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— Griffin Daily News Tuesday, September 27, 1977
Voodoo stories surround
murder trial in Alabama
ALEXANDER CITY, Ala.
(AP) — “A plea of insanity does
not destroy a man’s con
stitutional rights,” says the de
fense attorney for a black truck
driver accused in the shooting
death of a minister believed by
some to have been a voodoo
practitioner.
Attorney Tom Radney told a
jury of 12 white men Monday
that his client, Robert Lewis
Bums of New Hope, retains his
constitutional rights despite his
plea of innocent by reason of
insanity to first degree murder
charges.
Bums, 36, is accused in the
slaying of the Rev. W.M. “Will
ie” Maxwell, who was shot to
death last June during funeral
services for his stepdaughter,
16-year-old Shirley Ann Elling
ton.
'"
Deaths and
funerals
Prichard Infant
Little Mickey Dwayne
Prichard, Jr., infant son of Mr.
and Mrs. Mickey Dwayne
Prichard, Sr., of Route 5,
Griffin, Andrews road, died
Monday at the Griffin-Spalding
Hospital.
In addition to the parents,
survivors include a sister, Lisa
Michelle Prichard; grand
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harold
Kitts of Jonesboro, Mr. and
Mrs. Milton E. Yarbrough and
Mrs. Ann Foster, all of Griffin;
great-grandparents, Lester Ash
of Cleveland, Tenn., and Mrs.
Elizabeth Ash of Jonesboro.
The funeral was this af
ternoon at 2 o’clock from the
graveside in the Providence
cemetery in Williamson. The
Rev. Earl Stiff officiated.
Pittman Rawls Funeral Home
was in charge of plans.
Mr. Berry
Mr. Colmer George Berry of
Pomona died Monday.
He is survived by his wife,
Mrs. Nannie Davis Berry; 2
daughters, Mrs. James T.
Watkins of Hampton and Mrs.
Raleigh Pruitt of Lavonia; a
son, James M. Berry of Griffin;
a brother, the Rev. Paul Berry
of Augusta; 7 grandchildren, 12
great-grandchildren and 2
great-great-grandchildren.
The funeral was this af
ternoon at 3 o’clock in Car
michael Funeral Home chapel.
The Rev. Sydney W. Whitman
and the Rev. W. R. “Bob” Jones
officiated and burial was in the
Philadelphia Methodist Church
cemetery. D. T. Carmichael
and Son Funeral Home of
McDonough was in charge of
plans.
Mrs. Murphy
Mrs. Bell Murphy of 907 West
Wall street died Monday at the
Clearview Nursing Home in
Thomaston.
She is survived by a daughter,
Mrs. Gladys Parker of Detroit,
Mich.; a brother, Hamp Dukes
of Griffin; granddaughter, Miss
Jeanette Matthews of Detroit;
and one great-grandson.
Funeral plans will be an
nounced by Millers Funeral
Home.
— REVIVAL —
MIDWAY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
High Falls Road - Griffin, Ga.
Sept 26 thru 29
7:30 P.M. Each Evening
Dr. Sam Coker ■ Preaching
The Rev. Les Connell - Song Leader
NURSERY PROVIDED - VISITORS WELCOME
Revival Continues
CHURCH OF GOD
Hampton, Ga.
This week
through Sunday
■ night Oct. 2.
WL 4 Services 7:30
PM Each Night
PRAYER FOR
■ J JHH THE SICK
Herb Winegar. EACH NIGHT
Evangelist
The 52-year-old black Baptist
minister was shot three times in
the face at point-blank range
moments after a woman identi
fied as Miss Ellington’s sister
accused him of killing the teen
ager.
The state contends the shots
were fired by Bums, an uncle of
the dead girl, as 300 horrified
mourners looked on.
Alexander City policeman
James Ware testified Monday
that he took Bums into custody
after the shooting. He said while
en route to jail Bums stated, “I
had to do it and if I had it to do
over, I’d do it again.”
Bums’ trial got under way as
spectators whispered weird, su
perstitious tales of the dead
minister reportedly seen driv
ing around the community.
Although some of the Rev.
Mr. Maxwell's neighbors ac
knowledged at the time of his
death that many in the black
community believed he prac
ticed voodoo, one witness dis
puted such claims.
“I am not knowledgeable of
any blacks in this town having
fear of Rev. Maxwell,” said an
other Baptist minister, the Rev.
R.P. Burpo Jr. “I did not hear
any voodoo talk.”
But during services last June
for the Rev. Mr. Maxwell, the
Rev. C. Mardis said, “They ac
cused him of being Beelze
bub...they talked about him
casting out the Spirit with spir
its.”
The Rev. Mr. Maxwell was
eulogized as a Moses, “a mur
derer and a fugitive” used by
God “to lead his people.”
The eulogy focused attention
on a string of mysterious deaths
within the Maxwell family, the
latest of which was his step
daughter.
Miss Ellington’s body was
found June 11, pinned beneath
the tireless rim of the minister’s
car as if she had been fatally
injured while changing the tire.
State toxicologists said, how
ever, that the girl was dead
when her body was placed un
der the car.
The Rev. Mr. Maxwell was
charged with murder in 1969 in
the mysterious death of his first
wife, but was later acquitted
after marrying the state’s
principal witness, who changed
her testimony.
His second wife also died un
der mysterious circumstances,
as did his brother and a nephew.
The minister reportedly col
lected $130,000 in life insurance
on his first two wives.
Chamber
to vote
on change
The Chamber of Commerce
will vote at a Oct. 13 breakfast
meeting on adding 3 members
to its board of directors.
An amendment to have new
officers take over in December
at the regular board meeting
will be proposed also.
The meeting will begin at 7:30
a.m. at Holiday Inn.
Dr. Loren Young of Griffin
will be the speaker for the
meeting.
wk
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Three men appear before the Senate Banking Committee in Washington Monday where the
panel continues its probe of former Budget Director Bert Lance and his financial dealings.
From left are: Steven Gardner, Federal Reserve Board member; George Lemaistre,
chairman Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; and John Heimann, comptroller of the
currency. (AP)
Overdrafts not uncommon
among bankers, directors
By W. DALE NELSON
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -
Nearly two-thirds of the banks
examined in a new government
survey allow their directors and
other insiders to write interest
free overdrafts on their ac
counts.
Bert Lance, who last week
resigned under fire as director
of the Office of Management
and Budget, had been criticized
for writing similar overdrafts at
the Georgia bank he operated.
The survey, made by exam
iners of the Federal Deposit In
surance Corp., also shows that
the dollar volume of the over
drafts by insiders was less than
1 per cent of the total overdrafts
allowed to all depositors in the
189 banks examined.
The results of the FDIC sur
vey, conducted during the week
of Sept. 12, were reported Mon
day to the Senate Banking
Committee, which is consid
ering laws to tighten federal
regulation of banks.
Called as witnesses today
were officers of three banks
from which Lance received per
sonal loans while the banks had
Birmingham man indicted
in 1963 church bombing
By PHIL ORAMOUS
Associated Press Writer
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -
Robert Edward Chambliss, 73,
of Birmingham was held with
out bond today after being in
dicted on four counts of first
degree murder in the 1963
bombing of a church that had
been used as headquarters for
civil rights demonstrations.
Chambliss was arrested Mon
day after the indictments were
handed down by a Jefferson
County grand jury in a one-day
special session.
The charges stemmed from
the Sept. 15, 1963, blast at the
Sixteenth Street Baptist
Church. Four, girls died in a
restroom area near the stair
well in which the explosion oc
curred.
Nineteen people were hurt
and rubble was strewn over a
wide area.
The explosion came nearly
seven months after the begin
ning of massive street demon
strations led by the late Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
A number of other bombings
occurred during and before the
demonstration era that even
tually led to passage of the fed
eral Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Published reports in the Bir
mingham Post-Herald and The
Atlanta Constitution said Mari
etta, Ga., attorney J. B. Stoner
had been indicted in an unre
lated church blast.
The newspapers quoted
sources as saying Stoner was
charged in a 1958 explosion at
Bethel Baptist Church in Bir
mingham. There were no in
juries.
The Post-Herald said its
sources said they did not know
when Stoner would be arrested.
The Bethel church was pas
tured at the time by the Rev.
Fred Shuttles worth, president
of the Alabama Christian Move
ment for Human Rights and one
of the leaders of the dem-
the use, without paying interest,
of depositors’ money from
banks Lance headed.
During Senate hearings,
loanee maintained that the large
overdrafts he and his relatives
ran up at the family owned First
National Bank of Calhoun, Ga.,
were part of a liberal overdraft
policy available to all
depositors.
But in a report issued Aug. 18,
Comptroller of the Currency
John G. Heimann said the over
drafts by Lance, his wife and
members of her family who
were bank directors constituted
“unsafe and unsound banking
practices.”
Monday’s hearing was
marked by disagreement over
how commonly bankers misuse
their position as insiders in the
financial world.
“There does not appear to be
widespread abuse by insiders of
overdraft privileges,” George
A. LeMaistre, chairman of the
deposit insurance agency, told
the committee.
also said fewer
bankers than in past years ap
pear to be using their relation
ships with other banks to obtain
i * -
I|| I
I |
Robert Chambliss
onstrations.
The grand jury, which met for
three months, considered
evidence gathered by the Ala
bama attorney general’s office
in some 50 racial bombings in
Birmingham in the late 1950 s
and early 19605.
Deputy Atty. Gen. George
Beck, who handled the cases for
the state, said more evidence
would be submitted to future
grand juries.
Chambliss is the first person
charged in the actual bombing
of the Sixteenth Street church.
A few days after the incident,
the head of the Alabama Public
Safety Department, Col. Al
WESTERN SIZZLIN cggEE
SS STEAK HOUSE
1412 NORTH EXPRESSWAY
M vp** oUßcow
IS DELICIOUS
th
loans on terms not available to
people outside the banking
world. He said the number of
such cases referred to the De
partment of Justice declined
from 205 in 1971 to 43 in 1976.
But Sen. William Proxmire,
D-Wis., chairman of the bank
ing panel, said this might be
because the cases are so hard to
prove that bank regulators have
tired of fruitlessly referring
them for prosecution. He said
that of 250 such referrals over a
five year period in Texas, Okla
homa, Colorado and New
Mexico only one conviction
resulted.
The overdraft survey showed
that during a 90-day period, in
siders such as bank officers or
directors had been overdrawn
at 122 of the 189 banks, or ap
proximately 64 per cent of
them.
At 37 banks, most of them
small like the one in Calhoun,
more than 5 per cent of the dol
lar volume of overdrafts
allowed went to insiders. In
three of the banks, the insiders'
overdrafts amounted to more
than half of the total amount
overdrawn.
Lingo, arrested Chambliss and
two other men on charges of il
legal possession of dynamite.
They were not linked to the
church blast. A city court judge
fined the trio SIOO and sentenced
them to 180 days in jail, but the
convictions later were over
turned by a state court.
Atty. Gen. Bill Baxley re
opened the investigation of the
bombings in February 1976.
After published reports ap
peared last week that Stoner
was being investigated, he com
mented that the whole thing was
a publicity stunt to aid Baxley’s
political career.
He made the same remark
when asked for comment Mon
day.
In an interview with radio
station WERC of Birmingham,
Stoner said, “I think Bill Baxley
is a dirty SOB to start pros
ecuting innocent white people to
get the nigger bloc vote in his
race for governor of Alabama.”
He told News Director Tim
Lennox that he had not been in
formed of an indictment, but if
so he would fight extradition,
adding, “I wouldn’t feel safe in
Alabama with a wild man like
Bill Baxley running around over
there.”
Gay plans
antique,
crafts fair
This fall’s “Cotton Pickin’ ”
Antique, Art and Craft Fair at
Gay, Ga., will be held Oct. 1-2,
from 10 to 6 each day.
The fair is held twice each
year on the first weekend in
May and October. This unique
event takes place in and around
all the old buildings associated
with the ginning of cotton; the
gin, warehouse, seed houses
and the com hammer mill,
which are right in the middle of
Gay.
The fair was started in 1972 as
an event to promote Gay and
Meriwether County. The fair
has not only grown in size and
numbers of people attending but
in quality also.
Antique dealers, a complete
blacksmith shop, basketmaker,
glassblower, rug weavers,
leather workers, quilt makers,
jewelry designers, wood
workers, an artist with a chain
saw, potter, scrimshaw
engravers and artists using oils,
water colors, acrilics will all be
present. Also home canned
jellies, vegetables and cakes
will be sold.
There is a pony ride for the
children, and this is the only
ride allowed since this is a
country fair and not one with
today’s modem midways. Other
entertainment provided each
day is live country music,
square dancing, exhibitions and
gospel choir singing.
Admission is $1 for adults and
50 cents for children 6 to 12 and
kids under 6 free.
G. R. Grogan
is promoted
G.R. Grogan has been
promoted to staff manager for
the National Life and Accident
Insurance Co. in Griffin. He
began his career as an agent in
1974 and has won numerous
company and industry
production honors and awards.
The National Life Griffin
office is located at 1315 Taylor
street. E.T. Bacon is the
manager of that office.
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Truck damages
football field
Flint River Academy officials
at Woodbury today worked to
see if they could get the football
field repaired in time for the
Friday night game with Bar
nesville Academy.
An 18-wheel tractor-track ran
out of control and onto the field
Monday morning about 5 a.m.
The woman driving the rig
suffered a broken nose and
other injuries, witnesses said.
Another woman and another
person were passengers in the
track. All three were taken to a
LaGrange hospital.
The truck was loaded with
soda crackers and sweet
crackers.
The vehicle ran between the 5
and 25 yard lines, knocked down
one pole of lights and split
another.
Gene Love, headmaster, said
he was consulting with Georgia
Power people to see if the field
■■-Mt Hospital
report
Dismissed from the Griffin-
Spalding Hospital Monday:
Myrtle Bransford, Mrs.
Kathy Briscoe and baby, Mrs.
Brenda Broadus and baby,
Loura McKenzie, Carlene
Brooks, Laura Campbell,
Oreica Digby, Mrs. Loretta
Wilson and baby, Elsie
McCullough.
Harrison Hutcherson, Len
Jones, Julia M. Knight, Mrs.
Pamela Millen and baby, Anne
Martin, Carrie Carter, Becky
Payton, Annie Sims, Helen
Slaton, Ray Warr, Jeff L.
Watkins.
You Don’t Bay At
You II Pay Too Much M
126 W. Solomon SL Phone 227-3597
lights could be replaced in time
for the Friday night home
game.
If not, then the school might
consider playing the game at
the Lamar County field.
Love said the damage to the
football field could be repaired.
The problem is getting the
lights back up, he said.
El
Mrs. Emilie R. Wilson of Griffin
has been elected Chaplain of the
American Legion Auxiliary
Department of Georgia at the
fall conference in Augusta. She
has served as unit president of
the Morgan-Brown Post 546,
department sergeant at arms,
department communications
chairman, department com
munity service chairman,
Fourth District president and
immediate past department
legislative chairman. She was
presented a national legislative
citation from the 57th National
Convention in Denver.