Press Release: FBI ARRESTS LIMESTONE COUNTY MAN IN OWENSBORO, KENTUCKY ON CHARGES OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

Federal Bureau of Investigation ~ Birmingham Division

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Paul E. Daymond, Media Representative

Date: December 14, 2007

Birmingham – Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Carmen S. Adams announced today that

Melton Franklin Cauley, 44, of Athens, Alabama was arrested on December 13, 2007 without incident at his aunt’s home in Owensboro, Kentucky by the FBI.

Cauley was indicted in July 2007 for two counts of production of child pornography, one count of possession of child pornography and one count of receipt of child pornography. These indictments were the result of a joint investigation by the FBI, the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office and the Athens Police Department.

A detention hearing is scheduled for December 19, 2007 at 10:30 a.m. at the Bowling Green Federal Court House, Bowling Green, Kentucky. He is currently being held at the Daviss County Jail, Daviss County, Kentucky.

SAC Adams thanked the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office, the Athens Police Department, Athens, Alabama, FBI agents from the Louisville Division, Owensboro Resident Agency and the Owensboro Police Department Fugitive Task Force, Owensboro, Kentucky for their assistance in this investigation and subsequent arrest.

Members of the public are reminded that an indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

##

Man killed while installing tire in Oxford

By Andy Johns
Star Staff Writer

Updated 11:00 a.m.

A Woodland man was killed while installing a tire at McGriff Tire in Oxford.

Michael Keith Southerland, 26, of Woodland, died at Floyd Medical Center in Rome, Ga., at 5:03 p.m. Central time Thursday after being airlifted, according to Floyd County Chief Deputy Coroner Tony Cooper.

Cooper said Southerland died of blunt force to the head. He said there was an accident involving a split-rim 18 wheeler tire. He said he did not know the exact details of the accident.

Cooper said Southerland’s body has been taken to the Georgia Crime Lab in Summerville, Ga., for an autopsy.
He said he was not sure exactly why Southerland was transported to Georgia, but assumed it was because other trauma centers were full at the time.

A receptionist at the McGriff Tire shop on Industrial Drive in Oxford deferred comment to corporate management in Cullman. A receptionist in Cullman said no one was available for comment.

Businesswoman charged in husband's murder

MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. (AP) -- A Muscle Shoals businesswoman has been charged with murder in the shooting death of her husband.

Colbert County Sheriff Ronnie May said 48-year-old Debbie Kimbrough is accused of killing 63-year-old Howard Kimbrough at the couple's home in the Bartow community.

May said the shooting happened early Wednesday. He said investigators have not determined a motive.

Debbie Kimbrough was taken to the Tuscumbia City Jail. Her bond was set at $100,000.

---

Information From: Florence TimesDaily

Teenagers charged with defacing Alabama's Confederate monument

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Three 17-year-olds from Montgomery have been charged with defacing the Confederate monument on the Capitol grounds in Montgomery.

State Public Safety Director Chris Murphy says each of the three juveniles has been charged with first-degree criminal mischief. That's a felony that carries a penalty of one to 10 years in prison.

Capitol Police officers discovered last month that the hands and faces of statues on the monument had been painted with black paint. Black graffiti was also scrawled on the monument.

FBI IDENTIFIES BODY FOUND IN LITTLE RIVER CANYON NATIONAL PRESERVE

Federal Bureau of Investigation ~ Birmingham Division

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: December 14, 2007

Contact: Paul E. Daymond, Media Representative

Birmingham – Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Carmen S. Adams announced today that the body found on December 6, 2007 in the Little River Canyon National Preserve (LRC) has been identified as Raymond Jenkins, 36, of Chattanooga, TN.

On December 6, 2007, at approximately 7:30 p.m., a U.S. Park Service Ranger observed and responded to a fire in the LRC in Cherokee County, Alabama. A male body was discovered on fire located within a few feet of a campfire that had gone out. Further investigation by U.S. Park Service Rangers (USPR), Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department (CCSO) and the Alabama Bureau of Investigation (ABI) personnel discovered a .25 caliber pistol lying underneath the victim along with one fired .25 caliber casing. A jeep, believed to be that of the victim was found in the LRC. A vehicle key used to unlock the jeep was also found on the body of Jenkins. Vehicle registration information confirmed that the jeep was registered to Jenkins. LRC is considered a government reservation and FBI agents from the Gadsden Resident Agency were contacted and responded to the scene

The state of Alabama conducted an autopsy on the body on December 7, 2007. The autopsy revealed that the cause of death was a single gun shot to the roof of the mouth. Dental records confirmed that the body was that of Jenkins.

SAC Adams thanked the USPR, CCSO, DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office the ABI, DeSoto State Park Rangers and FBI agents from the Knoxville Division, Chattanooga Resident Agency for their assistance in this case.

##

Friends, family recall Piedmont stabbing victim

By Matt Kasper
Star Staff Writer

12-14-2007

PIEDMONT — Friends and family of Brenda Ingram have a difficult time thinking of her as a victim, because thinking of the Katoma Creek Road resident as anything but alive is too hard.

Ingram, 45, was found dead in her home with multiple stab wounds Tuesday morning.

Ingram's 17-year-old daughter, Lindsey Danielle Morgan, is charged with the murder of her mother.

Calhoun County District Attorney Joe Hubbard said Morgan will be prosecuted as an adult. She was being held at the Calhoun County Jail as of Thursday evening, with bail set at $50,000.

Spring Garden resident Theresa Ledbetter talked to Ingram last Friday until the phone battery went dead, she recalled Thursday.

Many of their conversations ended that way, she said. It's just hard now to come to terms with the fact Friday's conversation was their last.

"She was my best friend for 36 years," Ledbetter said. "She was more family to me than friend."

For some, the details of the case compound the tragedy, as Ingram was seen as the kind of mother who went out of her way for her daughter.

Girl charged with mother's murder

By Matt Kasper
Star Staff Writer

12-13-2007

Morgan

A 17-year-old Piedmont girl, Lindsey Danielle Morgan, is being charged with the murder of her 45-year-old mother, Brenda Ingram.

Piedmont police Capt. Steven Tidwell said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon that the Calhoun County District Attorney's Office will prosecute Morgan as an adult.

She currently is being held at the Calhoun County Jail on a $50,000 bond.

Around 6 a.m. Tuesday morning, Piedmont police responded to a 911 call from Ingram's Katoma Creek Road home south of the city, and just east of Alabama 21.

Mason found guilty of murder

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

12-13-2007

Jurors in the murder trial of Timothy Earl Mason deliberated about an hour and a half before returning a guilty verdict Wednesday.

Mason was accused of stabbing Robert Lee Pitts on Aug. 18, 2006 after the two got into an argument in an alley near the Easy Rider's Club on West 15th Street.

Testimony in the trial ended around 11 a.m. Wednesday after the defense called the defendant as its sole witness.

Mason testified that he had not been drinking the night of the murder and refuted a witness who claimed Tuesday to have seen Pitts with a steak knife in his hand during a dispute between Pitts and Mason in a parking lot next to what is known locally as "the happy tree."

Mason testified he was dragged into an argument when he tried to get a cousin to leave the area but he did not pull a knife out.

He said he left the scene and sat down on a set of steps further up 15th Street.

When Mason started walking back toward "the happy tree," intent on leaving the area, Pitts blocked him in and kept him from passing, he testified.

Mason said he felt threatened and admitted to stabbing Pitts but only once in self-defense. He said the larger of two wounds — the one that caused Pitts to bleed to death — could not have been caused by the small steak knife he carried.

Testimony earlier in the trial revealed Pitts had a debilitating bone disease causing heavy calcification of his joints and was extremely intoxicated the night he was murdered.

Despite these maladies, Mason said he feared for his life when Pitts pursued him down a 15th Street sidewalk. Pitts verbally threatened to kill him and slapped him in the face, he said.

He testified that when he saw a reflected flash of light in Pitts' hand he stabbed him once and fled.

Assistant District Attorney Brian McVeigh sought through questioning – and reiterated in closing arguments – to prove that Mason had a number of opportunities to leave the scene without having to stab Pitts. He focused on major inconsistencies between Mason's testimony and witness testimony Tuesday.

McVeigh also said the first time Mason told authorities he acted in self-defense was during the trial.

Ragland man charged in robbery of Anniston Pizza Hut restaurant

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

12-13-2007

Anniston Police on Wednesday arrested a Ragland man and charged him with robbing the Pizza Hut on the 300 block of Blue Mountain Road in Anniston Tuesday night.

Joshua Colson, 30, of Bass Street in Ragland was being held on $50,000 bond.

According to police reports, a man walked into the restaurant around 8:35 p.m. and asked the manager for money.

The manager told police the robber made a gesture that indicated he had a weapon, though no weapon was shown.

Investigators are not releasing how much, if any, money was taken.

No injuries were reported.

Ohatchee man charged in connection with robbery

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

12-13-2007

Anniston Police arrested a 38-year-old Ohatchee man in connection with the Dec. 4 robbery of a 22-year-old man walking down Cresthill Avenue in Anniston.

David Lee Beal, of Collins Road in Ohatchee, was arrested in Anniston Tuesday and charged with second-degree robbery.

The 22-year-old told Anniston police he stopped to talk to the two men around 6:40 p.m. and they began choking and punching him.

After taking his wallet, the two men fled, reported investigators.

The victim suffered minor injuries and refused treatment.

Beal is being held on $2,500 bond awaiting a Feb. 15 court date.

Nude woman escapes Missouri trucker at I-10 truck stop

LOXLEY, Ala. (AP) -- A Missouri man has been charged in coastal Alabama with kidnapping a woman found nude and beaten inside his truck cab at a truck stop off Interstate 10.

Roy Scott Stillwell, 47, of Hartville, Mo., was ordered held on $2 million bond Wednesday. He was arrested and charged Tuesday after the woman used the truck horn to attract other drivers about 4 p.m. while Stillwell was inside Love's Travel Stop on Alabama 59, just north of I-10.

The woman, in her 20s, apparently was kidnapped in Montgomery. Baldwin County Sheriff's spokesman Maj. Anthony Lowery said additional charges of rape and sodomy are possible.

"She's been through a horrible, tragic situation," Lowery said. "It's likely that she's been in and out of the state several times."

Stillwell was held at the Baldwin County Corrections in Bay Minette.

At the Loxley truck stop, another truck driver heard the truck horn and called 911 when she spotted the woman, who had yellow nylon rope dangling from her naked and bruised body.

Federal authorities joined the investigation because the truck was involved in interstate travel.

Lowery said authorities also will "look hard at the possibility that there are other victims throughout the country."

One-time suspect in Ramsey killing seeks Ala. background check

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- John Mark Karr, a former Alabama resident who gained notoriety for falsely confessing to the murder of JonBenet Ramsey, has requested a criminal background check of himself as part of a job search in Georgia, police said.

Karr, 43, unexpectedly showed up at the Birmingham Police Department on Wednesday seeking the screening, said Chief A.C. Roper. Karr received a form confirming he had no convictions in the state.

Karr made headlines last year when he confessed to killing JonBenet, who was found beaten and strangled in her family's home in Boulder, Colo., on Dec. 26, 1996. He was later cleared of any involvement with the crime and has been living in the Atlanta area.

Karr grew up in the northwest Alabama town of Hamilton.

Teacher arrested on drug charges

PELHAM, Ala. (AP) -- An elementary school teacher in Shelby County is facing drug charges. Pelham police said Stacey Robinson Weir was arrested over the weekend and charged with one count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance. Weir, a teacher at Shelby Elementary School, was released after posting a $5,000 bond.

Cindy Warner, a spokeswoman for Shelby County Schools, said the system does not comment on personal matters until "pending issues and allegations have been adjudicated."

Weir was hired in the summer and started work on August 6th - the first day of class.

Capital punishment in U.S. in legal limbo

By David Crary
Associated Press

12-13-2007

NEW YORK — More than at any time over the past 30 years, the future of capital punishment is in limbo.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments next term in a momentous lethal injection case. While it's widely expected that executions will resume in some form following that case, the moment gives Americans a chance to contemplate what would change if they stopped for good.

Start with some modest consequences.

Florida citizens would no longer have the chance to earn $150 by serving as executioner. Texas, by far the death-penalty leader, would save the $86.06 cost of drugs used in each lethal injection.

And Arizona's Corrections Department would have no further updates on its special Web site that features photographs, profiles and last-meal requests of its executed inmates. (The most recent menu: Robert Comer's order of fried okra, buns and banana bread before his death in May).

There would be weightier consequences as well.

n States with many death-penalty cases would save millions of dollars now spent on legal costs in long-running appeals. Additional savings would result in some states which now spend far more per inmate for Death Row facilities than other maximum-security inmates.

n Abroad, notably in Europe and Canada, America's image would improve in countries that abolished capital punishment decades ago and now wonder why America remains one of only a handful of prosperous democracies that continue with executions.

n Among the American public, reaction would be deeply divided. Death penalty supporters would decry the loss of what they consider a valuable crime deterrent as well as the ultimate form of justice for victims and their families. Foes of execution would welcome the end of what they have deemed a barbaric national tradition.

"Texas would be a better place," said David Atwood, founder of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. "I know people who've traveled abroad, and when they say where they're from, the response is, 'Oh, that's the state that executes all those people."'

By contrast, Rusty Hubbarth, vice president of the pro-death penalty Texas group Justice for All, sees the consequences of abolition as all negative. His prediction: "More murders."

Speak Out ... Anniston police are out in force to get drunk drivers off the road

By our readers

12-13-2007

Drunk driving is one of America's deadliest crimes. In December 2006, 1,076 people were killed in crashes involving a driver with a blood alcohol concentration level of .08 or above — more than the legal limit in every state and the District of Columbia.

The Anniston Police Department is out in full force this holiday season to crack down on drunk drivers as the period between Thanksgiving and New Year's is one of the most dangerous times on our roadways.

Important tips include:

• Plan ahead: Whenever you expect to drink, designate a sober driver before going out, and give that person your keys.

• If you're impaired, call a taxi, or call a sober friend or family member to get you home safely.

• Promptly report drunk drivers you see on the roadways to law enforcement.

• Wearing your seat belt or using protective gear on your motorcycle is your best defense against an impaired driver.

• If you know someone who is about to drive or ride while impaired, take their keys and help them make other arrangements to safely get where they are going.

Drunk driving is not worth the risk. If you drive drunk this holiday season, you will be arrested. Violators will spend their money on bail, court, lawyers and towing fees instead of buying gifts for loved ones. That's a miserable way to end the year.

For more information, visit www.StopImpairedDriving.org.

Sgt. Allen George
Anniston Police Department
Special Operations Unit
Anniston

Oxford woman charged after alleged assault at Eastaboga post office

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

12-12-2007

Oxford Police arrested a 44-year-old Oxford woman Monday for allegedly assaulting a 28-year-old female clerk at the Eastaboga Post Office with pepper spray.

Tricia June Johnson, of Williams Circle, was charged with criminal use of pepper spray after she reportedly sprayed a contract employee loading mail around 5:45 p.m. in a hallway not accessible to the public, according to Oxford Police.

Johnson told police she was retaliating after losing her job as a contract employee at the post office.

Police said the clerk fought Johnson off until she dropped the pepper spray. Johnson then fled in a private vehicle.

Witnesses managed to take down a license tag number which was traced to a local residence where Johnson was arrested.

Investigators said it was unclear whether Johnson knew the clerk.

Because the assault took place on federal property, police said an inspector from the U.S. Postal Service in Birmingham also investigated the incident and could ask the U.S. District Attorney to file federal charges against Johnson.

Johnson’s court date and bond amount had not been set as of Monday afternoon.

Couple robs man of his vehicle in Oxford Sunday

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

12-12-2007

A 23-year-old Oxford man was assaulted and robbed of his vehicle by a man and a woman Sunday evening near the Mountain Point subdivision in Oxford.

The man told Oxford Police he met up with a 20-year-old female he knew from school and she instructed him to drive to the unfinished residential development around 7:45 p.m.

When they stopped, she reportedly sprayed him with pepper spray and struck him in the head.

He told police he leaned over and pushed her out of the passenger door but before the door closed a male came in through the door and started assaulting him.

The man got out of his 2000 Chevrolet S-10 pickup and left the scene on foot to notify the authorities.

When he returned with Oxford Police, his truck was gone and nobody was around.

Police recovered a Crown Royal bag with marijuana and some cash in it lying on the ground.

The man sought medical attention later that evening at Regional Medical Center for burning eyes and cuts on his face, according to the Oxford Police.

He told police he believes the woman might have used his cell phone to notify the male of their location.

Police said the whereabouts of his vehicle were unknown Monday evening but there are arrest warrants pending for the woman.

Prosecution rests in murder trial of Mason

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

12-12-2007

Prosecutors wrapped up their case Tuesday in the trial of Timothy Earl Mason, accused of stabbing Robert Lee Pitts to death on Aug. 18, 2006, in the vicinity of the Easy Riders Club near 15th Street in Anniston.

A full day of testimony from witnesses called by Assistant District Attorneys Lynn Hammond and Brian McVeigh shed more light on the circumstances surrounding Pitts’ death.

Twin brothers who discovered Pitts took the stand consecutively. According to their testimony they were out for an evening walk around 10:30 p.m. on Aug.18 and spotted several drops of liquid on the ground. One of the brothers had a flashlight and illuminated a trail of blood leading to a hunched figure walking just ahead of them.

When the twins overtook the man — later identified as Pitts — they saw that he was covered in blood.

Pitts walked to the porch of 1418 Mulberry Ave. and slumped down in a chair, where he died shortly after of blood-loss resulting from two puncture wounds in his shoulder.

One of the brothers called 911 while the other knocked on the door of the house to alert the owner. Pitts managed to say he had been stabbed with what he believed was a screwdriver but died without revealing who stabbed him.

Anniston Police Crime Scene Investigator Mark Osburn was called to the stand to testify about what he found when he arrived at the scene.

Osburn said he followed the trail of blood droplets back to a location less than half a block from the Easy Riders Club and an adjacent parking lot with a tree growing nearby known locally as “the happy tree.”

Osburn also analyzed evidence recovered from Mason, including boots, a shirt, and pants. He said he swabbed blood from various pieces of both Pitts and Mason’s clothing.

Reports from the Alabama Department of Forensic Science lab introduced in court indicated the blood swabbed from Mason’s pants and shirt did not match DNA from Pitts.

The most contentious testimony, however, was the eyewitness account related by Terris Culver, who was talking with his father in a truck parked just across the street when the stabbing took place.

Youth charged in Piedmont stabbing death

By Todd South
Star Staff Writer

12-12-2007

Piedmont police have charged a juvenile in connection with the stabbing of a 45-year-old woman found dead yesterday morning at her home. Police responded to a 911 call fromBrenda Ingram’s Katoma Creek Road home south of the city and just east of Alabama 21 around 6 a.m., according to a statement released Tuesday afternoon by Piedmont police Capt. Steven Tidwell. Officers found Ingram in the home with multiple stab wounds, the statement said. Calhoun County Coroner Pat Brown pronounced Ingram dead at the scene. She likely died around 5:30 a.m., Brown told The Star. Police have arrested a juvenile Tidwell described as a member of Ingram’s family in connection with the woman’s death. The statement did not identify the child by age or gender, and did not say how the suspect was related to Ingram. Brown said Ingram’s body has been taken to Montgomery for an autopsy by the Department of Forensic Science. Police could receive preliminary results by Friday, Brown said. Tidwell said police are continuing their investigation and will release more details as they become available.

Calhoun names Garlick mental health officer

By Matt Kasper
Star Staff Writer

12-12-2007

With a background in crisis intervention and law enforcement, Jon Garlick is looking forward to his new title: mental health officer.

Garlick was sworn in Tuesday at the Calhoun-Cleburne Mental Health Center as the county’s first law enforcement official able to take to the hospital people he believes are mentally ill and dangerous.

The position allows him to commit someone for 72 hours for medical and psychological evaluations. Though he will work out of the sheriff’s office, Garlick will not perform law enforcement duties. Instead, he will essentially be on call countywide 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Calhoun County Sheriff Larry Amerson says the position allows the department to address “the gap in service” that occurs when officers respond to situations like suicide threats and lack the authority to treat the person.

The Sheldon and Haley Pugh Act, passed by the Legislature in May, provides funding for the position.

Myra Pugh, whose grandchildren the bill is named after, pushed for its passage for two years.

A man killed her son’s wife and their two children in January 2005.

The act allows the county to raise probate court fees by $4 on transactions such as marriage licenses.

The funds also will pay for Garlick’s salary and for hospitalization expenses.

Amerson said Garlick, who has been with the Sheriff’s office since 2002, is well qualified for the position, with a master’s degree in counseling from Jacksonville State University.

He is also a licensed professional counselor and crisis-intervention specialist, among other qualifications.

Proper intervention is crucial in many scenarios that can spiral out of control, according to Garlick.

“Theoretically, we can get them from breaking the law,” he said.

Anniston City Council increases fines for illegal truck parking

By Dan Whisenhunt
Star Staff Writer

12-12-2007

Truckers who park their 18-wheel trucks and trailers illegally in residential parts of Anniston will pay more under a new set of fines set by the City Council.

The council approved the new fines at its regular meeting Tuesday. The proposal came from the city’s code enforcement officer, Tana Bryant.

The new fines are: $50 for a first offense, $75 for a second offense, $100 for a third offense, and $150 for a fourth offense, with the possibility of five days in jail.

City Councilman Stan Bennett offered to make the fines even higher, saying illegal truck parking is a problem around the city.

He said the truckers pull their vehicles over curbs and destroy city right of way. Parking is also illegal on private property in a residential area.

NTSB releases a few more details of plane crash

By Andy Johns
Star Staff Writer

12-12-2007

The National Transportation Safety Board issued its preliminary report this morning, providing a few more details from Friday night’s fatal plane crash in eastern Randolph County.

Star Multimedia

Slideshow: Randolph County Plane Crash

NTSB Atlanta senior air safety investigator Corky Smith said Tuesday that the report would not determine the cause of the crash, but would list some of the basic facts the investigation has uncovered.

According to Smith’s report, Emily Clark, 28, of Madison, and James Brown, 37, of Huntsville, boarded the Cessna R182 in Orlando, Fla., at 6:47 p.m. CST on Friday.

Clark, who was a certified flight instructor with ACRO Air in Madison County, listed the trip as an instructional flight, which means a flight plan was not required, according to Smith. The plane came down in the Bethel East community near Sewell at 9:17 p.m., killing both occupants.

The Cessna was filled with gas in Orlando and Smith said the plane should have still had plenty of gas by the time it reached the skies above Randolph County. The report states that a witness told investigators the plane flew over with the engine running at a high RPM before crashing.

Alabama cracks down on unregistered sex offenders

By Phillip Rawls
Associated Press

12-12-2007

MONTGOMERY — Alabama has begun a crackdown on unregistered sex offenders that has located 14 people who failed to file their current addresses with law enforcement.

That's out of 438 sex offenders in Alabama without known addresses.

Gov. Bob Riley and state, federal and county law enforcement officials announced the crackdown Tuesday in Montgomery.

"This is the first roundup of sex offenders violating these laws, but I assure you it won't be the last," state Public Safety Director Chris Murphy said.

State law requires freed sex offenders to register their addresses with local law enforcement. Each time they move they have to reregister. The addresses are turned in to the state Department of Public Safety for posting on the department's Web site. Public Safety officials said 438 of the 9,501 people on Alabama's sex offender registry no longer have known addresses.

That's 4 percent of the offenders.

The crackdown, running Monday through today, targeted 20 unregistered offenders whose crimes involved children.

Murphy said six had been arrested in the first two days of the crackdown. Two had been arrested earlier, but state officials had been unaware of the arrests until they began the crackdown. Three were located in other states and will be arrested, Murphy said.

One had registered his address, but the address had not yet reached the Department of Public Safety. One had died. And one is bedridden in a nursing home and won't be arrested, state officials said.

Murphy said state officials decided to stage the crackdown after spending months getting the state's sex offender registry up to date. The state had been about five months behind in entering the registrations sent in by local law enforcement agencies.

Their goal is to get sex offenders who haven't registered their current addresses to do so before officers arrive at their homes to arrest them.

Failing to register is a felony punishable by one to 10 years in prison, said Russell County District Attorney Kenneth Davis.

Davis, the president of the Alabama District Attorneys Association, said having current addresses is important because people who commit sex crimes, particularly against children, are likely to re-offend.

"We have to keep up with them," he said at the news conference with the governor.

Registering is also going to get more revealing. Congress enacted a law in 2006 that requires states to get more information from offenders by 2009, including Internet and e-mail addresses. Scott Rouse, Riley's deputy legal adviser, is heading a task force that's planning how to accomplish that in Alabama.

The Department of Public Safety announced that those arrested in the crackdown were James Boise Jackson, 53, of Elmore County; Thomas Joseph Shoemate, 59, of Elmore County; Antonia L. McCorvey, 32, of Monroe County; Alphonso Tyus, 43, of Autauga County; Derrick K. Pernell, 30, of Clarke County; and Jerry L. Bailey, 28, of Montgomery County.

Man robbed in his room at Best Value Inn in Anniston

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

12-11-2007

A 42-year-old man was robbed while in his room at the Best Value Inn on the 6200 block of McClellan Boulevard Saturday.

The man answered a knock at the door around 5 a.m., according to a police report. When he opened the door, two men were standing outside with a handgun, the report said.

The men remained outside and demanded his money. He handed over an undisclosed amount of cash and the two men fled, according to the report.

Police had made no arrests in the case as of Monday afternoon. No injuries were reported in the incident.

Lincoln rescue divers get new equipment

By Todd South
Star Staff Writer

12-11-2007

LINCOLN — Rescue divers in Lincoln now have four new sets of equipment.

The Talladega Emergency Management Agency purchased $7,400 worth of SCUBA dive gear for the city’s 14 qualified rescue divers.

Talladega County Commissioner Ed Lackey presented the equipment to the Lincoln City Council during their Monday night meeting.

Hobson City officials worry about lack of police

By Todd South
Star Staff Writer

12-11-2007

HOBSON CITY — Some town officials are worried about the lack of police presence in this community of about 800.

Town Councilman “Wooky” Ball said crime has increased since the town laid off its only police officer in July.

“Since we don’t have a police department we’ve got some thugs going around,” Ball said during Monday night’s council meeting. “We’ve got to do something.”

Councilman Frederick Striplin said he had not seen many patrols by the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office and he worried that criminals know law enforcement isn’t in town.

When Hobson City lost its police force, Mayor Ralph Woods asked the Sheriff’s office to patrol and respond to emergency calls

Woods said the Sheriff sends a deputy to the town for at least one hour each day and deputies drive through the city in the morning and evening.

One Hobson City police officer left the department this summer for another job. Town officials laid off the remaining officer, police Chief Richard Bell, when it could no longer pay his salary.

With limited revenue sources or land under town control, it’s unlikely the town will have money for a full-time police department in the near future.

Woods said he’s considered paying the salary for one deputy for the Sheriff’s Office to increase patrols as the town has done in the past, but he said the council is not interested in that yet.

Testimony resumes today in local murder trial

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

12-11-2007

Testimony will resume at 9 a.m. today in the trial of Timothy Earl Mason, who is accused of murder in the 2006 death of Robert Lee Pitts.

Prosecutors began presenting their case Monday in the courtroom of Calhoun County Circuit Judge Malcolm Street Jr.

Mason, 49, of Anniston is accused of stabbing Pitts on Aug. 18, 2006 in the vicinity of the Easy Riders Club near 15th Street, just west of Pine Avenue.

Jury selection was completed shortly after lunch, and the 12 jurors and one alternate heard opening arguments from both the prosecution and defense attorneys.

Assistant District Attorneys Lynn Hammond and Brian McVeigh began laying out the prosecution’s case, aiming to both humanize the victim and set a factual basis for jurors.

Testimony began with Ernest Pitts, the brother of the victim. Pitts testified that his brother was an alcoholic who suffered from a bone disease that caused swelling in his joints and chronic pain. Both maladies kept him weak and self-medicating, he said.

An Anniston Police patrolman and former Calhoun County Coroner Bill Partridge both testified on what police found when they arrived at the scene.

According to the testimony, police arrived about 10:45 p.m. and called Partridge after they found Pitts’ body on the front porch of a house at 1418 Mulberry Ave.

Partridge said Pitts appeared to have bled to death from two puncture wounds near his left shoulder. A forensics expert who conducted the autopsy testified that the wounds, caused by a sharp instrument, severed an artery, causing Pitts to bleed to death.

A toxicology report revealed Pitts’ blood alcohol level was .408, several times the amount that would impair an average adult.

Mason’s defense attorney, Sheila Field of Anniston, will begin presenting her case at the conclusion of the prosecution’s case, which could come as early as today.

In her opening statement, Field asserted the evidence will show that Mason and Pitts argued and that Pitts pursued Mason afterward. Feeling that his life was in jeopardy, she said, Mason acted in self-defense, stabbing Pitts twice.

Testimony is expected to continue at least until Wednesday.

Homeowner challenges 2 burglars, kills one

COWARTS, Ala. (AP) -- Houston County authorities say a homeowner shot and killed one of two men accused of breaking into his rural home near the Cowarts community Saturday night. A second suspect was caught by officers called to the scene. The shooting reportedly took place in the living room of a residence on U.S. 82 East.

Houston County Sheriff Andy Hughes says the homeowner, Peter Webb, dialed 911 at 7:41 p.m. reporting two men had broken into his house. Webb ordered the two men to the floor. The sheriff says Webb fired his handgun when one of the men charged at him.

The dead suspect was identified as 20-year-old Colie Laquad Dunlap of Dothan. Authorities said his older brother, 23-year-old Christopher Lee Dunlap, was charged with first-degree burglary and is being held in the Houston County Jail under a $200,000 bond

Hughes said the homeowner will NOT be charged because the shooting appeared to be a case of justifiable homicide. He said the case will be presented to a grand jury for review.

---

Information From: The Dothan Eagle

Oakwood students arrested in melee on campus

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) -- Huntsville police broke up fights and arrested several people yesterday (Sunday) afternoon at Oakwood College. A Huntsville newspaper reports in today's edition that two officers suffered minor injuries while attempting to break up the altercations that started following a basketball game on the campus.

The paper said Oakwood school administrators held a closed door meeting with students to discuss the incidents. A school spokeswoman declined to comment about the altercations or say how many students were taken into custody.

Huntsville police also had no comment about the arrests.

---

Information From: The Huntsville Times

Jury selection begins today in murder trial of local man

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

12-10-2007

Jury selection for the murder trial of Timothy Earl Mason, 49, will begin today.

Mason, formerly of Walnut Avenue in Anniston, is accused of stabbing Robert Lee Pitts on Aug. 18, 2006.

Police found Pitts’ body on the front porch of a house at 1418 Mulberry Ave. Investigators followed a trail of blood to a location on the sidewalk of 15th Street just west of Pine Avenue near the Easy Riders Club.

Pitts reportedly died of stab wounds around midnight Aug. 18. Initial police reports indicated the stabbing may have stemmed from an incident at the club.

Calhoun County Circuit Judge Malcolm Street will preside over the trial.

2 die in plane crash late Friday night

By Andy Johns
Star Staff Writer

12-09-2007

SEWELL — Two north Alabama residents died Friday night in a plane crash in eastern Randolph County.

Emily Clark, 28, of Madison, and James Brown, 37, of Huntsville, were killed when the 1978 single-engine Cessna took a nose dive into a hillside near Bethel East Church, according to Randolph County Sheriff’s deputies.

Randolph County Sheriff’s investigator Greg Dendinger said Saturday evening federal officials still were checking the plane’s equipment to see what might have caused the crash.

Clark, a certified flight instructor, was in the pilot’s seat and Brown, believed to be a student, was in the passenger’s seat, authorities said.

Dendinger said there was no indication that there were any other passengers in the plane, which had seating for four.

Residents began calling the sheriff’s office to report the crash around 9:15 p.m. Friday. Volunteer firefighters found the wreckage by about 10:30 p.m. at the edge of a wooded area about two miles from the Georgia line near Randolph County 112.

Pilot makes emergency landing

By Andy Johns
Star Staff Writer

12-09-2007

The pilot-owner of a small kit-built bi-plane made an emergency landing Saturday afternoon in a pasture on Whites Gap Road near White Plains after part of the plane’s propeller broke away.

Calhoun County Sheriff’s deputies said the unidentified pilot of the bi-plane, which is called a Celebrity, set down in the pasture just off Alabama 9 between 2 and 3 p.m. after he noticed vibration in the engine.

Deputies said no one was injured, although the wooden aircraft was damaged. FAA officials were at the scene Saturday evening, investigating the incident.

FAA online information based on the tail number of the plane shows it is registered to an owner in Mt. Olive, N.C.

Family, friends recall slain nursery owner

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

12-09-2007

Charles Fuller and Jeffrey Jones built their Garden of Eden in Saks a few plants at a time.

Behind a house on Saks Road, Rou Rou’s Plants flourished until the two decided to close it this summer.

Customers and family alike looked to Fuller and Jones for advice because they were known for cultivating beauty and life.

Those who knew the men can’t understand how their paradise was lost.

Jones was charged Wednesday with shooting his 16-year roommate, Fuller, to death with a handgun.

“Charlie was just the most kind and caring person you’d ever meet,” said Fuller’s nephew, David Clark. “Whatever he touched grew. He never lost a plant.”

After serving in the Navy and retiring from a career at the Anniston Army Depot about 15 years ago, Fuller followed his talent for gardening and started landscaping and raising plants, said Clark.

Along the way he influenced many people, including his nephew.

For the past four years, often with Fuller’s help, Clark has operated his own landscaping business when he’s not on the job at the Westinghouse incinerator.

“We’ve alway