Bradley woman describes night of kidnapping, fear and death

Vandross’ murder trial begins

January 19, 2006

By VIC MacDONALD
Index-Journal regional editor

A Bradley woman spent three hours on the witness stand Wednesday reliving a horrific night in November 2004 when she allegedly was kidnapped and a man who was spending the night with her was shot to death.
Joanne Suber Wilson, of 3938 McCormick Highway, recounted the time from just after midnight to about 6 a.m. on Nov. 4, 2004, when the state alleges that Sanford Best was killed by a single gunshot to the head and Charles Vandross held her captive, at one point threatening to kill her three sons.
Vandross was arrested and charged with murder, kidnapping, burglary first degree and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.
After she awoke, startled, to find Vandross on her, muffling her mouth, Wilson testified that the man, to whom she once was engaged, “body-slammed” her to the floor and then pulled her up telling her to get dressed. Wilson said she suddenly had to go to the bathroom, and Vandross shoved her into the master bath, throwing in clothes and duct tape with instructions for Wilson to tape herself up.
When Vandross’ attorney, Adam Bacot, grilled her on her sudden urge to go to the bathroom, Wilson said, “He literally scared the (expletive deleted) outta me.”
Wilson testified that she wiped blood from her nose and mouth and attempted to write “Charles” on the bathroom wall. She said she tried to use her teeth to cut pieces of duct tape from the roll and put the tape in the bathroom trash can.
“So when the police got there they would know it was foul play,” she explained. “When he told me to put my clothes on I knew he was going to take me away, and I didn’t think I was going to come back.”
At that point, Wilson testified, she didn’t know that Best, who was asleep in her bed, had been shot to death. She said that, to this day, it haunts her, why she didn’t wake up when the fatal gunshot was fired, right next to where she was sleeping.
The last time she looked at Best, he had fallen asleep reading his Bible. She was moved to tears when, during his cross-examination, Bacot handed her a crime scene photo of the Bible, with Best’s lifeless hand beside it.
“It’s the first time you’ve seen these (bedroom crime scene) photos?” Eighth Circuit Solicitor Jerry Peace asked.
“Yes,” Wilson whispered.
Wilson testified that her ordeal continued as Vandross forced her to drive her car to Old Tranquil Baptist Church in McCormick County, continued to threaten her with a handgun and said he was going to kill her sons.
She said she tried twice to crash her vehicle and kill Vandross, or the two of them.
Wilson said that throughout their relationship, Vandross was “stupidly jealous.” They met at a church event where Wilson’s sons were ministering through rap music. Eventually, Vandross moved to her home from Greenville, but the couple split up several times.
Wilson said she turned to Best, a friend whom she used to date and with whom she always had a close relationship, for advice. She said Best was at her home twice when Vandross came by “wanting to talk.” Once, Best told Vandross to go away.
The night before Best was shot, he and Wilson saw Vandross at Wilson’s son’s football game. Best and Wilson talked on the way home about what to do about Vandross. Wilson said she was documenting Vandross’s behavior to get a restraining order from Greenwood County authorities.
After Vandross took her from her home, Wilson said he told her to drive to the isolated spot and then ranted about her behavior toward him and the job he had given up to come to Greenwood and work at a McDonalds to be with her.
“He just went on and on and on and on, all through the night,” Wilson testified. “He said, ‘I killed the man and it’s all your fault.’ That’s when I knew Sanford was dead. I didn’t know when I screamed ‘Sanford (help me)’ he couldn’t answer.”
Just about 5:50 a.m., Vandross told Wilson to get back in the car and drive back to her house. He instructed her to wake her sons, get them dressed and put them on the school bus. Then, Wilson said Vandross told her they were going back to counselors they had been seeing in Greenville and then he was going to turn himself in.
Back at the house in Bradley, Wilson went in while Vandross waited in the backyard. Keeping a lookout for Vandross coming into the house, Wilson used her cellphone to call 911. She said Vandross had told her he had taken care of the landline phone.
Wilson’s son, Dehad Raheem Suber, said she came to his room once to wake him and then when he wasn’t moving fast enough she came back to get him.
“My mom held my face and said ‘Sanford’s dead and Mr. Charles said he will include you boys in the act,’” Suber testified. “She said, ‘I need you to hurry.’ I was trying to be a hero saying ‘Where is he?’ She said, ‘I don’t need you to do something crazy. Get your brothers outside.’ Five or six minutes later, the cops came.”
Responding officers testified that Wilson told them what had happened and that Vandross was in the back yard. He surrendered and officers took a semi-automatic handgun from him. His car was found nearby, and a key on his key ring fit the back door lock and the door’s deadbolt lock. Wilson had testified that Vandross previously had returned to her a key to the Bradley home.
Bacot closely questioned the gathering and analysis of the forensic, DNA and gunshot residue evidence, eliciting testimony that no gunshot residue tests were done on Wilson’s hands or clothes and on the children.
An initial report from Greenwood County authorities to the forensic pathologist indicated that a pillow was used to muffle the gunshot. But Dr. Joel Sexton, who conducted Best’s autopsy, said no pillow was provided for analysis.
Sexton did explain why Wilson might not have heard the gunshot, despite sleeping just inches away from Best. He said in the case of a light contact wound, in which the gun is placed against the skin, as it was in Best’s wound above the right eyebrow, the skin muffles the shot.
“A lot depends on how easily a person is awakened from sleep,” he said. Testimony in the murder trial continues today.

Eagles outmuscle Vikes

Carroll’s victory at 135 gives Greenwood wrestlers 39-33 win

January 19, 2006

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal sports writer

Any fans of wrestling in the Lakelands looking for a close, intense match Wednesday night found what they were seeking at Emerald High School.
Greenwood beat crosstown rival Emerald, 39-33, Wednesday at Vikings Gymnasium. The Eagles’ win evens the season series between the two schools at 1-1.
“We knew this would be close,” Greenwood coach Greg Brewer said. “I felt we needed to stay off our backs tonight to have a chance against a solid team like Emerald. We did just enough. Again, I felt it would come down to the last match.”
Brewer’s feelings came to fruition, as the contest was indeed decided in the last match.
With the two teams knotted at 33, Greenwood’s Matt Carroll faced off with Emerald’s Dylan Steifle in the 135-pound weightclass.
Carroll controlled the pace of the match throughout, overpowering Steifle before pinning him in the second period. “To come down to the last match tied is all you can ask for,” Emerald coach Bo Smith said. “Our guys did well, and we had some guys who had been question marks who stepped up for us tonight.”
The contest began with each team ripping off a series of wins. Emerald won the first three matches, with Greenwood coming out victorious in the next four.
One of the evening’s key matchups came at the 18, where Greenwood standout John Hamrick squared off with Vikings’ Adam Newton.
Hamrick had handed Newton his only loss of the season in the team’s last meeting, scoring a 4-2 win.
Wednesday’s match mirrored the previous one, with Hamrick once again turning in a 4-2 win. The duel was a physical affair, with each team’s fans loudly imploring their participant.
“John and Adam are two of the best 189’s in the state,” Brewer said. “I think both of them will be in the mix when state tournament time rolls around. Adam has improved a lot.”
Hamrick agreed on the increased pedigree of his opponent.
“He has improved, definitely,” Hamrick said. “It was a good match. They beat us by one last time, so we knew this would be close, and it was.”
The event’s second marquee match-up was at the 140-pound weightclass.
Emerald freshman Zane Newton, who usually wrestles at 135, grappled with Eagles’ Chris Abeyta. Newton utilized his quickness and strength to control the match from the outset. Piling up points over two and a half periods, Newton won the match, 17-2, by technical fall.
“I decided to move Zane up to give us a boost in this one,” Smith said. “I thought he did an excellent job in his match.”
Brewer was complimentary of both wrestlers.
“Zane and Chris are both outstanding at 140,” Brewer said. “They could also have a chance at the state level.”

Opinion

Teach others to read;
open the future for them

January 19, 2006

Nothing takes the place of reading ….. that is, knowing how to read. Without reading, all avenues into the future have one hurdle after another for anyone who can’t read or read proficiently.
Some may be able to get over or around the hurdles, but they are few and far between. The rest are doomed to lives that offer very little or nothing positive. Prison and welfare are the two most notable destinations, it seems.
It’s encouraging, then, to see various groups helping others learn to read, whether it’s in Greenwood or any other South Carolina community. It’s also heartening to see programs and people that promote reading for fun, particularly for the young, but for all of us.

THERE ARE TIMES WHEN the out-of-the-ordinary attracts attention and reaps positive results. A program offered by University of South Carolina football and a county library fits that mold. It’s called Pigskin Poets at the Richland County Public Library, and it has had several successful years.
Child development centers take the youngsters to the library. The football players read to them and stress the importance of reading and education. They also give autographs.
Two of the most visible concerns in life today are a need for better reading skills and desires, and the attention athletes get. Whether intended or not, athletes become role models. That gives them an automatic appeal. As a result, they are natural attractions that can hold the attention of youngsters when others can’t.

IT’S NEVER TOO SOON OR too late to teach and encourage reading, not is it ever too soon or too late to learn. This kind of program, and others around South Carolina, are aimed at youngsters. Other programs – adult education and literacy councils, for example, offer help for older persons who only need an opportunity to improve their lot in life.
All of us can help by encouraging reading at all levels and among all peoples ….. old, young, black, white and anyone else who sees a need and wants to fill it.
Give reading a boost. Be a cheerleader for it. Those involved will benefit, whether on the giving or receiving end. That means, of course, that in the long run, all of society benefits;
Teach someone to read C-A-T and D-0-G, and before you know it they’ll be reading multi-syllable words. From then on, for them, it’s all positive.

Obituaries

Ervin Gray

Ervin Gray, 46, of 1870 Emerald Road, Apt. 1-A, died Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006 at Self Regional Medical Center. Born in Greenwood, he was a son of Willie Lee Parker Gray and the late Fred Gray. He was a member of Mount Zion Baptist Church, Coronaca.
Survivors include his mother of Greenwood; two daughters, Apretta Gray and Nico Gray, both of Greenwood; a brother, Wilbert Gray of Hodges; five sisters, Lillie Ann Parker, Mary Adams, Vernel Fuller and Mavis Laymon, all of Greenwood and Mamie L. Parker of Philadelphia.
The family is at the home of his mother, Willie Lee Gray, 107 Bell Circle.
Services will be announced by Percival-Tompkins Funeral Home.

Jimmie E. Herlong

SALUDA, SC — James Edmund (“Jimmie”) Herlong, 82, died Wednesday, January 17 at his home in Saluda, SC. He was the son of Frank and Roseva Harrison Herlong and a lifelong resident of Saluda, Funeral services will be held Saturday, January 21, at 11:00 A.M., at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Saluda, with the Reverend Nels Ledwell officiating. Burial will follow at Emory United Methodist Church. The family will receive friends at the Ramey Funeral Home from 6:30 until 8:30 P.M, on Friday, January 20.
Mr. Herlong graduated from Saluda High School and Clemson University. During World War II, he served in the United States Army Air Corps as a pilot and instructor. He was recalled to duty in the Korean War and served as an aircraft controller. He returned to Saluda and became a dairy farmer. He was active in many organiza-tions including the American Legion and the Disabled American Veterans, and for all of his adult life was a member of St. Paul United Methodist Church and the J. N. DeLoache Sunday School Class.
In 1969, he was gravely injured and forced to sell his dairy. After a long but partial recovery, he returned to farm-ing, this time raising soybeans and corn, and gradually con-verting his lands to pines. During this period, he was elected to and served four years on the Saluda District One School Board.
Mr. Herlong will be remembered for his indomitable will to live and to contribute, his enjoyment of each day, and his love of family, friends, church, and community. He not only survived a crippling accident but found the strength to triumph. His life stands as a memorial to the power of never giving up.
Mr. Herlong is survived by his wife of 54 years. Ruby (“Bela”) Padgette Herlong, son and daughter-in law, Jim and Wendy Herlong of Edisto Beach, daughter and son-in-law Madaline and Don Haycraft of New Orleans, son and daughter-in-law William and Joan Herlong of Greenville, and daughter and son-in-law Alice and Heyward Powe of Charlotte. He is also survived by his sister Angell Adams of Pelzer and his brother Ben Herlong of Saluda and twelve grandchildren: Charity Gencarelli, Kirk Herlong, James Haycraft, Daniel Haycraft, Jesse Haycraft, Travis Haycraft, Jackson Herlong, Darcy Herlong, Grace Herlong, Blanche Herlong, Padgette Powe, and Harrison Powe, He was predeceased by two brothers, Frank Harrison Herlong and Joe P. Herlong.
Memorials may be made to the St. Paul United Methodist Church Organ Fund, 102 E. Butler Avenue, Saluda, SC 29138.
PAID OBITUARY