IN SPORTS: Crestwood girls face Aiken in second round B1 HISTORY
Lost settlement found Archaeologist unearths Spanish pottery from early Pensacola site SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2016
Delinquent tax sale C1
75 CENTS
Fathers coalition opening in Sumter
A5
Manners guilty
BY JACK OSTEEN jack@theitem.com “A father is a man who expects his children to be as good as he meant to be.” This was just one of the many messages brought to a room full of more than 50 community leaders Wednesday at University of South Carolina Sumter at what some think is one of Sumter, Lee and Clarendon counties’ most important new initiatives. The Midlands Fatherhood Coalition, which helps non-custodial dads become responsible fathers to their children, is opening an office in Sumter in connection with a plan by the state Department of Social Services to expand such services statewide. This will be the 13th office in South Carolina. During the last few years, DSS has embraced the approach taken by Midlands Family Coalition and its affiliated programs. Traditionally, enforcing child support was about finding “deadbeat dads” and sending them to jail, where they couldn’t help their kids or anyone else. The program hopes to turn those dads’ lives — and those of the children — around completely by getting them jobs and teaching them better parenting skills.
SEE FATHERS, PAGE A6
FATHERHOOD COALITION FACTS • Served 13,477 fathers since 2001; • Affected more than 22,900 children; • Saved more than $15 million in incarceration costs since 2006; • Collected $1.1 million in child support since 2012; • 36 percent of fathers helped don’t have a GED or high school diploma; and • Average age of fathers served is 33. 7 Types of Poverty 1. Spiritual poverty: A lack of the commonality between God and man where there is no hunger or thirst for righteousness; also a togetherness/ brotherhood plays an important role in this type. 2. Mental poverty: Lack of thinking, which is resultant of lack of access to education and knowledge. 3. Bodily poverty: Lack of proper physical health and access to healthy living conditions. 4. Societal poverty: Lack of social connectivity. 5. Cultural poverty: Lack of coming together in a society. No collaborative activities taking place which leads to disconnect between people. 6. Economic poverty: Lack of monetary demands for providing themselves with basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter. Please note that money needed for only the mentioned attributes falls under this category. 7. Political/systems poverty: Lack of understanding of how systems work. — The Midlands Fatherhood Coalition
KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM
Joseph Manners was on trial for the deaths of his grandparents. He was found guilty of murder and arson on Thursday.
Man will serve 2 consecutive life terms for murder plus 30 years for arson BY ADRIENNE SARVIS adrienne@theitem.com Joseph Manners was sentenced to two life sentences and 30 years, to be served consecutively, on Thursday afternoon after he was convicted for a 2013 arson and murder of his grandparents, James and Joann Topper. Manners was convicted of setting fire to his grandparents’ house on Barnwell Drive on June 1, 2013, killing the couple. Circuit Judge Jeffrey Young said he has presided over many trials, but this murder trial was the most horrific. He said the acts involved are beyond his comprehension. He called Manners an unrepentant, cold-hearted murderer who cremated two people whom he said loved him. Young sentenced Manners to spend the “balance of his natural life” in South Carolina Department of Corrections facilities for both counts of murder and 30 years for first-degree arson. It is the court’s
Griffith asked if any debris samples were taken from a storage space under the stairs, where alcoholic beverages could have been stored. Powell said, “no.” Manners refused to testify during the trial, as was his right provided by the fifth amendment of the U.S. Constitution, according to Young. During closing arguments, Griffith asked the jury to consider every piece of evidence presented by both sides. The defense attorney presented the two consent forms signed by Manners — one with an uneven signature that Manners signed after being read his Miranda rights in a hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June, 3, 2013, and the other signed about a month later with a leveled signature. Griffith asked the jury to consider whether his client was capable of understanding what was being said during his interview with Sgt. Jennifer Mitsch with Cincinnati
intention that Manners never walks as a free man, he said. Before the jury, consisting of four women and eight men, presented its unanimous guilty verdicts to the court, Assistant Solicitor John Meadors brought in a 10th and final witness, Joseph Powell, an arson and explosives analyst with the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. Meadors introduced Powell as an expert in petroleum accelerants. Powell said he found gasoline present in three of the fire debris samples collected from the Toppers’ house in June 2013. Meadors later pointed out that the three samples had been collected near James Topper’s body; one sample was taken from part of the underwear that was found partially undamaged under his body. Defense Attorney Timothy Griffith asked Powell if ethanol from alcoholic beverages was found in the debris samples. Powell said he looked for ethanol in the samples because it is a type of petroleum, but none was found.
SEE GUILTY, PAGE A6
Home sales in Sumter, depressed by flooding, expected to pick up BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com Sales figures for January show home sales in Sumter and Clarendon counties area are down 9.3 percent from January 2015, most likely because of lingering effects from the October flood. Statewide, however, strong sales in the Charleston Trident area, Greenwood and particularly Hilton Head
VISIT US ONLINE AT
the
.com
helped boost the state numbers into positive territory with a 3.7 percent increase in homes sold. Sumter Board of Realtors Executive Director Darlene Hebert said the area still hasn’t recovered from the flood in October. “It’s really hard for me to say because I am not a Realtor, but I would say that our inventory is low because all the rentals are taken and a lot of homes that were destroyed,” she said.
“It takes a while for them to get totally revamped and mold tested; there are a lot of things that must be done to make them livable.” Statewide numbers do show the months of supply of inventory tapering off since spring of 2015. Heidi Burkett, a Realtor for ERA Wilder Realty, holds a different view on local inventory, saying there may be too many homes on the market, especially new ones.
DEATHS, B4 and B5 Bertha T. Lowrimore Emma Mae Y. Jackson Easta Mae G. Dolford Linda Kate Prescott Louise D. Medlin Zenia A. Johnson William W. Prince
Leroy Johnson Sammie Lee Ross Sr. Eloise Gamble Willie Mae Mack-Himes Willie Joe Romie G. Eaddy John W. Cross
“It’s not good when people come in to a community and see lots of for sale signs,” she said. She said there are a lot of people on the market for homes, but many of BURKETT them have a difficult time qualifying for a loan. “They have bad credit or too much
SEE HOMES, PAGE A6
WEATHER, A10
INSIDE
ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL DAY
3 SECTIONS, 26 PAGES VOL. 121, NO. 106
Sunny, clear and warm today; warmer with patchy clouds tonight. HIGH 58, LOW 40
Classifieds B6 Comics A8 Opinion A9 Television A7