Newspaper Page Text
Third Trial Underway
BY JAN HUGHES
Staff Writer
An Atlanta pediatrician, Dr.
Sanford J. Matthews, said, “In
my opinion Hollis Morgan does
not need psychiatric treatment,
but a practicing psychiatrist
said, “Hollis does need follow
up treatment" from a psychia
trist.
Monday morning, District
Attorney C.B. Holcomb started
the questioning for the selection
of a jury as the State hoped to
prove 22-year-old Hollis Wingo
Morgan a member of a consp
iracy to commit the murder of
the parents of her husband, Mr.
and Mrs. Wallace Morgan, for
the “inheritance."
The defense relied strongly
on the mental ability that Hollis
Wingo Morgan was “not a type
of person who can act in'this
manner."
“With a history of mental dis
orders since age 13 or 14,"
the psychiatrist, Dr. Robert L.
McDonald, said, "HoUis is a
follower, is not a very resour
ceful person and she is fond of
her child.”
Prior to Dr. McDonald’s test
imony, the pediatrician testified
"She (Hollis) is a good little
mother. The relationship is al
most like a girl and doll," he
added.
Since the defendant was 13
years old, she has been under
the attention of Dr. Matthews
as she is subject to epileptic
seizures under stress.
“Hollis’ brain does notaccept
the stimuli and responses as
well as a normal person," but
“she certainly knows right
wrong in the strict sense of me*
word," Matthews said.
New Store Owners
Hail From Florida
f
Allison Cobb Jr., former re
sident of Pensacola, Fla.,along
with his wife, Fayejfs&a their
four children are bringing to
Cummlng a new shopping con
venience to be opened Aug. 26
at 220 Atlanta Road.
White’s Stores is a franchise
business popular throughout the
Southeastern and Southwestern
United States.
Cobb is a native of Florida
and was employed by Gulf P
ower Company for 26 years, the
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Bulldozers began to « meir thing last week a the site of the
proposed shopping center on Highway 19 south of Cummlng.
The center, which is expected to be completed by early 1973,
Lt. Burt Frye testified early'
Tuesday morning, “Her (Hollis)
emotions were normal when he
took her and Steven to have a
polygraphy test,” but when he
arrested her May 18 Hollis was
“highly nervous.”
In writing about Steven’s part
in the killings, the defendant
wrote, "the murders were men
tioned in, front of Steven sev-
Former
Employee
Hurt
A recent employee of the For
syth County News, Ann Chester,
and her three-year-old daugh
ter, Denise, were involved in a
three-car collision late Monday
evening on Highway 9E in Daw
son County.
Mrs. Chester was taken to
Hall County Hospital for obser
vation. Her daughter was tr
eated and released.
The state patrol headquarters
stated a 1966 Ford driven by
David Evans, 16, skidded Into
the rear of a 1966 Ford driven
by Ruby Reece of Dahlonega.
Mrs. Chester saw the car
Uflven by'Bvans coming across
the centerlipe and trying to
£ avoid it, linear skidded into the
of the E vans car.
last few years having been in
the capacity of payroll super
visor.
He has been active in many
areas of community work and
both he and his family are me
mbers of the Baptist Church.
Their son, Gary, is enrolled
as an architectural student at
Georgia Tech in Atlanta but will
help out in the store when time
permits.
Lisa and Lori are enrolled at
Forsyth County High and Mark
Grading Begim On Shopping Center
eral times. Michael told Steven
about the plans, but Steven said
"shut up, I don’t want to know
anything about it, the less I
know the less I can tell."
For the first time in the week
and two day criminal session,
the sentenced Michael Morgan
and Robert Howar d were
brought into the court room by
Sheriff Donald Pirkle for identi
fication by Lt. Burt Frye.
Ivy Wingo, brother of Hollis
Wingo Morgan, sat behind the
defense table with HoUis as she
calmly watched her husband,
Michael, leave the courtroom.
Early Tuesday, Agent Ray
Plnyon read a statement pre
pared by Michael Morgan. Mor
gan wrote, “everytime we
talked, HoUis was on my back
about mama and daddy. It all
started when HoUis and I re
married.”
Morgan's statement read,
"Hollis suggested we kill my
grandparents because we need
ed the money,” and further wr
ote, "I tried to get out of it
because Howard and Hollis said
they would kill me and my chUd
if I said a word.”
For the defense, attorney
Jane Plaginos directed a ques
tion to the psychiatrist, "would
she be able to comprehend
double murders?" The psychia
trist stated, “ny opinion is no.”
State Inver ,rs received
their first break in the murder
when HoUis Morgan turnedover
information for state's evidence
and arrests of Michael Morgan,
Robert Howard andßobertShaw
were made.
Late Tuesday, in a rebuttal
for the State, Dr. Cliff B. Har
den stated, "Hollis could distin
guish between real and not
will begin Cummlng Elementary
in the first grade.
The Cobbs are currently re
siding at 404 Pine Lake Drive
in Greenwood Acres.
They are very excited about
their new endeavor and are lo
oking forward to becoming a
part of theCummingCommun
lty.
White’s will carry a full line
of merchandise to meet the ne
eds and pleasures of the entire
county, Cobb said.
will house several national chain stores along with local re
tailers. Developer of the center is Schaumann-Hlll Properties
of Atlanta.
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inil cUvty niiVTS
Dedicated To The Cum m ing And Forsyth County
CUMMING. GEORGIA
real," and also "by being able
to hold a good job she shows
she has will power to obey the
law and not get involved in it."
The Court is to hear the con
clusion of arguments early We
dnesday morning and the jury’s
verdict should be announced be
fore noon.
|i Smiley And Rambler
Killed By Dogs
BY JOHNNY SOLESBEE
: News Editor
Smiley and Rambler were "extremely tame.”
J They would come up and take stuff out of kids’ hands
f and eat it.
Several children found out that Smiley and Rambler
liked cereal and apples and some are still coming by
Cumming’s City Park to feed the two baby deer.
;|: But, Smiley and Rambler aren’t there anymore.
•: Tame though they were, a pack of apparently wild
:• dogs dug under the fence at the Park Sunday night,
:• ran the deer until they were tired out and then killed
?■ them. This is the speculation oi Par* Director Gerald
i; Blackburn.
The children who continue to come by to feed the deer
ii sometimes cry when they find out what has happened,
:• Blackburn said.
Smiley was the first deer tabe a resident at the Park.
:■ She had been found abandoned on a river when she was
:• about two weeks old and for the past six weeks had
•: been right at home at the park with everyday bringing
:• her more and more new little friends. And every day
J brought the park personnel closer to her.
j: Rambler, who had been at the park for 10 days,
was three months and one week old.
Rambler was donated to the park by a Griffin
; woman, Mrs. Darryl Crumbley, who had fought over
the fawn with the State Game and Fish Department.
Mrs. Crumbley was given the deer by a neighbor.
:• She insisted on keeping it as a pet, along with six
l goats, three dogs, three cats and a turtle,
v But state law prohibits the keeping of a deer as a pet
:• without a permit and game officials had sought to nego
>: tiate its surrender. Mrs. Crumbley vowed to fight in
the courts to keep the deer, but about two weeks ago
decided to give the fawn away because they had sold
>: their house and didn’t have adequate facilities to keep it,
i she said.
* A manpassedbytheParkSundayandsaw the dogs in
j the deer pen. He immediately told the Cumming police
and the police rushed to the park.
* When police arrived, the dogs had left the pen through
$ a hole dug under the fence and were gone. Smiley and
Rambler and the Park’s ducks were dead.
£ Blackburn isn’t sure if the dogs were wild, but at
any rate, he’s confident they were stray, he said.
He said the park is going to put some concrete
around the fence bottom and if at all possible try through
the Game and Fish Commission to get some more deer.
ISSUE 34
LXV
Judge Marion Pope Jr. is to
make a decision after Hollis
Morgan’s trial as to whether
Steven Morgan, 15, will be tried
in this session or transferred
elsewhere for juvenile court.
The case of Bob Shaw is
scheduled this week.
School
Time
F riday
Students in Forsyth County
Schools will head back for that
familiar ringing bell on Friday
morning.
Pre-registration for first gr
aders has already been held
and the county is now register
ing students who have moved
into the county since school was
out last spring.
Superintendent of Schools Cl
arence N. Lambert has said
earlier there will be no double
sessions this year and all
schools will open on schedule.
Two of the new school build
ings will not be completed by
opening day but this will not
affect classes, Lambert said.
A spokesman at Forsyth Co
unty High School says there are
plenty of new teacher faces
around this year.
15 CENTS PER COPv
•»*fe '*■—a a. ‘
Michael Morgan (right) taken from courthouse by Deputy Jim Ingram
Michael Morgan Receives
Electric Chair Sentence
BY JAN HUGHES
Staff Writer
Approaching an 11 man - one
woman jury late Friday night
in a closing argument for de
fendant , Michael Loyd Mor
gan, Assistant Attorney Mobley
Childs staysd , “you (the jury)
solely have the responsibility of
this case on your hands... don’t
be prejudiced...”
But, in a one and one half
hour deliberation early Sat
urday morning the jury’s
verdict declared Morgan guilty
in the “brutal murder” of his
parents and late r Saturday af
ternoon sentenced Morgan to die
in the electric chair.
Last Wednesday a special j
ry found the oldest son of the
murdered couple “legally sa
ne” to stand trial.
Before this decision, a spe
cial jury heard Dr. Edward L.
Askren, a Northside Hospital p
sychiatristjtestify, “Michael a
cts like Walt Disney characters;
he communicates with words,
but does not use them within;
Michael is near a distorted p
sychotic.”
“A very sick man,” the psy
chiatrist added, “Morgan could
not understand the forces going
on inside him.”
Breaking with tears, Mr. and
Mrs. Foster Wofford, grandpa
rents of Morgan, testified, “M
--ichael was unconcerned.” “The
details of the death didn’t bo
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Fire destroyed a lake home belonging to Roy P. Otwell Sr. of Cummlng early Tuesday night. The
home, in Deer Creek Shores Subdivision, was totally involved in flames when a unit of the Forsyth
County Fire Department arrived. Firemen battled the blaze for close to an hour but were never able
to contain it before the fire engine gave out of water. The Cumming fire engine was then called
to the scene to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby woods. Cause of the fire was unknown
at presstime.
THE FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS
ther him and I don’t think any
body can go through this with
out breaking down,” Mrs. Wof
ford said.
The 70 year old grandfather
stated he “saw Michael every
day” after the death of his only
daughter and son-in-law until
Michael was arrested, but “M
--ichael just didn’t care.”
Crying at the witness stand
and neatly dressed in his blue
shirt, the grandfather said, “I
love my grandson just as any
man can,” while the 24-year
old Morgan tightly twisted a
piece of paper behind the de
fense table.
In the two-day trial of Mor
gan, more than 200 people sat
silently in the court room lis
tening as the State introduced
34 exhibits of evidence in the
dual killings.
Introduced as State’s Exhib
it 14, a map drawn by Robert
Howard, “showing where two
pocketbooks were, ’’Agent Ray
Pinyon testified, “he dug two
feet by a creek •in DeKalb Co
unty and found the pocket
books.” At the witness stand,
Mrs. Annie B. Wofford ident
ified the pocketbooks as her d
aughter’s , Mrs. Morgan’s. A
jewelry box has not been lo
cated at the DeKalb site, but
Agent Pinyon stated, “I think,
I could find it, now.”
Lt. Burt Frye testified, "Ro
bert Howard apologized to Mic
Fire Destroys Lake Home
AUGUST 24, 1972
hael Morgan for making it (the
murder) so messy.” In a signed
statement , Michael Morgan
said , “he met Bob Howard at
the Green Light Bar about a w
eek after the death.”
In a telephone conversation,
Lt. Frye said, “Hollis Mor
gan,” who divorced and re
married Michael Morgan, “c
--alled my residence on a Monday
morning and asked me to bring
the warrants and necessary pa
pers, she wanted to be arrested
because she couldn’t go through
this hell any longer.”
Twenty-three witnesses br
ought conclusion in the second
defendant’s trial and District
Attorney C.B. Holcomb shouted
to the jury, "Michael Morgan
is convicted of one of the most
bizarre murders,” and turning
to the defendant, Holcomb ask
ing for the death penalty said,
“Michael Morgan , you did not
have mercy on your own flesh
and blood and I cannot ask this
Jury for your mercy.”
The death penalty, last We
dnesday, was pronounced to Ro
bert George Howard from the C
ourt Bar. Howard is to remain in
jail until Sept. 15 then he is to be
executed at the Reidsville State
Prison.