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About Griffin daily news. (Griffin, Ga.) 1924-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 12, 1977)
Meet John Snider ; Probate judge L *»«MI la taw John Snider Lawmen pull bodies from Spalding well “Drugs from the word ‘go’, both dealing and being hopped up”, were involved in the deaths of two Griffin men according to Spalding Sheriff Dwayne Gilbert. The bodies were pulled from an abandoned well off Walker’s Mill road about 10:45 this morning. Randy Reeves, 26, and Stanley Darsey, 19, apparently were shot and their bodies thrown in the 42-foot dry well. Ronald Terry Fouts, 20, of 622 East Mclntosh road, and Joseph Alfred “Jody” Gresham, 18, of 49 Pine street, Experiment, have been charged with murder. They were being held in the Spalding County jail. They were arrested Tuesday afternoon around 2:30 p.m. at their homes. The investigation first began Monday afternoon when Reeves’ wife, Patsy, returned home from work and found her home at the Ga. 16 east and Dutchman road intersection had been burglarized. Blood, both in a trail and in pools, was found throughout the house in the living room, a child’s bedroom and on the back porch, lawmen said. Darsey, a family friend, had been living with the Reeves for about six months and when he and Reeves did not return home from work Monday night a search was started. Sheriff Gilbert did not go into details on how the arrests came about but said that six rifles taken from the Reeves’ residence were found wrapped in a quilt, which also had been stolen from the home, in a wooded area on Seven Forks road off North Hill street extension, Tuesday afternoon. The death weapon was not among them, as it was thought to be a small caliber pistol, he said. Gilbert said that someone, he did not disclose whether or not it was one of the Terry Smith chairman of merchants committee Terry Smith of Sutton’s downtown department store, is the new chairman of the Merchants Steering Committee of the Chamber of Commerce. The Griffin merchants elected him this morning to succeed Don Rainwater of Morrow-Powell who completed his term of office. Mr. Rainwater reported to the annual meeting on the committee’s activities during the past year. These included the annual Christmas Parade and holiday decorations, eight special promotions to stimulate business, providing for the third year of 253 free offstreet parking spaces in downtown Griffin, a sales seminar, DAI LY N EWS Daily Since 1872 John Snider, the new Probate Judge of Spalding County, comes from a family of public servants. His father, Otis M. Snider, served for 18 years as a county commissioner and was chairman of the Board of Registrars in Spalding County from 1961 to 1970. Otis M. “Pete” Snider, Jr., the Probate Judge’s brother, served for 12 years as a city commissioner in Griffin; of those 12 years, he served three as Mayor of Griffin. John Snider is the distant cousin of Judge Arthur K. Maddox who was Judge of the City Court (now State Court of Spalding County) from 1929 to 1941. Snider is also a distant cousin of State Attorney General Arthur Bolton. “I suppose it’s this family i j| / r»f* suspects, told investigators where the bodies were and went to the spot with them last night. The bodies were left in the well Tuesday night, both as a safety measure and for fear of disturbing evidence in the dark. Early this morning, Sheriff’s officers, GBI agents, Griffin police and local Civil Defense workers worked for several hours recovering the bodies. Also on hand were District Atty. Ben Miller, Coroner Emmett Chappell, County Medical Advisor Virgil Williams and news reporters. The scene was about a mile north of Ga. 16 east, on Walker’s Mill road in a credit seminar, shoplifting seminar, advertising clinic and promoting visits of the Heritage Train and the Armed Forces Caravan. Mr. Rainwater thanked the committee members and expressed appreciation for the cooperation and participation of the Griffin merchants. The merchants elected the following members of the Merchants Steering Committee to serve this year: Kim Beatty, David Bolton, Jon Crouch, Charles Jones, Ed Oakley, Don Rainwater, Dan Brazelton, Steve Fulgham, Terry Smith, Eric Sigman, Stell Gray, Louis Arnett, Bates Bowers, Jim Wiggins, and Billy Reeves. GRIFFIN Griffin, Ga., 30223, Wednesday Afternoon, January 12,1977 Law officers pull bodies from well this morning involvement in public service that would account for my interests in politics and elections,” said Snider. Snider is a familiar figure at the polls during local elections and is known for many accurate election predictions. He officially assumed the duties of Probate Judge of Spalding County on Jan. 1 to begin a 4-year term. Duties of his office include handling the probate of wills, petitions for administration of estates, orders declaring no administration necessary, petitions for year’s support by widow, letters of temporary or permanent administration and the appointment of guardians for minors or mentally ill persons. He also issues marriage licenses and pistol toters licenses. desolate wooded area covered with undergrowth and pines. The well was near a chimney where a house once stood and had an old square wall made of rocks around it about a foot high. It was about 100 feet from the road. The well was uncovered but a wooden platform had been thrown into the hole which delayed recovery of the bodies. GBI Agent Bert Davis descended into the well on a pulley of ropes attached to nearby trees. About a half dozen men slowly let him down. He tied ropes to each body which was pulled out and taken by ambulance to the Griffin hospital to be examined by Dr. Williams. ■ J* MB * Chamber executive vice-president Mildred Sawyer and Merchants Chairman Terry Smith. “Most of the phone calls I get during the day are inquiries about marriage licenses or pistol toters licenses,” Snider said. The Probate Judge is also authorized to perform'the ceremony of marriage. A newcomer to the role, Snider had never married anyone. “Since I took office, I’ve married two couples,” he said. The office is also responsible for recording wills and keeping records of marriages in Spalding County which date back to 1852. “I’ve had several people ask about me preparing documents for the court,” said Snider. “According to Georgia law, the Porbate Judge is now prohibited from practicing law in his own court and Davis also looked for the death weapon but was unable to find it. Sheriff Gilbert said the deaths apparently resulted in an argument over a drug deal. In an earlier drug related incident, both Fouts and Gresham had been taken into custody in connection with a burglary in October at Dr. Fielding Lindsey’s veterinary office in which animal tranquilizers were stolen. They, along with several others, were treated at the Griffin hospital for a drug overdose, police said. Fouts also was charged with possessing a small quantity of marijuana Sunday by Griffin police officers. Vol. 105 No. 9 therefore, I cannot prepare documents that will be handled in Probate Court,” he said. Handling the work of the Probate Court are Snider and two secretaries, Mrs. Evelyn Thaxton and Mrs. Jolene Taylor. Snider was bom in Griffin and graduated from Spalding County High School, where he was a member of the region championship football team in 1950. He served two years with the Fourth Armored Division in the Army. He attended Massey Law College in Atlanta and has taken courses in accounting, income tax and real estate at Griffin Tech. Professionally, he worked as a deputy of the Spalding County Sheriff’s Dept.; he worked for Delta Airlines, Budget writers oppose bonds for fixing roads ATLANTA (AP) — If Georgia is to spend millions of dollars fixing up roads, it’s going to do it with cash, not with bonds as Gov. George Busbee had planned, House budget writers decided Tuesday. Busbee had no immediate public comment on the action by the House Appropriations Committee. Busbee’s House floor leader, Rep. Roy Lambert of Madison, said he ex pects the governor to continue to fight for his plan to issue S3O million in bonds to resurface about 4,000 miles of city and county roads. The House committee voted over whelmingly to use instead Busbee’s proposed surplus of about s2l million in the current fiscal year’s budget. The committee also approved a special budget measure to appropriate $1.75 million to begin construction of a state office building near the Capitol over a proposed rapid rail line station. Elsewhere in the Capitol Tuesday: —The Senate Judiciary Committee (Continued on page 12) Pike School Board reelects Mullins The Pike County Board of Education last night renewed the contract of Superintendent Jim Mullins for another year and elected a new board chairman — Jack Pilkenton. . Several people opposed the rehiring of Supt. Mullins. However, most people, who spoke out at the open meeting, supported him and recommended that he be retained. Lanier Johnson, ex-chairman of the Pike County Board of Commissioners, asked the school board to consider hiring a new superintendent. He said that in his opinion, the recent school budget increases had caused a serious split within the county. Mr. Johnson said his opposition to Supt. Mullins was not personal, ex plaining that he opposed the superin tendent’s spending policies. “I believe a more conservative superintendent will be a marked im provement,” Mr. Johnson said. The former county commissioner said he would like to see the board trim the school budget. Several other Pike citizens voiced opposition to Supt. Mullins, most basing their arguments on higher school taxes and increased school budget. Supt. Mullins received support from several spokesmen, including at least two teachers, who praised the superin tendent, asking that he be rehired for another year. The school board listened to the argu ments in open session before declaring an executive session to discuss Supt. Mullins’ contract and cast ballots. Supt. Mullins was rehired on a 3-1 vote. Board members Richard Ward, Charles Bentley and Steve Ballard voted to retain Supt. Mullins. Ronald Adams voted not to renew his contract. Weather ESTIMATED HIGH TODAY 45, low today 20, high yesterday 35, low yesterday 10, high tomorrqy in mid 40s, low tonight near 20. FORECAST: Fair and cold tonight. Increasing cloudiness and not quite as cold Thursday. EXTENDED FORECAST: A chance of rain Friday, possibly mixed with snow in the extreme north. Clearing Saturday. A chance of rain developing again Sunday. owned an income tax franchise and worked in real estate. Snider is married to the former Bonnie Mann of Griffin. They have two children: Donna, who is one-year-old and Darrin, eight-years-old. The Sniders are very active in the Highland Baptist Church where he serves as a Sunday School director and Bonnie is the Children’s Church director, a teacher in the young people’s Sunday School class and president of the Women’s Missionary Union. Asked if his family political ties and interest in politics would influence him to seek higher political office at the termination of his term as Probate Judge, Snider laughed and said he had no plans to that affect. ■ * BO I ” ■ / r> jF Gov. Busbee Chairman Jack Pilkenton did not vote. The chairman only votes to break ties. Prior to renewing Supt. Mullins’ contract, the school board unanimously elected Mr. Pilkenton as its chairman. He succeeds Richard Ward, who served as chairman for two years. Charles Bentley was elected vice chairman. People ...and things School boy arising this a.m., finding lake outside his home frozen over and skipping a rock along its ice. Conversation in lobby of one of Griffin’s banks: “Going to the inauguration?” Reply, “I wasn’t invited.” Response, “Oh.” Girl, nose red from cold, walking to school. The Country Parson by Frank Clark “Whenever we pass a new law we . have to hairy and start legislating the exceptions.”
