked the beaming mayor a question, “How do you all get the vehicles quicker than you mentioned in the council meeting?”

Nodding at the dealer, the mayor answered, “Jim here was able to work with the company to get them in earlier than we expected. He did a great job for us, and the prices were the lowest available to any city in the country. Jim really worked with us on this.”

“Did you consider going through the state bulk purchasing program to buy these vehicles?” the Crier publisher asked.

Displeasure crossed the mayor’s face for an instant before the plastic smile returned, “Oh, they say they get us a good price, but it’s inflated and takes forever to get the vehicles. I’ve talked to other mayors all over and hardly anybody uses the program.”

“Okay, thanks for calling me. The picture will be on the front page of tomorrow’s Crier,” Rick said as he turned to return to the office.

Just thinking of his picture with the new vehicles on the front page brought a broad grin to Ben Howland’s face, “Rick, thanks for coming. Let me know if there’s anything we can do.”

Rick Hill spent that afternoon on the phone interviewing officials at the state vehicle purchasing program and ten mayors from cities the same size as Lawnsville in adjacent counties and around the state that used the program.

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Leading off with the $8,000 over payment by the city, the Crier story included figures of the prices under the state purchasing program, followed by what the city paid. Also noted was the fact that local businesses normally had two weeks to submit bids to the city – for these vehicles, the time was cut to just two days, and there was only one bid – from the mayor’s brother-in-law’s dealership.

Included in the story were the quotes from Howland about how bad the state program was, followed by quotes from the ten mayors praising the program, including how much they saved their cities by using it.

Then the mayor was quoted about how the dealer had rushed the order through, saving the city a significant amount of money.

Immediately following was a quote from the head of the state purchasing program explaining that all the vehicles the city ordered were in the state inventory, ready for immediate pick-up.

Without referring to the actual mileage that he felt might identify his source, Rick noted that none of the vehicles replaced had reached the mileage the state recommended for replacement.

Bottom line was the story destroyed Ben Howland’s carefully created reputation as a careful steward of city tax dollars. While it wasn’t mentioned in the story, everyone in town knew the dealer praised by the mayor was married to Howland’s sister.

None of the three council members who voted to approve the vehicle purchases would comment for the Crier story.

Councilwoman Thelma Gleeson said, “I said the day of that vote, it was just being rushed through without any discussion or examination. I guess this proves I was correct.”

Freddie Smithson, the other member of the council, was more circumspect, “I just felt I didn’t have enough information to spend $73,000 of city money.” Then he delivered a zinger, “Now it seems those who voted for this didn’t have all the information either.”

After reading the story, the mayor was on the phone blasting both council members for their quotes. He ended the conversation with the Councilwoman, “And Thelma, you can forget about that playground equipment you wanted for the city park.”

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And to Smithson, “You stick to running your damned furniture store. You just don’t understand how this city works.”

Smithson responded, “Ben, you’re right about that. I don’t understand how this was handled and why. You have the city paying way more for these vehicles than we had to.”

Meanwhile, a mechanic at the dealership from which the new vehicles were purchased was confused by the Crier story.

Later that evening at Wednesday night Prayer Meeting, he told his cousin, the Crier sports editor, “You all got the story all wrong today. Those trucks and cars were all ordered over a month ago.”

“That’s interesting,” Tommy Brown responded, seemingly not interested in what he knew was a hot news tip.

“I’ll be damned,” Rick responded to the report on the church conversation.

“Not sure what we can do with this without getting him in trouble. I just file it away for now.”

“Jordan County’s at it again,” the assistant U.S. Attorney said as he placed several recent copies of the Crier in front of his boss.

“This doesn’t pass the smell test. Wonder if they used any federal funds to purchase those vehicles?”

“Check it out,” the U.S. Attorney instructed.

Rick Hill still hadn’t figured out who sent him the information about the vehicles, but he suspected he knew.

That was confirmed when Billie Amherst came in with an announcement from the mayor that a new city clerk has been appointed starting tomorrow.

“That’s a shame. She’s been there about 25 years,” Billie said.

“Billie, I’d like you to do a good story with pictures about her career with the city,” Rick requested. “I’ll have it ready next week, boss.”

There was a more troubling issue the Crier publisher kept hearing about. He was continuing to get calls about gambling in town but wasn’t sure how to approach it for a news story.

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71 Coming Up Snake-Eyes It was curiosity more than anything else that moved Jordan County’s Sheriff to agree to a visit by his Franklin County counterpart. Eddy Bill was aware the sheriff ’s former chief deputy who had become the new Lawnsville Police Chief was involved in gambling there. The Jordan County sheriff was certain that couldn’t have happened without the approval and involvement of the sheriff.

“I appreciate your taking the time to meet with me on short notice. Being next door and all, we should visit more often,” the self-confident Franklin County sheriff opened.

After some general chit-chat about the difficulties recruiting good deputies and observations about other sheriffs they knew around the state, Eddy Bill got right to the point, “You mentioned there was something important we need to talk about – what is it?”

“Boy, you get right to it. Eddy Bill. You know it’s not easy for us to make a living on our sheriff ’s salary. I’ve got an idea for you that’s helping me make ends meet. I mean, there’s some big money to be made,” the visitor from Franklin County began. His Jordan County counterpart remained silent, so he kept going. “It’s easy, and all you have to do is take your glasses off occasionally so you can’t see everything.”

Eddy Bill stood up. A fury seldom displayed shone in his eyes, “Stop right there. If you think you’re bringing that crap 275

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your old deputy started in Lawnsville into this county, you better think again. You even try it, and I’ll see your ass in federal prison for a very long time. Don’t you even think about it.”

Stunned, the 5’ 7” Franklin county lawman looked at the 6” 2” mountain standing in front of him and stuttered – “He’s on trial for things he did here. Got nothing to do with Franklin County.”

“Now, I’m not gonna stir things up for you. But that U.S. Attorney is meaner than a junkyard dog, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s looking at Franklin.”

“You’re passing up a lot of money, Eddy Bill.”

“You get your ass out of here and stay the hell out of Jordan County. If I hear a word you’re sneaking around, you’ll regret it the rest of your life. I guarantee it. Now get out of my sight,” Eddy Bill hissed with his hand on his holstered pistol sending a clear message.

Well, I’ve got two of the other counties around Franklin, so I guess I’ll have to be satisfied, the Franklin County sheriff thought as he hurried to get out of the Jordan County sheriff ’s office.

Eddy Bill knew he would have to be on the lookout to make sure the gambling operations from both Lawnsville and Franklin County didn’t take root in his county. But a larger question for the Jordan County sheriff was - what was he going to do with the information he gleaned from the visit of his Franklin County counterpart.

The answer was simple – what he always seemed to do when confronted with such a question – call the guy whose job it is to ferret out unsavory situations in Jordan County.

“Oh, my, this must be something special - you never call me.

I can hardly wait,” the Crier publisher chuckled on hearing Eddy Bill’s raspy voice.

“Now don’t be a smart ass,” came the swift retort. “If you want to associate with a lowlife, how about dropping by my office.”

“I have to be up at the clerk’s office to check a deed, so I’ll be up in an hour or so. This better be good,” Rick Hill said, his curiosity on overload. He could remember only one time in the last year the Jordan County Sheriff had called him. He hoped the 276

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sheriff was okay with him arriving 45 minutes before the agreedupon time.

“Well, come right in. I didn’t need lunch anyway,” Eddy Bill smiled when he saw who was knocking on his private office door.

“Same rules as always – can’t use my name or connect me with any of this. Okay?”

“Yes, but it better be good.” To the Crier publisher’s surprise, this news tip would be in league with his 85-year old bedridden anonymous news source.

“Seems like the folks from Franklin County want to move the gambling in all the counties down here. It’s the whole package not only the slots, but the poker, new beer distributor, high prices, kickbacks, and payoffs,” the county’s chief law enforcement officer laid out.

“How’d you find all this out?” Rick Hill asked.

“Let’s just say some folks from over in Franklin County thought the water in Jordan County looked good for swimming until they ran into a mean-ass alligator,” the sheriff responded.

“Not sure I can go with a story on this. I’ll have to think really hard on it. If I do a story, I’ll have to give you an official call,” the Crier publisher responded as he thanked Eddy Bill for the information.

“Sheriff, this is Rick Hill at the Crier. I’ve been hearing that folks might be trying to move gambling machines into some places out in the country, particularly near the state park. Heard anything about that?” Rick asked in his best reporter’s tone.

“That’s not going to happen. We keep a close watch for anything like that. On top of our patrols, there’s the state police.

We welcome having them around as another set of eyes and ears out in the county,” Eddy Bill explained, purposely taking a jab at the Lawnsville city administration.

Next, Rick called the two restaurants favored by guests at the state park, one of the largest in the state. The restaurant managers asked to go “off-the-record” before answering. Both said they hadn’t heard any such reports, but it’s something they’ve heard was going on over in adjoining Franklin County. One noted he’d heard the Franklin County sheriff might be involved somehow.

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72 Lawnsville Shakedown and it Ain’t a Dance It turns out Rick Hill and the sheriff weren’t the only ones in town concerned about the new city administration.

“Ben’s taking up where Wayne Adkins left off,” Baxter said to Rick Hill after reading the vehicle story.

“Yes, it’s a little hard to keep up with. What else is going on?”

“Gambling at the Brown Derby, I hear. There’s a fight outside there nearly every night and the police are ignoring it,” Baxter told him.

“You can’t be serious. So those reports I got were true?” Rick said.

“Wish they weren’t. You might not know it, but I went to high school with George Buffington, who runs the Brown Derby just up from Avery’s and Oswald’s.

“We’re still pretty close. I think he has a story you might want to hear,” Baxter offered.

“Fine, tell him to come into the office any time.”

“That just won’t work. Think you could drop by my mother’s some evening this week? I ask George to drop by. I do believe it’s that important,” Baxter said in a serious tone the Crier publisher hadn’t heard since the controversies before last year’s primary election.

“Sure, let me know which night works and I’ll be there.”

George Buffington was a slight man, only about 5’ 6” but solid muscle. The operator of one of Lawnsville’s popular backstreet 278

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bars was sipping a cup of tea from Baxter’s mother’s best china when the Crier publisher arrived.

When she was sure everyone had an ample supply of her homemade cookies, Mrs. Edwards departed to leave the three alone around the round oak table in her spotless kitchen.

With his mother out of earshot, Baxter turns to Rick, “I thought you should hear this story directly from George.

“Thank you for coming, Mr. Hill. Baxter says I can trust you not to tell anyone what I’m going to say. Is that true?”

“It’s hard to commit until I hear what you’re going to say, but you have my word,” Rick responded.

“A couple of weeks ago, the new police chief came down to the Derby one afternoon before we opened. I run a tight ship, maybe a tip board or two every now and then, but nothing more than that.

“He said things were going to change in town, and he wanted me to be part of it. He explained everybody in town was going to be renting their jukeboxes and pinball machines from a friend of his over in Franklin County. And they would also be putting in slot machines in the back rooms. Also, he said the other joints in town would be buying some of their beer from a beer distributor over in Franklin County.

“I told him I wasn’t interested.

He said he was sorry to hear that and left.

The next Saturday night, one of the city patrol cars parked right out in front of the Derby. They stopped just about everybody that came out. Hell, none of them had more than two beers.

“That next Monday, the chief came back and asked if I’d reconsidered his offer. I got a little hot under the collar and told him to back off that I wouldn’t be threatened.

“Again, he said he was sorry to hear that and just got up and left.

“Then the following Saturday night, these three guys – big guys I’d never seen before, came in the Derby. They started acting up, getting loud, and one threw a punch at one of my regulars.

Before it was over, I nearly had a riot – table and chairs broken.

One of those guys even threw a chair through my front window.

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“The police came in, arrested three of my regulars, and let the three guys go that started it all.

“On that next Monday, the chief came back and asked if I’d gotten the message. It was evident he was aiming to close me down unless I took the machines and bought beer from his friend. I agreed.

“They’ve put in the machines and I’ve received the first beer delivery. Is there anything you can do, Mr. Hill?”

Shaking his head, the Crier publisher said, “I have to think about this a bit. I’ve never heard anything like this. Have you Baxter?”

“The only thing I know about is right after the war, there was a little poker played in some of the back rooms. It didn’t last long.

But never anything like this.”

“I appreciate your telling me your story. Will you consider sharing it with the federal authorities?”

“Mr. Hill, I’ll have to think about that. The Derby is all I have.

And I don’t think the feds would give a damn about it.”

“You might be surprised about that. George, it might be the only way to clean this up,” Baxter interjected.

“I was wondering how the chief was going to make any money out of all this?” Rick asked.

“Oh, I didn’t mention that. He stops by every Monday and picks up $100 from me,” George said. “And I’m sure he gets something from the machine company and the beer distributor.

“George, think about this - if you don’t do something, you’ll lose everything you’ve worked for and built over the last 20 years,” Rick tried one last time.

Looking at Baxter with tears in his eyes, George straightened his back and said,” I’ll talk to the feds and help any way I can.”

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73 When Standing up Makes Short Tall Rick took the crumpled piece of paper from his desk drawer and dialed.

“Well, I haven’t heard from you in such a long time I was beginning to think Jordan County has become pure as the driven snow,” the U.S. Attorney chuckled after he heard Rick’s greeting.

“I didn’t want to bother you until I had a good one. And I’m surprised you can’t smell this one all the way to Charleston. I hate to ask, but do you have any time on Saturday to see me?” the Crier publisher asked.

“I usually come in for a couple of hours Saturday mornings and I can ask one of the investigators to join us,” the federal prosecutor answered, now fully focused on the conversation.

After Rick Hill completed his story, the investigator’s right hand throbbed with a severe case of writer’s cramp.

“Rick, I appreciate your coming down with this. Our chance for a case depends on Mr. Buffington.

“You need to go back and have him agree to meet with Joe here tomorrow evening.”

Rick agreed. After the publisher departed, the U.S. Attorney turned to his lead investigator, “Amazing all this can happen in one little town.”

“You need to get down there tomorrow and talk to Mr. Buffington about wearing a Nagra when he makes the payment to the police chief Monday. We’ll need the chief to talk about the 281

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details of the deal with the new beer distributor and about the slot machines.

“No doubt the mayor’s in the middle of this. Not sure we can get the evidence we need on him, but maybe we can get the chief to roll over once he’s arrested and indicted.

When Rick stopped to get something to eat on the way back to Lawnsville, he called Baxter and, without telling him the details, said it was essential that George meet with the federal investigator the next evening.

Grasping the importance of the matter since Rick called from the road rather than waiting until he got back to Lawnsville, Baxter had an intense conversation with his former high school best friend.

When George heard all he had to do when the Lawnsville police chief came for the payoff, his enthusiasm waned a bit. “I don’t’ know if I can remember all this.”

“Look at it this way, just confirm what he’s already told you.

You’ll do fine,” the federal investigator said with more confidence than he felt.

“Be sure and ask him will the $100 payment increase in the future and how much will you make off the slot machines.”

When they left the Sunday meeting, the federal investigator wasn’t optimistic that George Buffington was up to the task.

On Monday, on his way to his meeting with the Lawnsville police chief, Buffington stopped at Baxter’s mother’s house to meet the federal investigator who would install the Nagra recorder.

George Buffington was a different man. He repeated almost word for word the instructions the federal agent had given him the night before. He had a solid plan to lead the police chief to make incriminating statements.

When Lance Frankford walked in the Brown Derby, he was delighted to see a scared George Buffington in a corner of the bar sweeping and completely intimidated.

The bar owner’s hand trembled as he handed over the five $20 bills whose serial numbers were in the federal files.

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As part of his intimidation, the chief slowly counted out the five bills on the bar in front of the bar owner.

“How the machines do Saturday night?” the chief asked.

“Couple of guys got mad when they didn’t win, but the fellow the company sent quieted them down real fast. I wish I could keep a little more of that money from the slots. Hard to make anything when they take so much.”

“Well, I can have the company increase the odds for the house on the slots. That ought to give you a little more. I’ll call him today and have him send somebody over to make the adjustment. And they are getting some new slots from Ohio and I can have them bring one of those over too.”

“Don’t want the others in town to be paying off more than me. Can you make sure I’ll pay out the same as them? If that got around town, it would hurt my business really bad.”

“Sure, I’ll talk with them tomorrow. How’s the poker going in the back?” the Lawnsville police chief asked.

“Well, to be truthful, that’s causing the most trouble, particularly when they get liquored up. With them bringing in the dealers from over in Franklin, it seems folks think they are getting cheated. And I don’t make a lot on that side. Any way to get a little more on the poker?” Buffington said.

“You’ll just have to get used to that. It’s all part of the package.”

“That rent on the jukebox and pinball machines is a lot higher than the ones I had before. I’d like to go back to that company.

Okay?” Buffington asked.

Standing up, Lance Frankford’s six-foot-three inches towering over the bar owner, “Now you listen to me, Buffington.

The jukeboxes, pinballs, slots, poker game, and beer distributor are all part of the package – got it? If you don’t like it, just remember I can shut you down in a heartbeat. Put a patrol car out front and arrest everybody that comes out of this dump. I got a new patrolman coming in that specializes in making sure everyone stays with the package. So forget about any changes.

Understand?”

Backing away from the towering menace, George Buffington nervously asked about another aspect of the arrangement.

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“Right now, me just starting out, the $100 a week is a putting a dent in my business. Will that get any higher? Can it go lower?” the Brown Derby owner asked.

“Once this gets rolling and folks start coming in from out in the county, you’ll be rolling in the money. And besides, I don’t keep all the hundred. Got to share it with the boss when he gets back in town Friday. He’s at a meeting in Charleston. See you next Monday,” the chief of police said as he headed for the door, then he turned around.

“Anything else, Buffington?”

“Another thing I was worried about is the state police patrols out front, but they haven’t been around for a week or so. They were driving by a couple of times every Saturday night. I was afraid they might raid me. But it’s stopped now,” the Derby owner said.

“Yeah, I noticed that too, and we had it stopped. You don’t have to worry about the state police patrolling anymore.

Anything else, Buffington? See you next Monday,” the Lawnsville Police Chief said his shakedown mission completed.

About an hour or so before the bar’s normal rush hour, George went home for an early dinner. The federal investigator was there to retrieve the Nagra. “How’d it go? Where you able to cover all the questions we went over?”

“I hope so. It all went so fast,” Buffington said.

“He talked a lot and commented on everything I said. I just can’t remember it all.”

“Need to check-in. Can I use your phone to call the office? I’ll reverse the charges?” the investigator said.

Once he told the U.S. Attorney that nearly the whole tape had run out, he was assured his colleagues would be there to review the tape that evening. He returned to debrief George Buffington further.

“Let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help. He really enjoyed giving me a rough time, playing the big shot.

What’s next?” the Brown Derby owner asked.

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Charleston next week. I’ll be in touch. There’s one thing I’d like to suggest you might want to do that could us get to the bottom of this mess.”

George Buffington responded to the federal investigator’s suggestion, “Sounds like a great idea.”

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74 Self-Applied Handcuffs On the drive back to Charleston, the federal investigator was tempted to turn on his flashing lights to rush to get the review of the tape recording underway. He knew it was possible that George Buffington had completely botched everything which would put the whole investigation back to square one.

When he heard how nervous the Brown Derby owner was, the U.S. Attorney said, “I think we might just have to start over, but since we’re all here, let’s listen to it anyway.”

For five minutes, the arrogant Lawnsville law enforcement officer berated the Brown Derby owner for doing just about everything wrong – nothing remotely connected with a federal crime.

“What a waste of time. I missed dinner for this crap,” one young investigator offered. Heads nodded in agreement around the table.

Then their collective mouths dropped open.

“Play that again,” the U.S. attorney ordered, certain he hadn’t heard the police chief ’s comment correctly.

He’d heard it right – the police chief actually said illegal slot machines were being brought into West Virginia from Ohio. But that revelation faded in importance as the tape continued.

“He discussed details of the payoff and that he was forcing the same thing on the other bars in Lawnsville. I can’t believe

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it. Never heard anything like this,” one of the amazed federal investigators observed.

Then the room went silent again as the tape continued.

And just when the federal prosecutors were convinced the case couldn’t get any tighter, they heard the Lawnsville police chief said, “And besides, I don’t keep all the hundred. Got to share it with the boss when he gets back in town Friday. He’s at a meeting in Charleston.”

Thinking nothing could top what the federal agents had already heard, the chief investigator reached to turn off the recording when the words “state police” were heard. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks and returned to their seats.

“So, he has connections that can control what the state police do? This takes us to a whole new level.

“We need Mr. Buffington here for the grand jury and we need agents in Lawnsville Friday afternoon. Check and see what meeting the mayor might be attending here,” the U.S. Attorney instructed as he adjourned the meeting.

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75 Andrew Jacksons Spring Trap Ben Howland left his final session of the municipal conference just before noon and began the two-and-a-half-hour drive to Lawnsville, not noticing the plain four-door sedan behind him as he pulled out of the hotel parking lot.

At 1:00 p.m. in Lawnsville, another bland federal four-door sedan, one of two in town, began following Police Chief Lance Frankford – to the city garage, to Freddie Smithson’s furniture store, the dentist’s office, and back to city hall at 2:15. About 15 minutes later, Ben Howland arrived from Charleston.

The agents waited about 10 minutes, entered city hall, and went directly into the mayor’s office without knocking. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” the mayor yelled before going silent when both he and the police chief saw the badges and were handed federal search warrants. Specifically mentioned in the warrants were the $20 bills in the wallets of the two city officials.

Two agents took the chief to his office while their colleagues remained with the mayor. Both teams of agents with surgical gloves took the wallets, placed them on a table and removed all the $20 bills and placed them in a metal box, and locked each with a padlock.

“So they don’t pay you enough, so you’re taking money from people’s wallets?” the chief of police said.

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“What this all about? We deserve some explanation,” Ben Howland, the calmer of the two, asked.

“We are taking these to Charleston for examination. Thanks for your time,” the lead federal agent said as they left as suddenly as they had arrived.

After the agents departed, the mayor and police chief went into the mayor’s office and shut the door.

“What do you think this is all about?” the chief asked.

“Have no idea. They took all the $20 bills, including the three you just gave me. What about you?

“The same for me,” the chief responded.

Billie Amherst got a call from a neighbor who happened to be at city hall paying her water bill when the agents arrived.

“I don’t know what was going on, but these four guys in suits handed the mayor and police chief legal-looking papers, then took them into separate offices and came out with these steel boxes with padlocks on them. Ben and the police chief didn’t look too happy when those guys left. Thought you might like to know, Billie.”

Listening to Billie’s report and sensing her excitement, Rick asked her to follow up with the mayor to see what’s going on.

The mayor would be on guard if he called. Billie was known for her light-hearted features and reports on Lawnsville’s myriad of clubs and organizations rather than hard-hitting journalism.

That just might cause Ben to let his guard down. Rick knew she’d ask the right questions.

He would wait for her report before calling the police chief.

“The mayor just said they were federal agents with a search warrant and took money from his wallet and locked it in a steel box. Said he didn’t have any idea what it was all about, and the federal agents wouldn’t answer any of his questions. Said he had no idea what they were doing with the police chief,” Billie said.

“What should I do?”

“Let’s talk after I talk to the police chief. Maybe there’s nothing to it,” Rick said, knowing full-well that federal agents visiting the Lawnsville City Hall indicated there indeed “was something to it.”

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The Crier publisher didn’t have as easy a time with Lance Frankford. “I don’t have any idea why they were here. Took the mayor and me into separate rooms. That’s all I have to say. Don’t call me back,” the chief said before the click.

Rick’s next call was to the U.S. Attorney’s Public Information Officer (PIO), “We got a report that some of your investigators visited our mayor and police chief today. What’s going on?”

Promising to call back within thirty minutes, the federal public relations staffer said he had to check on it.

“All I can say is agents from our office were in Lawnsville today and did visit city hall,” came the response to Rick twenty minutes later.

“Is it part of an investigation of some type?” Rick pressed, knowing he was going up against an impenetrable stonewall.

“All I can say is agents from our office were in Lawnsville today and did visit city hall,” the echo came back.

Federal Agents Visit Mayor, Police Chief at City Hall Take Money From Wallets, Leave with Padlocked Boxes “Four federal agents from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Charleston visited Lawnsville City Hall yesterday, served search warrants on Mayor Ben Howland and Police Chief Lance Frankford, met with them in separate offices, took currency from their wallets, locked it in two padlocked boxes, and left.

“Both the mayor and the police chief said they had no idea the reason for the federal agents’ visit.

“The U.S. Attorney’s office would only confirm federal agents visited the Lawnsville City Hall yesterday. The office would not respond when asked if the visit was part of a federal investigation,” the story concluded.

Once back in the U.S. Attorney’s offices in Charleston from their quick visit to Lawnsville, the team that had the box containing money from the mayor’s wallet went into one small conference room and the other team went into a separate room.

An assistant U.S. Attorney entered each room to witness the examination of the $20 bills.

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All the bills were spread on the conference tables with the Assistant U.S. Attorney comparing the serials numbers of all the twenties with the list of the serial numbers of the bills George Buffington used to make the payoff to the Lawnsville chief of police. Serial numbers on three $20 bills from the mayor’s wallet matched the agents’ list and two from Frankford’s wallet.

The bills were then dusted for fingerprints. The analysis revealed that three $20 bills from the mayor’s wallet had George Buffington’s and Chief Lance Frankford’s fingerprints. In comparison, the two $20’s in Frankford’s wallet had just his and Buffington’s prints.

While the fingerprints were being examined, an assistant U.S. Attorney was preparing for the federal grand jury meeting in just a few days. Then he received a report from the agent in Lawnsville who had been monitoring the police chief ’s city hall phone that week. The police chief had called the company in Franklin County that supplied jukeboxes, pinball, and slot machines to the three Lawnsville bars.

Several days later, the clanging phone interrupted Rick Hill’s finishing up the story on the previous night’s very routine board of education meeting.

“You might want to get your staff in front of city hall and the Ford dealership in 15 minutes,” the U.S. Attorney said, surprising Rick, who normally got such calls from that office’s PIO.

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76 Merry Go ‘Round “Well, you are slumming it today,” Rick responded.

“I just wanted to thank you for this one. I can only say, off the record, of course, this one has more tentacles than any case this office has had in a number of years. Better let you get to city hall,” the federal prosecutor said and hung up before Rick could ask even one of several follow-up questions backing up in his brain.

“Al, get a camera and get down to city hall now,” Rick said as he grabbed a camera and headed down to the Ford dealership, which was in sight of Oswald’s, the Brown Derby, and Avery’s on Lawnsville’s “bar row.”

For the third time in just over a year, a Crier photographer snapped a picture of a Lawnsville mayor being led out of city hall in handcuffs.

Mayor Benjamin Howland was calm being led out of the seat of Lawnsville City government surrounded by armed federal agents.

“I haven’t been told what’s this is about, so I can’t say anything,” he lied to Al as he was put into the back seat of the car.

Al was handed a copy of the indictment that was dated the day before.

The police chief parked his car directly over a no-parking sign and entered the front door of the local Ford dealership - the one from which the two new police cars and trucks were purchased.

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Rick Hill didn’t get out of his car until the federal agents arrived and entered the same door. About five minutes later, Lance Frankford in handcuffs appeared flanked by two federal agents with a third one carrying a shotgun behind.

“You son of a bitch, what are doing here?” the chief bellowed.

“I’ll sue your ass if that is in the Crier.”

Rick was handed a copy of the indictment once Frankford was securely in the car.

When he was driving back to the Crier office, Rick noticed employees and patrons from the three bars right around the corner from the dealership were out front of the businesses cheering as the car carrying Lance Frankford passed.

That seemed to give some creditability to the conversation he’d had with George Buffington.

Al went to process the film while Rick reviewed both indictments. He immediately saw why the U.S. Attorney said the case went in a lot of different directions.

Lawnsville Mayor, Police Chief Arrested On Federal Gambling, Extortion Charges The mayor was charged with extortion and using the power of his office in a conspiracy with the police chief to threaten local businesses with reprisals if they didn’t patronize certain Franklin County businesses. Further, the conspiracy forced those businesses to engage in illegal gambling activities or face having their businesses shut down.

Lance Frankford’s charges were much broader. In addition to the same charges facing the mayor, he faced extortion charges.

That’s because he was the one that actually visited the bar owners, made the threats, and told them what would happen if they didn’t become involved in the gambling scheme. The police chief was also the one who picked up the protection payments each week. Ben Howland operated a lot like Charles Beauregard. He planned the conspiracy for Frankford to implement then - just like Charles did with Red Bell - stayed in the background and manipulated Lance Frankford to be out front.

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Simultaneously, in Franklin County, the beer distributor and the owner of the company that supplied the slot machines to the three Lawnsville bars were arrested by federal agents. The initial charge against the machine company was engaging in illegal gambling and for the beer distributor engaging in extortion - the kickback scheme. More charges were possible given that on the tape, the police chief said new machines were coming to Franklin County from Ohio. If substantiated, that would bring a charge of transporting illegal gambling devices across state lines.

Deliberately the U.S. Attorney instructed that no mention be made in the indictment of Lance Frankford’s reference on the tape about stopping state police from patrolling in the city.

The federal prosecutor entertained the possibility that it was just a boast. If not, it indicated top state government officials were involved in this criminal conspiracy requiring a much broader investigation. To check out that possibility, the U.S. Attorney’s senior investigator would have a clandestine meeting the next day – a Saturday - with an old friend - the superintendent of the state police.

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77 Unpolicing Police In civilian clothes and arriving in the family car his wife normally drove, the superintendent drove into the garage of his old friend about 15 miles from the capital. He got out as the federal investigator closed the garage door.

Since the election, his future had been uncertain because the new governor had put the state police under the jurisdiction of the department of public safety run by a close political ally. That was a major change implemented with no press conference or even an announcement. In his 22 years with the state police, he was aware the department head had always reported directly to the governor.

Maybe he wants to talk about a federal job offer, the superintendent thought as the garage door closed to keep any nosy neighbors from seeing the driver.

First, a glass of iced tea accompanying an informal conversation - becoming reacquainted, talking about their children and grandkids and prospects for the coming Mountaineer football season. After the chit-chat, the federal investigator suggested they move to the dining room table, which changed the whole dynamic of the conversation.

“How’s the new governor doing?” came right out of the gate.

Now fully focused, the superintendent responded, “Oh, you know how it is when you get a new boss. It takes some getting used to. Everybody has different ways of doing things.”

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“Saw where state police was moved into the Department of Public Safety. How does that affect you?”

“You are one of the very few people who even noticed that.

Not sure yet, but the director has gone around the state meeting with all the regional state police barracks without me. So, I guess I’ll find out soon,” the superintendent responded, his concern about the changes evident.

“What I’m about to tell is highly confidential. I have to ask your pledge not to divulge it to anyone,” the federal investigator said, removing a thick file folder from his open briefcase.

“This must be good. Of course, you have my word.”

For the next 30 minutes, the federal investigator laid out what led to the indictments of the Lawnsville Mayor and Police Chief.

“Wow!!! There’s a lot going on in that little town.

“Well, there’s one more detail you’ll find interesting. We have the police chief on tape indicating he initiated some action that resulted in the members of the local state police detachment not patrolling at all in the city of Lawnsville. Do you know anything about that?”

“I do. Our troopers down there were keeping an eye on a problem area in Lawnsville. Our troopers had been patrolling in the city for years,” the state’s ranking state policeman said with an emphasis on “were.”

“I’ll get fired if you mention this to anyone. My regional officer for that part of the state told me about it a week or so ago. Said the order came directly from the new director of public safety’s chief of staff who mentioned the order originated in the governor’s office,” the superintendent explained.

“Do you know of any other areas of the state where such orders have been given?” the investigator asked, knowing the answer could launch a statewide federal investigation.

Getting up and walking in the kitchen to refresh his glass of ice tea, the superintendent knew the consequences a truthful answer would bring. But it was the right thing to do.

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thing might go on in some areas in the northern part of the state.

Very low-key. It would be in smaller towns - none of the larger cities. That’s all I know at this point. It’s been made clear to me that policies for the new department will be made and implemented by the director in concert with the governor’s office.”

Shaking his head, the veteran state policeman explained, “It is a major change. That’s never been done in the 22 or so years I’ve been in the department.”

“Do you see anything positive coming from it?” the prosecutor inquired.

After an uncomfortable pause, the whispered answer came, “I been looking for it and haven’t found anything positive yet.

Thanks for the visit. I’d better be going.”

“I might be calling you on this later,” the host said as he opened the garage door. “Feel free, not sure I’ll have anything to add,” the state police superintendent said as he backed out of the garage.

The investigator decided to explore a couple more avenues before he made his report to the U.S. Attorney. His first stop was the business records division in the secretary of state’s office.

“There’s another aspect that’s troubling beyond limiting state police patrols. Both the Franklin county beer distributor and the jukebox and pinball company that handles the slot machines out of Franklin County both have bought businesses up in the northern area of the state where state police patrols might be curtailed,” the investigator reported.

“It seems clear that whoever is behind the mess in Lawnsville and stuff going on in Franklin County plans to work the same scheme up there. This case seems to be growing. I’ll poke around and see if there’s any connection between the owners of the two companies, the governor and the new public safety director.

Also, might be a connection between those two and the mayors of the small cities and sheriffs in that area,” the U.S. Attorney instructed.

For the second time in 18 months, the Crier publisher was covering federal trials involving top Lawnsville city officials – first, the city police chief followed by the case against the mayor.

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Part of the U.S. Attorney’s strategy was to have Chief Lance Frankford’s trial first and, after conviction, put pressure on him to flip against the mayor.

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78 On Other Side of Verdict Rick Hill had never heard of the prosecution’s first witness. It was a man who had run a bar in Franklin County when Frankford was chief deputy there.

That testimony mirrored exactly the scheme the police chief and mayor pulled off in Lawnsville – with the same beer distributor and machine company. The Franklin County bar owner explained the scam began when Frankford became chief deputy and stopped when that sheriff (since elected again) was defeated for re-election. Likewise, the next witness was a former Franklin County restaurant/bar owner. Same story. No charges were ever filed against the sheriff and his deputy for those crimes.

The first witness from Lawnsville was Aubrey Wyatt, the former police chief. He testified, Ben Howland, the new mayor fired him because he would not implement the plan to shakedown local bars.

Then came George Buffington, owner of the Brown Derby.

During his testimony, the tape was played of the police chief ’s comments when he collected the kickback. Buffington verified he had worn the recording device and had paid the $100 kickback with five $20 bills supplied by federal prosecutors.

Following George was the owner of Oswald’s, who confirmed he was also forced into the same arrangement as the Brown Derby owner.

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Because of Avery Stone’s prison record and checkered past, the U.S. Attorney thought he would not be a creditable witness.

Following the two bar owners was the Assistant U. S. Attorney who had given George Buffington the $20 bills used to make the shakedown payment to the police chief. He confirmed the serial numbers of the bills taken from Lance Frankford’s wallet matched two of the ones he had supplied to the Brown Derby owner.

The final witnesses for the prosecution were the owners of the Franklin County beer distributor and jukebox and pinball company. Both testified they paid the Lawnsville Police Chief a weekly “commission” for the business he secured for them in that city. They confirmed their prices for the Jordan County bars were inflated to accommodate the kickbacks. Owners of the two companies would face trials later for their participation in the scheme.

The trial ended in the middle of the second day and it only took the jury 45 minutes to return a verdict. Even though this verdict was certain from the beginning, hearing “guilty of all charges” was like a punch in the nose to Lance Frankford. He’d sent many men to prison over his 22-year law enforcement career. But being on the receiving end of a guilty verdict and facing significant time in a federal prison unnerved him. He immediately began to consider all of his options. Sentencing was to take place in four weeks. The Crier front page screamed across Page One – Police Chief Guilty for Taking Payoffs, Threatening Local Businesses That Didn’t Open Gambling Rooms While the guilty verdicts for Lance Frankford deeply troubled many Lawnsville residents, it didn’t cause concern like the Wayne Adkins’ convictions. The reason was those caught up in these crimes weren’t prominent in the community. The businesses victimized were considered less than well known, no tax dollars were stolen, and the police chief was not well known throughout

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the community. Mayor Ben Howland’s trial, the following week, would be followed much more closely.

Now that Lance Frankford has been convicted, the U.S. Attorney called a meeting of his top two assistant attorneys and top investigator to discuss a strategy to follow up on the role Lance Frankford could play in the upcoming trial of Lawnsville Mayor Ben Howland.

Given the stories Lance Frankford heard about the experiences former lawmen have as inmates in federal prisons, it was not hard to convince him to give evidence against the mayor about the criminal activity in Lawnsville.

Frankford’s attorney was invited to discuss the former Lawnsville Police Chief ’s sentencing. The federal prosecutor laid out exactly what testimony was expected from the newly convicted former police chief. An agreement was made for a possible reduction in sentencing – and incarceration at a minimum-security federal prison in an adjoining state.

This initial discussion was limited to how Lance Frankford came to be named Lawnsville Police Chief. The U.S. Attorney knew he would have an additional conversation with Frankford after the Ben Howland trial and before Frankford’s sentencing.

Of particular interest was Frankford’s reference to getting state police patrols halted in Lawnsville.

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79 Switching Sides --- Again To set the stage for the prosecution, Lance Frankford was the federal prosecution’s lead-off witness for the trial of Lawnsville Mayor Ben Howland.

“Chief Frankford, could you describe how you came to be appointed to the position of Lawnsville Police Chief?

“I was approached by Mayor Ben Howland. He’d heard about what I had done in Franklin County to make a little extra money, so he wanted to do it in Lawnsville.”

“What actually did you do in Franklin County?”

“I approached several bars and talked them into opening small gambling operations in their backrooms, take pinball, jukeboxes, and slot machines and buy their beer from companies I suggested.”

“And what would happen if these bars didn’t agree to your scheme?” the assistant U.S. Attorney asked.

“I would have a patrol car stationed outside their bars and arrest a lot of their customers for DUI when they drove away.”

“So you threatened them and how does that work out for you?”

“Yes, I did. It worked out well for both the sheriff and me.

The bars made payments to us each week. It was to make sure we would not raid their businesses for the illegal activity,” Frankford explained.

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“So that was the same type of arrangements Ben Howland wanted you to establish in Lawnsville?”

“Yes, he made that clear in our first meeting about me becoming Lawnsville police chief.

“So what did you do then, Chief Frankford?”

“Oh, I started putting things together immediately, I talked to the machine company and beer distributor over in Franklin County and they agreed to serve bars in Lawnsville. Then I went to Oswald’s, Avery’s, and the Brown Derby and explained there was a new arrangement in town, and they were to be part of it.

From the start, the mayor and I were able to split over $1,000 a month with the payoffs from the bar owners and kickbacks from the machine company and beer distributor. A sweet deal,” the convicted former police chief testified.

“So, to be clear, Ben Howland came to you with this proposal?”

Chief Frankford.

“Yes, sir, he did,” Lance Frankford answered.

The prosecution then called the owners of the three Lawnsville bars, who confirmed the police chief ’s testimony. Rick Hill could tell that the jurors were focused.

Next to testify for the prosecution were the owners of the beer distributor and the company that supplied the pinball, jukebox, slot machines. They also confirmed Lance Frankford’s testimony that they paid the chief a kickback for the business they got from the Lawnsville bars. Again the jurors paid close attention to what they felt was damning testimony against the Lawnsville Mayor.

If the jurors had been polled at that moment, Rick Hill felt Ben Howland would have been convicted in about five minutes.

However, the defense attorney did serious damage to the federal prosecutors’ seemingly unassailable case with the same single simple question to all seven of these witnesses – “Did you ever discuss this matter with Ben Howland?”

The single-word answer bounced off the walls of the cavernous federal courtroom. Those two letters “n-o” destroyed the credibility of the seven witnesses upon whose testimony the U.S. Attorney’s case against the mayor depended.

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While much of the case against Ben Howland would mirror the case against Lance Frankford, there was going to be one major difference.

The defendant would be on the witness stand in his own defense. Ben Howland was effective. The Lawnsville mayor had the jury in the palm of his hand. Shaking his head, he solemnly said he didn’t know anything about his police chief ’s criminal enterprise. He emphasized that he had never met the two witnesses from the Franklin County bars, nor the owners of the two Franklin County companies, and had never discussed the illegal scheme with any of the three Lawnsville bar owners.

Further, Ben Howland said that the $20 bills in his wallet were to repay a loan he had made to Frankford, who needed it to buy his daughter a present for her birthday. The Lawnsville mayor explained why he knew the date of the loan – the young girl’s birthday was the day after his own birthday.

The testimony had the full attention of the jury. From the nodding heads, it was evident to the Crier publisher the mayor’s testimony was being received positively and, combined with the “no” from those seven witnesses, raised the distinct possibility of acquittal of all charges.

Leaving the witness stand Ben Howland was confident, as was his defense attorney that he would walk out of that federal courtroom a free man.

After the judge quieted the buzzing count room, the assistant U.S. Attorney rose.

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80 Surprise Birthdays NOT Happy “First, Your Honor, I have two documents to present in response to the defendant’s just completed sworn testimony he gave under oath.”

While it held a standing-room-only crowd, the federal courtroom suddenly got graveyard quiet.

Slowly and deliberately, the prosecutor took two documents from his briefcase and approached the bench. “Your Honor, I offer these two certified documents in evidence. The first is a certified copy of the birth certificate for Lance Frankford’s only daughter.

As you can see, she was born six months after the date the mayor says he made a $60 loan to Frankford. This second document is a certified copy of Benjamin Howland’s birth certificate, which shows his birthday is in two weeks.” These documents prove Mr. Howland’s previous testimony did not reflect the facts.

The mayor’s lawyer glared at his client as if another crime was about to be committed at the defense table – murder.

“Next, if it pleases the court, the prosecution recalls a witness.”

The silence was broken as many in the court, evidently thinking the person next to them was part of the prosecution team, asked, “What’s this all about?”

The recalled prosecution witness was George Buffington, owner of the Brown Derby.

“Mr. Buffington, please relate for the court your recent conversation with Lawnsville Mayor Benjamin Howland,” the assistant U.S. Attorney asked.

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“On Sunday, September 24, as I was coming out of church, I asked Ben Howland to step aside for a chat. He gave his normal, ‘what can I do for you’ greeting. He was friendly at first. I said I had a serious question. I ask him if he could have the police chief back off with the threats and requiring me to do business with the beer distributor and machine company from Franklin County. The smile disappeared. Then he got right in my face and said, ‘George, we have new arrangements in town. You have a choice to make - either go along or find a new place to work. I’d hate to see the Brown Derby go out of business.’ Then he patted me on the shoulder and added, ‘The chief will be by to see you tomorrow,’ turned and walked away.”

Delighted to have the chance to destroy Buffington’s belated testimony, the defense attorney almost leaped from his chair at the defense table.

He walked to the witness stand, shaking his head as he looked at the jury. “Mr. Buffington, this seems such a last-minute maneuver by the prosecution. Why didn’t you bring this up in your prior testimony?”

“I wasn’t asked,” George answered quietly.

“Well, it seems this is just something that popped into your head when you realized how strong Mr. Howland’s defense is.

Isn’t that true?”

Understanding he was moving to checkmate in this chess game, the Brown Derby owner merely said, “No sir, that is not true.”

“Why should this jury believe you then? It’s just preposterous,” the defense attorney said, turning to walk back to the defense table. He stopped dead when he heard the click on the witness stand railing followed by, “This is why they should believe me – it’s the truth,” said a stone-faced George Buffington as he placed the Nagra tape recorder in front of him. After he had recorded the payoff to the police chief, the federal investigator gave the Brown Derby owner a short tutorial on the operation of the Nagra and left him one of their spares “just in case something comes up.”

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come up.” The tape of the after-church conversation was played for the jury – case closed.

Lawnsville Mayor Howland Convicted of Extortion, Bringing Gambling to City, Shaking Down Businesses The Crier story recalled for the people of Lawnsville that within the past 18 months, two mayors they’d elected had been removed from office because of federal felony convictions.

The first was convicted of attempted murder and the other for being part of a conspiracy that forced businesses to have illegal gambling operations and pay kickbacks he and the police chief split.

Quotes from Buffington’s “church” tape were the part of the story Rick Hill believed would draw the most attention from Crier readers. The story also explained that once again, the Lawnsville City Council would have to appoint someone to serve out the unexpired term of a mayor. A provision of the Lawnsville city charter automatically removed a mayor from office who was convicted of a crime.

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81 Straightening Dog’s Hind Leg Ben Howland had selected Bill Greely as vice mayor because he wanted someone that would not ever question anything he did as mayor. Now, that office required Greely to convene the council to elect a new mayor.

From the time Ben Howland had been indicted, Baxter Edwards was trying to figure out how he might be able to influence the naming of the new mayor. When Howland was convicted, Baxter’s first phone call was to Bill Greely. Greely was already nervous because he’d had been such a strong supporter of the now-former mayor and convicted felon. The vice mayor agreed to meet with Baxter the next day.

Baxter explained to Greely that people would think well of him if he moved forward to support Thelma Gleeson as the next mayor. Given how nervous Greely was, Baxter almost felt it was unfair to say if that didn’t happen, “People might think you were in co-hoots with Ben Howland.” Baxter couldn’t have written the script any better.

Greely, sweat pouring from his forehead agreed even before Baxter completed his final pitch. “Yes, yes, I don’t want to be connected with Ben in any way. Thelma would be a great mayor.

We just have to move fast. Appreciate you meeting with me, Baxter.”

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approached her. If that happened, she decided Jim Dowling should be named to the council vacancy created by her elevation.

Baxter was curious about how the Crier publisher viewed the situation.

“Hell, with Ben gone, city council might now be the most boring meeting in the county,” Rick Hill chuckled when he picked up the phone and heard Baxter’s greeting.

“Was sorta hoping they’d appoint your friend Maynard George to the council just to keep it lively,” Rick rubbed it in.

“You’re on a roll today,” Baxter said, not enjoying being reminded that a board member he helped elect just resigned during his second board meeting.

“What’s going on?” Rick asked.

“Seems things are leaning toward Thelma. I think she would do an excellent job. I expect her appointment will be unanimous and that Aubrey Wyatt will return as police chief.”

“Well, she certainly stood up to Howland on those vehicle purchases. And she turned out to be right. That could work well,” the Crier publisher responded. “I get the feeling more things will be coming out as a result of the mayor and police chief ’s convictions.”

Now that Ben Howland’s trial was over, the federal prosecutor was ready to continue his earlier discussion with Lance Frankford.

“Need to find out who Frankford called in Charleston to stop the state police patrols in Lawnsville,” the U.S. Attorney instructed his lead assistant.

To begin the discussions, the assistant U.S. attorney played the tape where Frankford said he had seen to it the state police patrols in the city had been halted, “You don’t have to worry about that anymore…”

“Who was it you talked to in Charleston about getting that done,” the lead investigator asked.

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82 Another Curve in the Road “Charleston? Oh, I just told the mayor, he said he’d take care of it. Didn’t seem like a big deal. They pulled back before the end of that week and I didn’t see them patrolling again in Lawnsville.

Don’t know how he did it,” Frankford responded.

Not wanting to let on how important that piece of information was, the investigator asked what Frankford knew about the Franklin County jukebox and pinball company and the beer distributor expanding into the northern part of the state.

“Don’t know a lot about that. The last time I saw the sheriff over there, he did mention they were looking to expand but didn’t say where and I didn’t ask. We were talking about some other things – how he might expand the gambling and all out into Jordan County,” he said.

Upon hearing the report on the interview with Lance Frankford and his attorney, the U.S. Attorney said, “I thought Frankford had done something directly with the state police.

Now, we need to talk with Ben Howland.”

The former Lawnsville mayor was surprised when his attorney said the U.S. Attorney wanted to talk before his sentencing.

“What this about?”

“Not sure, but his office called yesterday and asked if we were interested in talking. There’s nothing wrong with listening to what they have to say,” his attorney said.

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There were no pleasantries when the former mayor and his attorney took their seats. “Who did you talk to about getting the state police patrols in Lawnsville stopped?” the young assistant U.S. attorney asked immediately after everyone was seated.

Stunned, Howland looked at his attorney, “I can’t discuss that at all. This meeting is over.”

“Mr. Howland, you are facing a federal sentence of up to 15 years in prison. You used your position as mayor to threaten businesses, establish illegal gambling operations in Lawnsville, secure kickbacks, and on top of all that, it indeed appears you used federal funds to fraudulently purchase city vehicles. These are serious charges. I suggest you reconsider our offer.”

“No thanks,” the former mayor said as he stood to leave the meeting.

He relented and sat back down when his attorney asked the federal prosecutors to give him a few minutes with his client.

“Ben, you’re be doing some very hard time – in a maximumsecurity prison in Colorado or some God-forsaken place on the other side of the country. These guys are not messing around – this is ultimate hardball.”

“I’ve never thought of it in those terms. I really have no choice,” the somber former mayor said. He understood the farreaching implications of his answering the federal prosecutor’s question, but he had no choice.

While Ben Howland’s relationship with Red Bell was well known, the one with Charles Beauregard was clandestine. Red didn’t even know about it. Ben, of course, knew Charles, but the close political relationship didn’t develop until the former councilman became Lawnsville Mayor.

He told his attorney the details of his conversation with Charles Beauregard.

When Lance Frankford had come to him about the problem of state police patrols in front of the three bars, Ben Howland took the matter to Charles Beauregard during a breakfast at Bluestem State Park.

“Charles, this threatens to derail a good thing we have going.

I would really appreciate your help,” Howland said.

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“Not sure, but I may I be able to do something,” Charles answered, wanting Howland to think it would be a difficult task so as to establish a political IOU from the Lawnsville mayor.

When the federal investigators returned, Ben Howland told them of the breakfast meeting with Charles Beauregard. “I was amazed the patrols disappeared by the following weekend – just three days after I asked Charles’ help. In fact, prior to that, the state police had patrolled in front of those bars for five straight weekends. Charles didn’t tell me who he was going to talk to, just said he thought he could help.”

After hearing about Ben Howland’s just completed discussion with his assistant, the U.S. Attorney was certain that Charles, the Governor, and the new director of the state office of public safety were all involved in the illegal criminal conspiracy to expand the gambling and shakedown operations to in the northern part of the state. Proving it was another thing, but the recent revelations from the former Lawnsville police chief and ex-mayor suggested a path for the federal agents to follow.

Putting this together with what his investigator got from his conversation with the state police superintendent, this could develop into a statewide investigation, the U.S. Attorney believed.

Investigators for the U.S. Attorney’s office thought there might be some reason other than merely helping a fellow Lawnsville politician that motivated Charles, but at this point, it was only an unsubstantiated theory.

For Charles, it was a simple decision. He had a dual interest in the matter. First, he recognized Howland’s growing political influence and potential for higher office. Second, and even more important and unbeknown to Howland, Charles had a financial interest in the Franklin County beer distributorship. At the invitation of Governor Sammy Monroe, Charles became a silent partner in the beer distributorship and supplied the money that enabled the firm to expand by purchasing a distributorship in the northern part of the state. It was because of this second reason Charles planned to bypass his friend, the new Secretary of Public Safety, and talk directly with the governor about the state police problem in Lawnsville.

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Charles purposefully declined the second part of the Governor’s invitation – investing in the company that supplied jukeboxes and pinball and slot machines. Beer distributing was a legal business - handling slot machines, by definition, was an illegal enterprise with which Charles wanted no connection.

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83 The Law and First Amendment Come Together The U.S. Attorney’s appreciation of the First Amendment’s Freedom of the Press had grown as he watched the integrity and tenacity with which Rick Hill put that section of the Constitution into practice on the pages of the Lawnsville Crier. Indeed the U.S. Attorney felt that journalism was akin to the law. First, the work never ended. And second, both professions were dedicated to safeguarding a cherished freedom which is an essential part of the Nation’s foundation.

His admiration increased when he thought that while he had sent harden criminals to prison for life, he’d never been shot for doing his job, unlike the Crier publisher, who still walked with a limp because of being marked for death for practicing a principled brand of journalism.

The U.S. Attorney was absolutely certain the Lawnsville Crier was responsible for the defeat of the corrupt Jordan County political machine. And Crier stories led to federal investigations that sent its leaders to federal prisons.

As Rick Hill was preparing to attend the county commission meeting, the first with a reformer majority, he paused and thought about the changes that had taken place in the three main local government bodies in Lawnsville and Jordan County since the Crier fire. All three had gone from decades of being controlled by the old-line political faction to being taken over by reformer majorities.

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The key question for Rick Hill – Is it going to more than just a change in the names of officeholders? Or will there be a true change in the conduct of public business?

The Crier publisher wondered, are the new officeholders going to deliver on their lofty campaign promises? For Rick Hill, it was not complicated - actions speak louder than words.

He had good reason to be skeptical - one newly elected reformer school board member resigned at just his second meeting after he was caught making an old-line style political maneuver. But to its credit, the new reform majority on the school board appointed a respected retired railroader as a replacement.

Then there was the mess at City Hall.

When a federal felony conviction removed from office a second Lawnsville mayor in two years, the council seemed to have selected an excellent replacement – Thelma Gleeson – the first woman to hold the office in city history. To fill the vacancy her elevation created, council members selected Jim Dowling, another excellent choice. He was the first-ever black member of the council and the former city police officer gravely wounded during the Crier fire.

To complete the council’s political transformation, one of the members elected as part of Benn Howland’s slate became a solid supporter of Mayor Gleeson.

At the Board of Education, to calm the waters following Maynard George’s ham-handed political move and resignation, county school Superintendent Elwood Hugh brought forth a proposal for the board of education to confirm all the incumbent principals in county schools. Each member of the board enthusiastically endorsed the proposal and approved it unanimously.

Next, Board President Sam Keaton brought before the board a plan to evaluate its insurance coverages and seek new bids as soon as possible. The result was the county was no longer doing business with recently defeated board member Oliver Brown’s (AKA the Worm) friend at an agency in the adjoining county.

Not only did the move stop Brown’s under-the-table kickback, but it saved the county about $25,000 in annual insurance 315

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premiums. Brown had steered the board’s business to his friend’s agency when he was first elected to the board eight years ago.

In addition, the board purchased five new school buses through the state vehicle purchasing plan, rather than an old-line favored local auto dealership, saving the board another $25,000.

Likewise, new Mayor Thelma Gleeson moved forward swiftly to make long-overdue changes in the Lawnsville City government.

The first action was to rehire Aubrey Wyatt, the former disposed police chief who was fired by Ben Howland when he refused to participate in the gambling, extortion kickback scheme.

Fast on the heels of that appointment, Mayor Gleeson fired the street commissioner who had been found to have inflated city paving contracts and initiating the unauthorized paving of some friends’ driveways, a picture of which was spread across the Crier’s front page. To fill that vacancy, Council approved, again unanimously, her nomination of a Lawnsville native and recently retired U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officer to the position of street commissioner. Immediately prior to his retirement, he was in charge of maintenance plans, including paving, at major U.S. Army posts in the United States.

His first job in Lawnsville was the second phase of the Howland administration’s street paving plan. He secured a new paving contractor, and paving costs per mile were 25 percent less than the previous administration’s first phase.

The County Commission made the smoothest transition to reformer control of all the governmental bodies. Former commission president and old-line stalwart Harrison Stone never was a fire-brand old-liner and was respected for his evenhanded leadership, so the transition was smooth.

At its first meeting with the new reformer majority, commission members unanimously approved seeking new bids on county insurance coverages, to hire lifeguards at the 4-H pool and authorized the sheriff (who acted as the county treasurer under state law) to place county funds, including the county hospital funds, in interest-bearing accounts. It was projected this move alone would bring the county about $35,000 in new revenue.

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The new county insurance coverages turned out to save the county about $20,000 annually. In approving the 4-H camp pool lifeguards, the commission reversed an ill-fated decision by the previous commission, which resulted in a former member being soundly defeated in the last primary election.

Overall, Rick had been pleasantly surprised by the actions of the reformer officeholders as they moved forward with the transformation of local government.

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84 Still Could Step in It Ever the cynic, the Crier publisher was certain the newly elected public officials would “step in it” at some point. Rick Hill remembered how impressed he was when Ben Howland had unveiled the first phase of his three-phase city street paving program. Then there always the possibility that the old-line faction could regroup and again rule over Jordan County.

For some died-in-the-wool old-line supporters, the Crier stories were unsettling. These die-hearts saw the savings being realized by the new majorities as possible evidence the reformer charges of overspending by old-line officeholders were true.

Oh, these folks were not likely to go over to the reformer side and many were confident the old-line would make a comeback.

But in the future, they would look at the old-line message – whoever delivers it – with less than their former biblical acceptance.

But there were clouds hovering that could rain on the oldline parade as it attempted a comeback. Already convicted for his role in the Crier fire, Wayne Adkins, former Lawnsville mayor and well-known old-line supporter, was awaiting trial for beating the handcuffed Crier publisher and for the attempted murder of that same Rick Hill. It is certain every Crier story of those trials will mention Adkin’s old-line political history. But the old-line’s problems didn’t stop with those cases.

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Old-line Jordan County political kingpins – Charles W. Beauregard, Jr. and Joseph Bell, Jr., along with Governor Sammy Monroe, are awaiting trial for bribery in connection with the real estate development Red and Charles owned along the Greenbrier River in Jordan County. Testimony in that trial could reveal that prominent Lawnsville attorney Hugh Bird, the lawyer who handled the purchase of the land for Red and Charles, was also was representing the estate that owned the land. Not only did he have a conflict of interest because he didn’t reveal that fact to the heirs, but he might also have committed fraud when he convinced the grieving heirs to sell the prime 300 riverfront acres for a rock-bottom price well below its actual value.

In addition, Red was awaiting sentencing in the voter fraud case, which the U.S. Attorney was holding up until Red had testified against Charles and the Governor at the bribery trial.

Crier publisher Rick Hill is well aware of these cases. But there is another federal investigation underway which also resulted from Crier stories of which he is not aware. One that could be more far-reaching.

Lawnsville residents Charles Beauregard and Ben Howland, along with Governor Monroe, could become ensnared in the U.S. Attorney’s statewide investigation of suspected conspiracy for racketeering, gambling, and kickback activities in the northern part of the state.

As for the local political scene, Rick Hill was certain the old-line faction would remain a force, in some form, in Jordan County politics. Certainly less than in the past, at least for a few years, but not disappearing. Little did the Crier publisher know how right he was.

Over the last several weeks, Red had called members of the campaign committee to gauge how they would react if Joe Brown took his place as the organizer of the old-line political operation.

It was unanimous. All agreed that Joe was the best choice. Red scheduled a meeting of the committee the following week so members could ask Joe questions and discuss how best to plan for the old-line faction’s future.

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He’d also moved forward at the next Democrat County Executive Committee meeting to have Joe named chairman.

For decades the old line was engrained in the political history of Jordan County, and it will take more than a couple of “asswhuppins” to make the faction disappear. Both Red and Joe Brown knew it would take a herculean effort to bring it back.

Veteran political observers couldn’t recall a time when the old-line faction was so shut out of the Jordan County political power structure - just one of three members on the county commission; one of five on the Board of Education, and only two of five on the Lawnsville City Council.

Indeed, Joe Brown faces a formable task, but he has about two years before the next Jordan County primary election to reenergize the old line and identify candidates for the two board seats and one county commission seat that will be on the ballot.

One plus is the old-line precinct organization remains pretty much intact and only needs some tweaking. And that should be no problem since Red had given Joe $10,000 cash to establish the foundation for the election comeback.

Looking at the present state of Jordan County politics, the Crier publisher didn’t have a clue what the future would hold.

While his crystal ball was murky, Rick Hill was certain the future would provide ample opportunities for him to put the slogan above the Crier newsroom into action – “It’s a newspaper’s duty to print the news and raise hell.”

Editorial, Wilbur F. Storey, Chicago Times, 1861

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“It’s a newspaper’s duty to print the news and raise hell.”

C.D. “Tony” Hylton, III

C. D. “Tony” Hylton, III has been around journalism nearly all of his 78 years. He was less than a month old when printers’ ink was applied to his feet and the images made on newspaper as his sportswriter held him and his mom looked on.

His journalism career has taken many forms – Editor/publisher of the Hinton (WV) Daily News (now Hinton News); public relations practitioner for a Washington, D.C. based national trade association and Weirton Steel in West Virginia, Communications Director for AARP in Virginia, and Public Information Officer for a major U.S. Army Command in Vietnam. And Raise Hell continues Tony’s examination of the principled interaction journalism and the rough and tumble brand of local politics found in southern West Virginia in the 1960s.

Tony is a proud double graduate of West Virginia University – (Bachelor of Science, Journalism and Master of Arts, Political Science.

He is a former member of the West Virginia House of Delegates.

AND RAISE HELL

And Raise Hell follows small-town newspaper publisher Rick Hill, who continues to shine the spotlight of principled journalism on the corruption in Lawnsville and the federal trials of those accused of voter fraud, murder, and the attempted murder of publisher Hill during the 1964 primary elections. In this sequel to the award-winning novel, Enough, readers see the positive role aggressive coverage can play in a community. It’s all based on providing readers with truth in the news.

The title, And Raise Hell, comes from an 1861 Chicago Times editorial which describes newspapers in this way–

C.D. “Tony” Hylton, III