Man kills former employer
before turning gun on self

A man with a troubled job history went into Mountain Valley Spring Water early last Wednesday and gunned down his former employer before turning the gun on himself, police say.

Gus Edward McCurry, 55, entered the Haywood Road business about 5 a.m. and shot Thomas Scotchie, who died shortly after at Mission Hospitals. Employees at the business identified McCurry as the shooter, investigators said.

McCurry subsequently killed himself with a .22-caliber revolver outside his Eva Circle Home, police said.
Richard Lee, a manager at Speedy’s Used Cars next door to the water company, said that Scotchie, 47, had expressed concerns about McCurry as long as six months ago. Lee said that Scotchie had asked him to watch out for him if McCurry was around.

Court records show a long history of conflicts between McCurry and the company. He was arrested in 2005 on charges that included simple assault and larceny by an employee. According to warrants, McCurry hit Scotchie in the chest with both fists in November 2005 and had been accused of stealing two water coolers from the business that August, worth $325.

However, those charges were dropped in August 2007 because of insufficient evidence, court records show.
McCurry also filed a workers-compensation case against Mountain Valley Water that was settled in 2006.
He had been injured while on the job and sought a settlement for time out of work and permanent injury.
McCurry had a criminal record that included public intoxication, driving while impaired, larceny, drug and various traffic offenses.

In 2005, he was sentenced to rehabilitation and six months in an intensive probation program for a felony larceny conviction after he stole more than $1,000 in hand tools from Sears.

In September 2006, McCurry was arrested along with three other men for stealing expensive items from Sam’s Club and putting them in boxes of cheaper items before checking out.

He could have been locked away as a habitual felon, but was granted a plea agreement by District Attorney Ron Moore.

McCurry and his lawyer approached Moore’s office about a plea deal and agreed to testify against the other three men in exchange for Moore’s dropping the charges against him — including simple assault and intimidating a witness.

Moore noted that the three men who were convicted all had long histories of violent crimes, including shootings and stabbings.

Asheville psychologist Carl Mumpower wrote a letter to McCurry’s lawyer in 2007 saying that his office had treated McCurry about six or seven years ago for kleptomania and alcoholism. Mumpower wrote that McCurry responded well to treatment and that “his level of personal accountability, candor and effort are above average.”
Scotchie’s death was the first murder in Asheville this year.

Investigators link Ga. drifter
to death of Brevard woman

BREVARD — Investigators have discovered evidence linking Georgia drifter Gary Michael Hilton to the killing of a Henderson County woman and the presumed death of her missing husband, according to Transylvania County Sheriff David Mahoney.

Hilton, 61, currently is in jail on charges that he murdered a 24-year-old Georgia woman.

Search teams found the body of Irene Bryant, 84, on Nov. 9 and later determined she had been killed by a blow to the head. She and her husband, John, had been missing since Oct. 21 when they were hiking in the Pink Beds area of Pisgah National Forest. John Bryant has not yet been found.

Though Mahoney did not disclose details of the link between Hilton and the Bryants, he said that a license plate found on Hilton’s van at the time he was arrested in Georgia had been stolen from a car in Brevard.

Hilton is accused of killing Meredith Emerson after her disappearance on a New Year’s Day hike in north Georgia.
Florida officials also believe Hilton may be responsible for the killing of Cheryl Hodges Dunlap, 46, whose body was found Dec. 19 in Florida’s Apalachicola National Forest.

Furthermore, N.C. State Bureau of Investigation agents are looking into whether Hilton may have been involved in the disappearance of Rossana Miliani, 26, in Bryson City.

Man accused of aiming gun
at victims, drug possession

Buncombe County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Michael Elijah Daniel Gaines of Woodbridge Lane on multiple drug and weapons charges on Jan. 15.

Deputies say Gaines, 22, pointed a gun at one victim and threatened to shoot another, as well as striking one victim several times about the head and body.

He has been charged with possession with intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver a Schedule II controlled substance, assault by pointing a gun, discharging a firearm in the city, simple assault and communicating threats.

He was being held in lieu of $4,000 bond.

Man keeping chunk of ear
in fridge following assault

ARDEN — A man whose ear was largely bitten off during a recent fight is keeping the chunk of ear in an old medicine bottle in his refrigerator as evidence.

Furthermore, Timothy Wilkie of Fletcher disputes claims made earlier that the fight in which his ear was bitten started over his refusal to give his attacker a beer.

Wilkie, 40, says he hopes a plastic surgeon can reattach the chunk of his ear, and that he is angered that some people have made light of his injuries.

He also claimed that the fight with Robert Lee Shugars, of Arden, was spurred by jealousy, not beer as some witnesses had claimed.

Shugars, 55, has been charged with assault inflicting serious injury.

Wilkie said he had been working for Shugars’ girlfriend doing landscaping and handyman work and Shugars thought he should get some of the money.

Wilkie said Shugars pulled a knife on him and Wilkie wrestled him to the ground in self-defense when Shugars bit him. The bite took out a vertical strip of Wilkie’s ear.

Police seeking 4 suspects
in robbery of Oteen store

OTEEN — Police are investigating an armed robbery that took place Jan. 14 at a Tunnel Road convenience store.

Officers responded about 10 p.m. to reports of a robbery at Discount Convenience at 1245 Tunnel Road.

Two men wielding handguns approached the counter and demanded money, while two others stood guard at the door, according to the police report.

The suspects then fled on foot on Pleasant Ridge Drive into the Parkway Forest community. Police with search dogs were unable to find them.

Anyone with information about the incident can call the Asheville Police Department at 252-1110.

Gambling probe expands;
Medford to be free for now

The federal investigation into corruption linked to illegal gambling operations during the reign of former Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford has expanded to include more officers, according to U.S. Attorney Richard Edwards.

Edwards referred to the ongoing investigation while arguing unsuccessfully to keep Medford incarcerated while he awaits trial. Medford faces charges of public corruption and extortion.

Edwards had argued that Medford likely would interfere with the investigation into his activities if he was allowed to go free pending his trial.

However, federal Judge Thomas Selby Ellis III, decided to release Medford into the custody of his sister, who put up $100,000 in equity in a house she owns as bond.

Ellis said the case against Medford is strong, but that he sees no evidence that Medford would interfere with evidence.

Nonetheless, he prohibited Medford from having any contact with other suspects or witnesses in the case — including Medford’s girlfriend of 20 years, Judi Bell.

Ellis also issued a stern warning that Medford would be back behind bars if the judge hears “a whiff of a violation” of his release terms.

Among those terms, are a prohibition on the use of cell phones, monitoring of all incoming and outgoing calls from Medford’s sister’s house, and an electronic monitoring device that Medford will have to wear at all times. He will only be allowed to leave his sister’s house to visit his doctor or his lawyer.

Edwards had argued that Medford likely would interfere with the investigation into his activities if he was allowed to go free pending his trial.  However, federal Judge Thomas Selby Ellis III, decided to release Medford into the custody of his sister, who put up $100,000 in equity in a house she owns as bond.

Ellis said the case against Medford is strong, but that he sees no evidence that Medford would interfere with evidence.

Nonetheless, he prohibited Medford from having any contact with other suspects or witnesses in the case — including Medford’s girlfriend of 20 years, Judi Bell.

Ellis also issued a stern warning that Medford would be back behind bars if the judge hears “a whiff of a violation” of his release terms.

Among those terms are a prohibition on the use of cell phones, monitoring of all incoming and outgoing calls from Medford’s sister’s house, and an electronic monitoring device that Medford will have to wear at all times. He will be allowed to leave his sister’s house only to visit his doctor or his lawyer.

Man shot after firing gun
into home full of children

A man who fired into a home last Thursday wound up hospitalized for bullet wounds himself shortly after.
Buncombe County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 call about 12:25 p.m. about a shooting at 16 Terraine Lane.

There, they found that Deshawn Howard Burgin already had been transported to Mission Hospitals.

After investigating further, deputies were told that Burgin, 23, fired a gun into, and then entered, the residence, which was occupied by six people, including three children younger than 11, at the time.

None of the children were harmed, though one adult in the home was grazed by a bullet.

Bus driver faceing charges
after hitting would-be rider

SWANNANOA — An Asheville city bus driver who lost control of her vehicle and struck a man waiting to board has been charged with reckless driving, a state trooper announced Jan. 15.

The accident took place about 11 a.m. Jan. 10 on U.S. 70 near the intersection with Marion Avenue. Driver Theresa Linsley, 48, tried to slow the westbound bus to pick up John Follett when the bus skidded on the wet road and hit Folett, according to N.C. Highway Patrol trooper Brian Tucker. Follett, 29, was listed in critical condition at Mission Hospitals on Jan. 11, but was later released.

 One passenger also suffered minor injuries.

Some passengers on the bus told investigators that Linsley had hit the brakes very hard, nearly throwing them out of their seats.

Linsley works for Ohio-based Professional Transit Management, which operates the city’s bus service. Cathy Bell, Asheville’s director of transportation and engineering said that Linsey is no longer driving a city bus.

City reconsiders security
for art trail after vandalism

Urban Trail officials are reconsidering security measures for the city’s historical art installation project after the most recent vandalism of an installation outside the Grove Arcade last week.

Sometime either the night of Jan. 14 or the morning of Jan. 15, vandals shattered teh half-inch protective glass covering an etching that depicts E.W. Grove’s original plan for the skyscraper atop the Grove Arcade.

Officials say the damage likely will cost the city $700-$1,000 to fix.

The incident follows two thefts of sculptures along the 30-station trail last year, including a sculpture of a piglet at Pack Square in July and a bronze basket of apples on a park bench at the corner of Lexington Avenue and Walnut Street in November.

The costs of replacing the piglet are estimated to be as high as $10,000 and a figure has not yet been determined to replace the apples.

In the city’s current budget, most of the $50,000 earmarked for the trail will go toward repairs and replacements.