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Wednesday, 21 June 2006 04:46 |
Fletcher doctor sentenced for killing, mutilating father
ABINGDON, Va. ?? A Fletcher, N.C., doctor has been sentenced to life in prison for the strangling death and mutilation of his father.
Vance Gilmer, 43, was sentenced by Circuit Judge Randy Lowe on June 12 for killing Dalton Gilmer.
Dalton Gilmer was found dead on June 29, 2004 alongside a Washington County road with rope burns on his neck. His fingers and thumbs had also been cut off.
Vance
Gilmer, who had acted as his own attorney, claimed that the killing had
been caused by mental illness resulting from childhood sexual abuse and
withdrawal from antidepressant medications.
According to his mother, Gloria Hitt, Gilmer had a history of mental illness and violent outbursts.
During the trial, Gilmer alleged that prison medical staff had
interfered with his medication, preventing him from presenting an
effective defense.
Weaverville man charged with passing stolen checks
| Eric Pratt
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A Weaverville man has been charged with passing stolen checks to numerous downtown Asheville businesses in late May.
Shawn Eric Pratt, 36, of Hamburg Drive was arrested and charged with
three counts of forgery and three counts of uttering a forged
instrument, an Asheville Police Department spokesman said last
Thursday.
He allegedly used checks stolen from the New Studio of Dance in
downtown Asheville. Among the businesses that accepted the stolen
checks were City Bakery, Little Caesars, Pie in the Sky and the
Dripolator.
Pratt was being held at the Buncombe County Detention Facility in lieu of a $3,000 secured bond.
Woodfin school employee charged with property theft
WOODFIN ?? An employee of Woodfin Elementary School was charged on June 6 with stealing three computer chips.
Police charged Erek Wayne Whitehead, 26, of Pelzer Street in Woodfin with theft by an employee.
The equipment, stolen on June 5, is estimated to be worth $210.
Whitehead was being held in lieu of a $2,000 bond.
Woman, 25, faces charges after wreck that killed man
FLETCHER ?? Stacey Michelle Edwards, 25, of Fletcher has been charged
with careless and reckless driving and misdemeanor death by vehicle.
The charges stem from a wreck last Thursday morning that killed her passenger.
She reportedly lost control of her 1996 Pontiac while trying to pass a
vehicle about 11:44 a.m. on Mills Gap Road, east of Cane Creek. Her
vehicle veered off the left side of the road and struck a tree.
Killed in the wreck was Stephen Lee Heckler Jr., 25, who was not wearing a seat belt.
Man faces several charges after stop by UNCA police
An Asheville man is facing several charges following a traffic stop by UNC Asheville police early this past Tuesday morning.
Officer Brandon Hunnicutt charged William Haskins Howerton, 19, with
driving while intoxicated, driving with an open container of alcohol,
driving after consuming alcohol while under age 21 and possession of a
fictitious driver??s license.
Howerton, who lives at 10 N. Kensington Rd., was observed driving a
green 1996 Ford Explorer SUV into a marked-off construction site on the
UNCA campus about 1:15 a.m. He then flagged Hunnicutt down to ask if
the road was closed, according to police reports.
Hunnicutt informed him that the road, indeed, was closed ?? and then followed him out the main entrance onto Broadway Street.
While exiting the campus, Howerton repeatedly applied and released his
brakes and drove past the stop line at a traffic signal, prompting
Hunnicutt to pull him over, police reported.
Hunicutt
observed ?®a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage?∆ on Howerton??s breath
and asked him to submit to a series of field sobriety tests, according
to police reports.
After Howerton performed poorly on several of the tests, Hunnicutt asked him to submit to an alco-sensor test.
Howerton first registered a 0.14 BAC, followed by a 0.13 BAC on a subsequent test.
At that point, Hunicutt arrested Howerton for driving while intoxicated
and proceeded to search his vehicle. During the search, he found an
open flask containing an alcoholic beverage.
Hunicutt released the vehicle to Howerton??s mother and transported him to the Buncombe County Detention Facility.
While Howerton was being processed at the facility, it was discovered that he had a fictitious North Carolina driver??s license.
In other action, UNCA campus police reported the larceny of a bicycle from the Health and Fitness Center on June 4.
The incident was reported about 3:55 p.m. No arrests have been made as of Tuesday morning.
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