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VOLUME LXXVII—NUMBER 62
Turner murder trial is delayed due to ‘new evidence’
By Molly Read
Staff writer
The murder trial of Timothy Turner, accused of the
murder of 19-year-old Bonnie Kay Dodd, took an unusual
turn last week when a key witness for the state said she
would not testify and the district attorney requested a
Board
‘deviates’
rezoning
By Molly Read
Staff writer
Forsyth County Commissioners
may have booted Robert and his rules
of order right out the door Monday
night, when they voted to “deviate” a
previous zoning decision from the
minutes of July 28 to use the word
of Commissioner David Gilbert.
Gilbert proposed that the board’s
denial of a zoning application from
Donald Kieffer, who had requested
that 34 acres on Lanier Drive be
rezoned to a vacation cottage re
stricted area, be deleted from the
minutes of the earlier meeting, which
was attended by scores of residents
opposed to the request.
He further proposed that commis
sioners meet with anyone concerned
about the rezoning (which was rec
ommended for approval by the plan
ning and zoning board) Monday night
at 7 p.m. in the courthouse.
Commissioner Jack Shoemake
pointed out with some hesitation that
“this is the first time we’ve ever
brought anything back up that’s been
denied or approved (like this).”
County Attorney Robert Stubbs sug
gested that commissioners send the
request back through the usual chan
nels, starting with the planning and
zoning board instead of trying to alter
the past minutes and “suspend Rob
erts Rules of Order ... and go totally
out of kilter from the normal proce
dure.”
However, the commissioners fol
lowed Gilbert’s suggestion and voted
to amend the minutes of July 28. They
also said that they would have to put
signs back up, advertise the rezoning
and inform nearby residents of the
request all over again when it comes
up for reconsideration.
A spokesman for Kieffer said that
the residents opposing the rezoning at
the July 28 meeting were probably
not aware that he was trying to just
prevent mobile homes from coming
onto his property, which is presently
zoned vacation cottage, unrestricted.
However, he said he would not take
advantage of the smaller lot sizes the
VC restricted zone would allow.
A forceful representation of For-
See BOARD, Page 2A
Rape suspect arrested
The Forsyth County Sheriff’s office
has arrested a suspect in an August 2
rape case and a man suspected in the
armed robbery Sunday of a Cumming
restaurant.
Curtis Ray Pace, 21, of Elmo Road,
was arrested on charges that he had
raped a 22-year-old Roswell woman
after offering her a ride when her car
ran off the road.
Chief Investigator Russell Mat
thews said that the rape victim identi
fied Pace from a line-up of
photographs and that although the
woman had earlier said the rapist
referred to himself as “Tom,” she
later recalled that Pace had told her
his real name the night of the offense.
Pace is being held without bond in
Forsyth County Jail.
A former Shoney’s employee was
arrested for armed robbery of the
restaurant shortly after he allegedly
held up an assistant manager there
late Sunday night.
Donald Wayne Teems, 22, of a
Cumming address, was wearing a
mask and was armed (with a BB gun)
when he accosted the assistant man
ager, who was going to make a bank
deposit shortly after the restaurant
closed, according to the sheriff’s de
partment report.
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Forsyth County News *B#
continuance due to new evidence.
At the request of District Attorney Rafe Banks the case
has been delayed and will not be tried during the court
session beginning Monday, as originally scheduled.
Thursday, the wife of 24-year-old Turner, who is
charged with the murder and kidnapping of Dodd, said in
court that she would not testify against her husband.
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The water may be low, but the lake is still
beautiful, as evidenced by this photograph cap
Teems was arrested in a wooded
area shortly after the alleged holdup,
and the missing money and weapon
were recovered by sheriff’s employ
ees. Teems had been dismissed from
his job at Shoney’s about a month
ago, according to reports.
Two juveniles who allegedly com
mitted a string of crimes, which
started with pouring paint on the
Forsyth County High School stadium
and ended with stealing cases of beer
from the E-Z Go market were ar
rested by Cumming Police officers.
A 13-year-old and a 15-year-old
from Forsyth County also confessed
to spray-painting high school coach
Jerry Cauly’s Toyota and stealing
cassette tapes and wrenches out of
cars parked near the Ramey Drive
apartments the night of Aug. 5, Police
Chief Ricky Padgett said. They then
went to the E-Z Go market on Canton
Highway and stole several cases of
beer, some of which they hid in
nearby woods, according to police
sources.
The two boys were caught when
they came back for the beer Saturday
night, Padgett said. The chief added
that the juveniles are now in the
custody of their parents.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 17, 1986—CUMMING, GA. 30130—60 PAGES 3 SECTIONS
Sail on
Traffic in county
shows big increase
By George Hruby
Staff writer
If you’ve been getting the im
pression lately that traffic in and
around Cumming is getting
heavier, you’re right.
According to figures released by
the Georgia Department of Trans
portation, traffic in some parts of
the county has increased nearly 25
percent over last year.
Traffic counts taken in Novem
ber along portions of Ga. 9 in and
around Cumming increased more
than 15 percent over figures from
the previous November. Along
several portions of Ga. 400 and Ga.
20 the increase was more than 20
percent.
Not surprisingly, those stretches
of road that handle the most traf
fic also host the most accidents,
according to Vance Taylor, an
investigator at the Forsyth County
Sheriff’s Department. But some
stretches of road are just poorly
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At a probable cause hearing for Turner held shortly
after his arrest in June, a G. 8.1. agent testified that
Linda Turner had said her husband admitted to strang
ling a woman in Georgia, and that he had then tried to
destroy evidence connected with the crime.
Under state law, a husband or wife of a criminal
suspect cannot be forced to testify against their spouse.
turing a lone boat sailing into the glory of an
afternoon sun.
designed or dangerous in their
own right.
Among the conclusions that can
be drawn from the new average
daily traffic counts collected at 90
locations across the county:
• Ga. 400 is the most heavily
travelled road in the county
particularly between exits 9 and
10. Ga. 9 in Cumming between the
courthouse and Tri-County Plaza
runs a very close second.
• Traffic is heavier in the south
end of the county than in the north
end, and busier on the west side
than on the east side.
• Traffic is heaviest in the city
of Cumming. Other heavy traffic
areas are the Coal Mountain trian
gle (Ga. 9/Ga. 306/Ga. 369) and in
and around the Brandywine com
munity north of Alpharetta.
• Generally speaking, on any
given road, the closer you get to
Cumming, the busier the traffic.
• Last fall, 3,384 more cars a
day travelled Ga. 9 south of the
FIRST PLACE
Forsyth 4-H’ers
capture four firsts
in state competition
Special Photo Susan Griffith
At a hearing late Thursday afternoon, Judge Frank
Mills set Timothy Turner’s bond at $150,000.
Turner said he would stay at his mother’s house if he
made bond. One condition of the bond agreement was
that Turner not go onto Clark Drive, the road where the
Dodd family lives, and the scene of the alleged crime.
Sims not guilty
of contempt;
threatens suit
By Molly Read
Staff writer
Former sheriff’s department Chief
Investigator Randy Sims Thursday
was found not guilty of contempt for
failing to appear before a grand jury
last month, and immediately said it
was time for a public airing of the
dispute between himself and District
Attorney Rafe Banks.
Sims had been issued a subpeona
to appear before the Forsyth County
Grand Jury on July 15.
A request by Banks to have Sheriff
Welsey Walraven held in contempt of
court for failing appear before the
same grand jury was granted a con
tinuance at the request of the district
attorney and Walraven’s attorney,
Jack Nuckolls.
Yet another motion to demand the
financial records of Rockhill Bonding
Company was satisfied when rep
resentatives of the company agreed
to produce the documents for grand
jury investigation.
Banks’ motion to hold the sheriff in
contempt of court was deferred until
September 4. Walraven said that he
did not appear before the grand jury
as subpoenaed because his lawyer,
whose father was in surgery, could
not accompany him.
Accompanying the subpeona of Sims
was a statement from Banks saying
the grand jury would be looking into
the source of Sims’ information which
led to a search of a residence for
dynamite which allegedly belonged to
Carl Turner; discrepancies between
Sims’ testimony to a previous grand
jury and a trial jury; and “whether or
not you were derelict in your duties
with regards to the way the dynamite
case was handled.”
In a highly publicized letter written
last May, Banks accused Sims of
perjury and added that Sims’ credibi
lity was ruined. Sims, stating that the
district attorney’s statements prohib
ited him from effectively working
with the sheriff’s department, re
signed later the same month.
Sims had stated previously that if
the district attorney wants to charge
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courthouse than the autumn be
fore bringing the daily average
of cars on that stretch of road to
16,679.
• 20,827 cars a day drive along
Ga. 400 between exits 9 and 10
up 7,368 from last year.
Not all of the roads in the county
are suffering from greater conges
tion. Traffic on Ga. 53 is pretty
much the same as a year ago, and
traffic on Ga. 306 near town has
actually decreased.
Secondary roads in the county
have experienced only minor
changes in their traffic counts.
But Ga. 400, Ga. 20 and Ga. 9
as well as all the other roads in
him with anything, he will waive his
rights to a grand jury hearing and go
straight to a trial. Thursday, Sims
said if Banks does not take his com
plaints to court with a criminal
charge next week he will file a civil
action against the district attorney
for defamation of character.
“Between Mr. Banks and some of
his friends and associates, my name
has been drug through the dirt in
Forsyth County now for six months,
and it’s time for a laundry day,” Sims
said. “I have every intention to let the
people of Forsyth County know every
thing they want to know concerning
the investigation.”
“Mr. Banks made a big deal in
(the) newspapers about how he
needed some questions answered
publicly and privately. I’ve answered
every question privately that the man
has refused nothing. Now he wants
to take us down to a closed session (of
the grand jury) and do the whole
thing privately again. Well I’m ready
to go public with it,” Sims said.
“Should a decision not be forthcom
ing to present my case to the people of
Forsyth County on accusations made
by the district attorney, then I will
file a civil suit against Mr. Banks
next week and it will go to court
anyway. And should it be quashed in
civil court and not heard there, I will
give your paper everything it’s will
ing to print about me, about the
sheriff’s department, about the dis
trict attorney’s office and the remain
der of any organized crime element
this county might have had at one
time. There won’t be an unanswered
question left before this is over with,”
Sims said.
Banks said that he did not plan to
prosecute Sims, but had referred the
case to the Peace Officers Standards
and Training Council, an organiza
tion which trains law enforcement
officers and works to maintain stan
dards within the field.
“One reason I sent it to the POST
was because something like this
shouldn’t be reduced to a personal
See SIMS, Page 2A
and around the county seat are
busy and getting busier.
According to the state D.O.T.
and the Forsyth County Office of
Public Works, there are no imme
diate plans to widen or improve
these roads other than the current
expansion of Ga. 20.
Taylor cites the traffic light at
Buford Crossing, where Ga. 9 and
Ga. 20 meet, as the worst spot for
traffic accidents. The intersection
of Ga. 400 and Ga. 369 is also
dangerous, as is Ga. 9 at Sawmill
Curve, near the radio station.
All of these danger zones are
among the busiest traffic areas in
the county.
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