Woman found guilty of killing 82-year-old fiance
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@
gainesvilletimes.com
A Hall County jury con
victed Tabitha Wood on all
counts in the death of her
82-year-old fiance, Leroy
Franklin Kramer, Jr.
Wood was convicted of
malice murder, felony mur
der, exploitation of an elder
person, concealing the death
of another, financial transac
tion card theft and aggravated
assault against a person 65
years of age or older.
The indictment accused
Wood of inflicting traumatic
injuries to Kramer’s neck
and chest, though a specific
weapon is not listed.
The hyoid bone in Kram
er’s neck and the thyroid car
tilage, which is considered the
front of the voice box, were
severely damaged.
The jury was allowed to
consider a less serious charge
of voluntary manslaughter
in lieu of malice and felony
murder. Deliberations lasted
roughly 90 minutes.
Sentencing will be held at a
later date.
Defense attorney Jake
Shapiro asked Superior Court
Judge Lindsay Burton if Wood
would be allowed to hug her
mother. Because of the Hall
County Sheriff’s Office depu
ties’ concerns, the hug request
was denied.
During closing arguments,
Assistant District Attorney
Harold Buckler displayed
copies of the bank records,
showing repeated CashApp
transactions through early
2022.
“By the time May rolls
around, she is emptying his
account, OK?” Buckler said.
Buckler went through what
he called Wood’s 12 stories
she has told her friends, her
family, Kramer’s family, law
enforcement, the defense’s
expert and the jury since early
2022.
Over the three days of evi
dence, the prosecution high
lighted how Wood claimed
Kramer was still alive and liv
ing in Gilmer County and later
telling multiple people that he
took his own life.
Shapiro repeatedly criti
cized the lack of testing for
DNA, fingerprint and blood
found on the walls and furni
ture, calling it an incompetent
investigation.
One of the reasons given
for the lack of testing was that
Wood said she did not suffer
any bloody injuries that would
have led to the evidence found
at the scene.
During his closing argu
ment, Shapiro pulled out a
belt and whipped it in the well
of the courtroom to illustrate
the abuse Wood testified she
suffered at Kramer’s hands.
He returned to the limited
evidence allowed by the judge
regarding prior abuse Wood
claimed Kramer committed
against other women by his
admission.
The family members who
“couldn’t even call (Kramer)
on Christmas” didn’t know
Kramer like Wood did, Shap
iro said.
Responding to the “12 sto
ries” part of the prosecution’s
closing argument, Shapiro
said Wood has consistently
tried to tell people about how
■ Please see VERDICT, 3A
‘A disruptive uproar’
Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
One of many views from Legacy Golf Course at Lanier Islands Resort Wednesday, March 15.
Support low for ‘Lanier’ change among those who share name
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
Lanier isn’t just the name of
the lake that draws 12 million
visitors each year and supplies
drinking water to the ever-grow
ing Atlanta area.
It’s on street signs and names
of businesses, schools and orga
nizations throughout the area,
such as the heavily traveled
Lanier Islands Parkway, which
leads to Lanier Islands resort in
South Hall.
Residents “have invested
heavily to create an ongoing
identity for themselves and the
most attractive tourist location
in Georgia, and the cost and
confusion caused by changing
the name would cause a dis
ruptive uproar,” according to a
statement this week from Lake
Lanier Convention & Visitors
Bureau.
Others with Lanier in their
name are reacting to the federal
government looking at chang
ing the name of Lake Lanier
and Buford Dam because their
names are connected to Confed
erate soldiers. Even though the
effort is on “pause,” the Corps
is still accepting suggestions for
new names.
Andrew Clouse, owner of
Lula-based Lake Lanier Propel
ler, a business founded by his
father that serves boat dealers
and the general public, said “I
won’t ever change the name of
my business just because they
decide to change the name of a
lake.”
“I just don’t get it. It’s like
everyone is wanting to forget
our past... It’s a whole big issue
that doesn’t have to be an issue.”
If the lake changed names,
“we would have to change the
name of our organization,” said
Clyde Morris, a board mem
ber with advocacy group Lake
Lanier Association. “Otherwise,
it wouldn’t make any sense. ”
The organization was
founded in 1966,10 years after
the Army Corps of Engineers
completed Buford Dam on the
Chattahoochee River and the
lake started to fill.
“If they absolutely, positively
feel compelled legally to change
the name or the names of the
lake and dam, we’re suggesting
they simply drop out the first
name ‘Sidney’ and leave Lake
Lanier called Lake Lanier,”
Morris said.
The lake is officially known
as Lake Sidney Lanier, but is
commonly referred to as Lake
Lanier.
A potential name change
“has not been discussed by our
board at this point,” said Stacey
Dickson, president and CEO of
the Lake Lanier Convention &
Visitors Bureau.
“I’m sure we would need to
consider a name change, but I
wouldn’t be able to say whether
or not that name would mirror
the new lake name or not.”
The issue went haywire
last week when the Corps first
announced it would “develop
and submit a new name for
Lake Lanier/Buford Dam for
consideration by the Depart
ment of the Army. ”
The initiative sprang from a
federal report that flagged Lake
Lanier and Buford Dam as pos
sible candidates for renaming
because of the Confederate ties.
Lake Lanier is named after
poet Sidney Lanier, who served
in the Confederate States Army
as a private. Buford Dam is
named for the city, the name
sake of Lt. Col. Algernon Sid
ney Buford, who served in the
Virginia Militia during the Civil
War, the report states.
Sidney Lanier’s ballad “Song
of the Chattahoochee,” an ode
to the river flowing “out of the
hills of Habersham and down
■ Please see LANIER, 3A
A golfer
readies
his clubs
Wednesday,
March 15,
outside the
clubhouse
at Lanier
Islands
Legacy Golf
Course.
Shooting victim
says suspect
fired 12 shots at
his vehicle
BY BEN ANDERSON
banderson@gainesvilletimes.com
If Michael Gabriel had any message for driv
ers who find themselves in a
road rage situation, he might
tell them: Stay calm, and don’t
give anyone the bird.
Gabriel says he’s lucky to be
alive after taking two bullets
during a road rage incident
Wednesday morning on Ga.
365 in Gainesville.
He said a man police have
identified as Steven Dallas
Cooper, 26, fired a dozen shots
at his wife’s Chevrolet Tahoe.
“This guy wanted me dead,” the 50-year-old
Gainesville resident said.
Gabriel
‘He didn’t like getting flipped off’
Gabriel said he was on his way to a doctor’s
appointment that morning, heading south on
Ga. 365, when he said a man brake checked
him about half a mile before the Kubota RTV
Manufacturing Facility.
“Around Kubota, I guess he thought I was a
little too close, so he slammed his brakes on
hard,” he said. “So I had to lock it down and
swerve into the outside lane just to miss him.
And I looked over and I’m like, ‘What’s the
deal?’ and may or may not have given him
another gesture.”
“He didn’t like getting flipped off,” he said.
He said the man sped up in front of him and
brake checked him again.
“I was kind of like, you know what, dude, I’m
going to show this guy some manners or some
thing,” he said.
“He kind of speeds off and then he drifts
back,” he said. “He’s a little bit behind me, kind
of diagonally. .. So I look back and that’s when
I saw his window coming down, the gun coming
out. Pow. Pow. Pow.”
A bullet went through his back window,
through his car seat and hit his right shoulder.
Adrenaline took over.
‘I just blasted through that red light’
“He takes off and I’m like, dude, I’m not going
to let this guy get away,” Gabriel said. “I was
wanting to get his tag information. ”
Gabriel said he was recording with his phone
but dropped it and braced with both hands on
the steering wheel as he approached the inter
section near the YMCA.
“About the time we got there to that intersec
tion, he locked it up so hard that his Mustang
fishtailed. He got out of the vehicle, fired nine
■ Please see GABRIEL, 3A
Police ID three people
injured in head-on crash
BY BEN ANDERSON
banderson@gainesvilletimes.com
Gainesville police have identified the three
people injured Wednesday afternoon in a head-
on collision between a sports car and a minivan
that shut down Aviation Boulevard.
The crash occurred just before 3:30 p.m.
between Dorsey Street and Queen City, accord
ing to the crash report.
Trevor Gradidge, 53, of Gainesville, was driv
ing eastbound in a 2023 Ford sports car when he
lost control, crossed the centerline and struck
a 2005 Honda Odyssey head on, according to
police Lt. Kevin Holbrook.
He said Gradidge and his passenger, Gregg
Kettyle, 61, of Gainesville, were last listed in
critical condition.
The driver of the minivan, Enrique Andres,
46, of Gainesville, was in stable condition.
“Speed does appear to be a factor,” he said.
The crash is still under investigation.
