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Merry Christmas to all OF OUR READERS. —7fa P'LOfrX'U Thursday, December 22,2016 Jasper, Georgia Volume 129 Number 35 www.pickensprogress.com 75 cents 5,049 Christmas Child shoeboxes collected in Pickens County Page 5A Healing hearts through arts Page 6A Future of Nelson Police debated at hearing Page 5A Second man charged in axe murder By Dan Pool Editor dpool@pickensprogress.com A second man has been charged with murder in con nection with a body that had been hidden in the Cove Road area since the summer of 2014. Christopher Irving Byers, 32, of Lower Tails Creek Road in Ellijay, was indicted by a Pickens grand jury for murder last week as a co-de fendant with Arnold Hoyt Griffith, Jr. 58, of Cove Road, who was arrested for murder on November 9. As co-defendants, Grif fith and Byers each face charges of malice murder. felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, tamper ing with evidence and aban donment of a body. Both men were in jail on proba tion violations at the time the murder charges were brought. The indictments state both Griffith and Byers killed Ray Walnoha by “striking him on and about the head and neck with an axe.” The indictment says the exact date is not known, but the killing is believed to have occurred between July 11, 2014 and August 15, 2014, according to the in dictment. The indictment does not indicate which of the men Christopher Byers (left) and Arnold Griffith, Jr. booking photos from the Pickens County jail. struck the fatal blow. Little is known of Wal noha, the victim. The last known address that investi gators could find was in Adamsville, Tenn. He had never been officially re ported missing and local of ficials had trouble finding any next of kin, eventually locating a sibling. Sheriff spokesman Kris Stancil said they are looking into what led Walnoha to be here. He possibly had lived in Ellijay at one point. The charge for abandon ment of a body states Byers and Griffith abandoned the body in the vicinity of 2198 Cove Road, which tax records show is owned by Arnold H. Griffith and in cludes 53 acres of woodland with a home and older out building. Both Griffith and Byers are also charged individually with tampering with evi dence. The indictment states they attempted to “unlaw fully and knowingly destroy and conceal physical evi dence, to wit: the body and physical remains of Ray Walnoha.” Law enforcement offi cials would not comment on how or under what condi tions the body had been found in regard to the sepa rate abandonment and tam pering charges. Officials familiar with the case said the GBI had con ducted body searches in the Cove Road area based on this information on a couple of occasions. The body may have been moved after it was hidden the first time, accord- See Murder on 10A Jasper family shot at in road rage incident By Angela Reinhardt Staff writer areinhardt@pickensprogress.com Cherokee County detec tives are investigating a seri ous road rage incident that, although it produced no in juries, could have resulted in more than one fatality. Detectives are requesting the public’s help to identify the suspect. According to a press re lease from the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Depart ment, the incident occurred Saturday, Dec. 17 at approx imately 10 p.m. on Reinhardt College Parkway north of the Highway 5 Connector. A Jasper couple in their 70s and their teenage grand son turned out of Cherokee Auction Company to travel north on Reinhardt College Parkway when they pulled out in front of another vehicle that did not have its head lights on and almost collided photo/Cherokee Sheriff Between four and six shots were fired at a Jasper family’s car last weekend. One bullet hit the vehicle’s tailgate, pictured above. with it, according to the inci dent report. The driver of the other vehicle, which was traveling south, turned around and opened fire on the couple’s 2005 Toyota 4Runner. “The vehicle sped up and started to tailgate [the vic- See Road Rage on 14A Elected officials take oath of office Fifteen public officials participated in an investiture ceremony for the 2017-2020 term Monday afternoon at the Pickens County Courthouse. Following are those who took their oath of office and loyalty oath before their respective judge. Seated l-r: Chief Judge of the Superior Court Brenda Weaver, Clerk of the Superior and Juvenile Courts Jen nifer Jordan, Board of Education Member Sue Finley; Standing l-r: Associate Judge of the Probate Court and Chief Judge of the Magistrate Court Allen Wigington, Coroner Mark Godfrey, Judge of the Magistrate Court Alan Morris, Board of Education Member Katherine White, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Robert Jones, Magistrate Court Judge Richard Howard, Probate Court Judge and Magistrate Court Judge David Lindsey, Superior Court Judge John Worchester (present but not sworn in), Board of Commissioners Member Becky Den ney, Tax Commissioner Darrin Satterfield, Magistrate Court Judge Carlton Wilson, and Pickens County Sheriff Donald Craig. Kindergarteners pen stories on “how Santa gets into my house” Front row, left to right: Townson Rickenbaker, Darbi Stanley, Lucas Franklin, Paul Rowe, Luke Mason. Back row, left to right: Chloe Daniel, Jonah Newton, Callaway Young, Santa Claus, Isaac Mitchell, Kolby Moss, Trip Davis, Garrett Patterson. By First Baptist Church Jasper Kindergarten Students of Krista Simonds and Tiffany Griffis Santa comes from the North Pole through the chimney to get into my house. He is 14 years old and weighs 1,000 pounds. Santa’s been married to Mrs. Claus for 30 years. He uses his sleigh and 8 rein deer - Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Rudolph and some others - to fly around the world in one hour. I’m the first house Santa goes to in the whole world and he leaves the presents on the floor in my liv ing room. He has 1,000 elves that make stuff and I hope they bring me a Lego Ghostbuster Firehouse. I’m going to leave him chocolate chip cookies on the living room table and carrots for the reindeer. - Trip Santa lives at the North Pole with Mrs. Claus and they’ve been married for five years. He weighs 99 pounds so he has to come down the fireplace from the roof to get into my house. He is 75 years old so it takes him a long time to de liver the presents around the world - about a couple of hours. Santa gets to my house at 10:00 and leaves the presents in the living room, so I have to be asleep. I hope he brings me candy canes and a Barbie Cruise Ship. That’s what I really want. The 98 elves make the toys and the 18 reindeer help him deliver the presents - Dasher, Prancer, Harrison, Comet, Rudolph, Blitzen and Catherine. Santa’s favorite food is Cheerios cereal, so I leave that on the coffee table in the living room and carrots for the reindeer. - Townson See Stories on 1OA OBITS PAGE 15A • Aubrey Dobson • Harry Hendrix •Jack Jones Sr. • Kenneth Cagle • May Branscum • Peggy Crowl GO Subscribe to our Print edition and/or E-edition - Call our office at 706-253-2457 or do it online at www.pickensprogress.com