Who killed Kia Logan?

Oakland school shooter’s alleged confessions debated

February 19, 2005

By WALLACE McBRIDE
Index-Journal senior staff writer

The attorney for a man charged in the 1988 death of an 8-year-old Greenwood girl wants a death row inmate, who allegedly confessed to the crime, to record a videotaped deposition.
Jamie Wilson received a death sentence and 175 years in prison for the murders of Tequila Thomas and Shequila Bradley, both 8, at Oakland Elementary School on Sept. 26, 1988.
Wilson walked into the school with a .22-caliber pistol during lunch, opening fire and wounding seven students and two teachers.
Four months earlier, Kia Logan, 8, disappeared from her home at Georgetown Apartments. DNA tests would later prove that a skull found in 1990 by hunters in Newberry County belonged to the child.
In 2002, 14 years after Logan’s abduction, Charles Hampton was charged by the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Department in her death.
According to court documents, though, Wilson allegedly confessed at least four times to killing Logan in the years between her abduction and Hampton’s arrest.
Greenwood County Public Defender Charles Grose, representing Hampton, has filed a motion asking for Wilson to submit to a videotaped deposition about Logan’s death before he is put to death by the state.
Wilson’s first confession was allegedly a hand-written letter mailed from the Greenwood County Jail, in which he claimed he kidnapped and shot Logan before leaving her body less than a mile from a Western Auto store in Lincolnton, Ga.
A second admission results from a transcript of a telephone conversation between Wilson and an employee of The State newspaper in a call made after his conviction. In this statement he claims he was present when the child was killed, but said another man — a man then serving a criminal sentence for criminal sexual conduct — killed her.
A third statement was in a letter to The Greenville News claiming he left her body in Newberry County, and the final statement was made March 27, 2001, to Greenwood County deputies and a State Law Enforcement Division agent.
Wilson has never been charged in Logan’s death. Greenwood County Sheriff Dan Wideman said his office stands by its arrest of Hampton.
“We’re going to work as hard as we can to help the Solicitor’s Office get this man convicted,” he said.
Grose claims Hampton’s statements are no more accurate than Wilson’s alleged admissions. As part of his argument in favor of Wilson’s deposition, he says Hampton claimed Logan’s body was buried, which was not the case.
“I’m not familiar with the deposition request,” said Wilson’s attorney John H. Blume, director of the Cornell Death Penalty Project. “No one’s ever contacted me, and I don’t know if there’s been a hearing on it.”
Grose said Blume has been served with a copy of the motion, filed last summer. His request for a videotaped deposition is pending.
In 1996, Hampton was arrested on charges of kidnapping and child molestation charges in Newton County, Ga., charges he reportedly substantiated in statements to investigators.
These charges were dismissed months later when a grand jury was presented evidence that cast doubt on his “direct involvement in these crimes,” according to court records.
In 2003, U.S. District Judge Matthew Perry decided that Wilson was not competent to decide whether to plead guilty but mentally ill when he waived his right to a jury trial in 1989. This ruling was overturned last year.
Wilson has since asked for a psychiatric evaluation to prove that he is mentally ill and does not have the ability to “conform his conduct to the requirements of the law,” according to court documents.

Lady Flashes stumble

CFHS girls eliminated from Class A playoffs

February 19, 2005

By RON COX
Index-Journal sports writer

CALHOUN FALLS — The Calhoun Falls High School girls basketball team went more than 10 minutes without scoring during a stretch in the first half.
North used that scoring drought to go on a 14-0 run and fought off a late fourth-quarter charge to upset the Lady Blue Flashes, 47-41, Friday night at Calhoun Falls.
“We just were cold. We couldn’t get anything in the basket,” Lady Flashes coach Eddie Roberts said.
“We had some great opportunities. We had some shots under the basket, but we couldn’t get them to fall.
“They capitalized on it and scored when they had the opportunity.
“We just couldn’t get it going. It just wasn’t our night.”
The loss put to end Calhoun Falls’ 14-game winning streak. The Region I-A champion Lady Flashes (16-5) suffered their last defeat against Greenwood, 45-33, on Dec. 23 in the championship game of the Bearcat Christmas Classic.
It was a key win for the North program (16-8), as the team is heading to the third round for the first time in more than six seasons. The Lady Eagles will face Great Falls Tuesday in the Upper State semifinals. Great Falls defeated defending Upper State Christ Church 46-41 Friday night.
“It was very important for the girls to see if they could get over this hump and take it a little bit further,” North coach Rosa Green said.
“We have two seniors and they want to see how far they can get.”
North’s Nikki Williams led all scorers with 17 points, while teammate Alexandria Roach added 14 for the Lady Eagles.
Calhoun Falls got 12 points apiece from Lauren Henderson and Natajssa Cade, who knocked down four 3s.
But Lady Flashes’ leading scorer Ki-Key Norman had a rough night against the North defense.
Norman averages 20 points a game and scored 24 in the Lady Flashes’ first-round win over Whitmire. But the junior power forward finished with four points, all coming in the game’s final 7 seconds.
“I told my girls that she (Norman) was going to be taller than them, but they needed to jump,” Green said. “A lot of my girls play volleyball. So, they have a good vertical. I told them to fight and be aggressive, and that’s what we were able to do tonight.”
Roberts put it plain and simple.
“When she doesn’t score, we struggle,” the Calhoun Falls coach said.
The Lady Flashes battled back from a four-point first-quarter deficit to tie the game at 13 at the end of the quarter. A Henderson jumper from the free-throw line to start the second put the team up two, at 15-13.
Williams gave the Lady Eagles the lead back with the first of her two 3-pointers.
Calhoun Falls’ Ro’Shundray Postell knocked down a four-footer to put her team ahead 17-16 with 6:34 to play.
But those were the last points the Lady Flashes would get in the first half. In fact, Calhoun Falls would go almost four minutes into the third quarter before adding to its point total.
North’s Tracy Stack followed Postell’s bucket with a putback to give the Lady Eagles the lead for good at 18-17.
Williams and Roach combined for 11 of North’s next 12 points during the 14-0 run.
Cade broke the 10-minute, 26-second scoring drought with a 3-pointer to make it 30-20. Cade’s third 3-ball cut the deficit to nine (34-25) with 7:26 to play.
However, the Lady Flashes would go almost three minutes before scoring their next field goals, and the Lady Eagles went on a 7-0 run for a 40-25 lead.
But Calhoun Falls righted itself and outscored North 16-7 over the final 4:33 of play, but the closest the Lady Flashes would get was the final score, 47-41.
“I felt the tide turn a little in the fourth quarter, but again we missed some shots and they got a three-pointer, and we couldn’t get it going again,” Roberts said.

Opinion

Go ahead, change rules to get judges approved

February 19, 2005

It looks as if another round is coming up in the battle to get nominees for federal judgeships approved. President Bush has again nominated 20 candidates for federal appeals and district court seats who were denied votes on the Senate floor by Democratic lawmakers during Bush’s first term.
“The president is at it again with extremist judges,” said Senate Democratic Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada. The nominees “are out of the mainstream and will not be confirmed,” said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, a member of the Judiciary Committee.
For those Democrats opposed to the nominees, “extremist” means they are not liberals. While defending last year’s Democratic filibusters against the nominees to the bench, Reid said, “last year the Senate worked to confirm 204 of the president’s judicial nominees and rejected only the 10 most extreme.”

THERE’S MORE, THOUGH. THE reality is that 40 percent of the Bush appeals court nominees were pending for a year or more during his first term in the White House. It’s enlightening to note that compares to only 8 percent for President Clinton’s first term in office.
Then, Democrats say more than 90 percent of Bush’s judicial nominees were approved during his first term. Actually, and this Democrats don’t say, they denied around 20 percent of Bush’s appeals court nominations that reached the Senate floor.
Considering the work load in the federal courts, much of it in South Carolina, and the need to put more judges to work, lawmakers owe it to the American people to fill the empty benches. The obstructionist tactics used to keep Bush nominees off the bench prevent that.

IS THERE ANY WONDER THAT Republican senators and the president have determined they will fight those tactics with everything at their disposal?
That includes changing the rules. If Democratic filibusters continue against Bush’s nominees, Republicans make it clear they are willing to rewrite Senate rules to allow them to get around them. It takes 60 votes to stop a filibuster now, and Republicans don’t have that many. It takes only 50, though, to win Senate approval, which the Republicans have. If the rules are changed, 50 would be sufficient to get the job done on the filibustering. That many they have.
The question, then, should be simple? Why not do what has to be done? After all, that’s the political way.

Editorial expression in this feature represents our own views.
Opinions are limited to this page.

Obituaries

Bill Connor

Thomasine “Bill” Connor, 69, of 345 Marion Ave., husband of Mary Turner Connor, died Friday, Feb. 18, 2005 at his home.
Born in McCormick County, he was a son of the late Tompy Connor and Pecolia Harmon Perrin. He was employed by Moss Trucking Co. A member of Glovers Chapel Baptist Church, he was a deacon, former superintendent and teacher of the First Class Sunday School Class. He was also a member of the Missionary and Sons of Aide No. 30 and a former Gospel Chorus member.
Survivors include his wife of the home; four sons, Lester Connor, Thomas Connor, Patrick Connor, Randy Connor, all of Greenwood; four daughters, Mrs. Larry (Mary) Johnson of Promised Land, Sandra Marshall of the home, Pecolia Elmore and Sharon Elmore, both of Abbeville; three sisters, Dorothy Garnett of Promised Land, Ruth Drennon of Troy, Susie Middleton of McCormick; 21 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.
The family is at the home.
Services will be announced by Robinson & Son Mortuary Inc.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at robson@emeraldis.com

Harriet Crowell

NINETY SIX — Harriet Burgess Crowell, 69, of 216 Herndon Drive, wife of Robert E. Crowell, died Friday, Feb. 18, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Union County, she was a daughter of the late Harold and Alla Mae Lawson Burgess. She was a homemaker and was of the Baptist faith.
Survivors include her husband of the home; three sons, Bobby Hart and Ronnie Hart, both of Spartanburg and Rick Crowell of Clinton; a daughter, Theresa Woolum of Greenwood; a sister, Ella Mae Bagwell of Lydia Mill; six grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.
Graveside services are 2:30 p.m. today at Greenwood Memorial Gardens, conducted by the Rev. Doug Kauffmann.
Visitation is 1-2 today at Blyth Funeral Home.
Blyth Funeral Home is in charge.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.blythfuneralhome.com

Melissa B. Deale

TROY — Melissa B. Deale, 40, of 410 Browntown Road, wife of Tony Deale, died Thursday, Feb. 17, 2005.
Born in Norfolk, Va., she was a daughter of Blanche McCurry Stickles and the late Ezra Brown. She was a housewife and a member of Pine Grove Pentecostal Holiness Church.
Survivors include her husband of the home and a stepdaughter, Sabrina D. Broome of Gainesville, Ga.
Services are 2 p.m. Sunday at Harley Funeral Home, conducted by the Rev. Barry Butler. Burial is in Overbrook Cemetery, McCormick.
Visitation is 7-9 tonight at the funeral home.
The family is at the home.
Harley Funeral Home is in charge.
Online condolences may be made to the family at www.harleyfuneralhome.com

Clarence “Ray” Fowler

CLINTON, SC – Clarence “Ray” Fowler, age 71, of 4356 Apple Orchard Rd., died Thursday, February 17th at his home.
He was born in Edgefield County and was a son of the late John Price and Clara Ellen Murrah Fowler.
He was an Army Veteran having served in the Korean War.
Surviving are two half-sisters, Lillie Mae Timmerman of Saluda and Mary Pauline Armstrong of Clinton; two brothers, Raymond Fowler and James Floyd Fowler both of Clinton, three sisters, Patricia Ann Perry of Saluda, Myrtle Louise McCauley of New Jersey and Frances Viola McKey of Edgefield.
He was predeceased by a sister, Flora Lea Timmerman Hilbert.
Graveside services will be conducted Monday at 11:00 a.m. in the McKendree Methodist Church Cemetery near Edgefield, SC.
Gray Funeral Home of Clinton is serving the family.
PAID OBITUARY

‘C.B.’ Nicholson

Claven B. “C.B.” Nicholson, 79, husband of Thelma Watts Nicholson, of 914 Taggart St., died Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in New York, N.Y., he was a son of the late Marion and Nona Andrews Nicholson. He was a machine operator, a member of Mount Olive Baptist Church and a former member of Seniors of Harmony Quartet.
Survivors include his wife; three daughters, Emma Mae Gilliam of Ninety Six, Mrs. Ronald (Carrie Lee) Forrest and Joann Nicholson, both of Greenwood; four sons, Booker T. Nicholson of League City, Texas, James Marion Nicholson of Greenwood, Mike Anderson of Lexington, Claven Martin of New York; three brothers, Floyd Nicholson of Greenwood, Milton Nicholson of Orangeburg, Marion Nicholson of Maryland; three sisters, Carrie Lee Jones and Sophia Nicholson, both of Greenwood, Francis N. Rapp of Connecticut; 15 grandchildren; and 32 great-grandchildren.
Services are 2 p.m. Sunday at Mount Moriah Baptist Church, conducted by the Rev. Tommy Legons, assisted by the Revs. Raymond Adams, Michael Butler, Frank Williams, Dora Ann White and Norris Turner. The body will be placed in the church at 1. Burial is in the church cemetery.
Pallbearers are Richard Frazier, Anthony Cannon, Bryndon Gilliam, Travis Nicholson, Russell Gilliam and Curtis Cannon.
Flower bearers are granddaughters and great-granddaughters.
Honorary escorts are Seniors of Harmony Gospel Singers.
Visitation is at the home.
Viewing is 12-8:30 today at Parks Funeral Home.
Parks Funeral Home is in charge.

Jerry B. Perry

WARE SHOALS — Jerry B. Perry, 63, of Mount Olive Church Road, died Thursday, Feb. 17, 2005 at Laurens County Hospital.
Born in Greenville, he was a son of Doris T. Fowler and the late W.D. Perry. He retired from John D. Hollingsworth Co. A Navy veteran, he was a member of Mount Olive Baptist Church and Woodmen of the World.
Survivors include his mother and stepfather, William F. Fowler, of Ware Shoals; two sons, Shane Perry of Valley, Ala., Bruce Waters of Laurens; two daughters, Crystal Perry of Valley, Rhonda Cowles of Greenville; a brother, William Furman Perry of Bracey, Va.; a sister, Gail Perry Burton of Highlands, N.C.; and five grandchildren.
Services are 2 p.m. today at Mount Olive Baptist Church, conducted by the Revs. Gerald Crawford and James Bannister. Burial is in the church cemetery. The body will be placed in the church at 1. Pallbearers are Gene Hornsby, Mickey Gunter, Sonny Nelson, Joe Babb, Denis Adams, Will Culbertson and Russell Tollison.
The family is at the home of William F. and Doris T. Fowler, 65 Mount Olive Church Road.
Memorials may be made to Mount Olive Baptist Church Cemetery Fund, 149 Mount Olive Church Road, Ware Shoals, SC 29692.
Parker-White Funeral Home is in charge.

Tommie Tucker Jr.

HODGES — Tommie Tucker Jr., 72, of 105 Pansy Road, widower of Carrie Bell Tucker, died Monday, Feb. 14, 2005 in Tucson, Ariz.
Born in McCormick, he was a son of the late Tommie Tucker Sr. and Martha Ann McDuffie. He retired as a textile worker with Monsanto and was a former member of Rockford A.M.E. Church in Mount Carmel.
Survivors include two sons, Thomas Tucker of Hodges, Robert Tucker of Tucson; four brothers, James Willis of Calhoun Falls; Tommie J. Willis, Sylvester Willis and Archie McDuffie, all of Abbeville; a sister, Lois Willis of Abbeville; five grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Services are 1 p.m. Sunday at Parks Funeral Home, conducted by the Rev. Ricky Syndab. Burial is in The Evening Star cemetery.
Pallbearers are nephews.
Flower bearers are nieces.
Visitation is at the home.
Viewing is 12-8:30 today at the funeral home.
Parks Funeral Home is in charge.

Aubrey White

AIKEN — Aubrey B. White, husband of Sydney Sanders White, died Friday, Feb. 18, 2005 after a long illness.
He was vice president of Piedmont Pine Lumber Co. in Aiken beginning in the 1940s and later in Greenwood for many years. In the late 1960s, he became general manager of Augusta Country Club. He worked with Johnson Motor Co., Augusta, in the late 1970s, in charge of all the company accounting departments.
Survivors include his wife of Aiken; a sister, Ruth Butler of Aiken; a son, John E. “Johnny” White of Highland, N.C.; a daughter, Mrs. John (Sally) Lacher of Trenton; and two granddaughters.
Services are 1:30 p.m. Monday at St. Thaddeus Episcopal Church, conducted by the Rev. Jerry DuBose. Burial is in Aiken Memorial Gardens.
Visitation is 12-1 Monday at George Funeral Home.
Memorials may be made to St. Thaddeus Episcopal Church, 125 Pendleton St. S.W., Aiken, SC 29801.
George Funeral Homes, 211 Park Ave. S.W., is in charge.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.georgefurneralhomes.com

Eric P. Wilson

LYMAN — Eric Patrick Wilson, 43, of 1086 Holly Springs Road, died Thursday, Feb. 17, 2005 at his home.
A native of Daytona Beach, Fla., he was a son of Frank Oliver and Mary Jo Kilcoyne Wilson. He was an employee of The Timken Co. and a member of St. Paul Apostle Roman Catholic Church.
Survivors include his wife, Lesley Hill Wilson of the home; his parents of Columbia; two brothers, Franklin “Rusty” Wilson of Ninety Six and Mark O. Wilson of Columbia.
Services are 2 p.m. Monday at St. Paul Apostle Roman Catholic Church, conducted by Father Jim Crowley. Burial is in Wood Memorial Park.
A Vigil prayer is 7 p.m. Sunday at Wood Mortuary, with visitation until 9.
The family is at the home.
Memorials may be made to Southeastern Children’s Home, 155 Children’s Way, Duncan, SC 29334.
Wood Mortuary, Greer, is in charge.

CORRECTION

For the obituary of John Finley in Thursday’s paper, there were errors in the information given to The Index-Journal. Surviving sons should be Alford Finley, John Finley Jr., Daniel Earl Finley, Robert Lee Finley, Kavin Finley and Jeffery Finley.