Police rule out homicide
in death outside pool hall

Police have ruled out murder as the cause of death of a man who died after a struggle in an Asheville pool hall on Nov. 27, despite conflicting reports about the incident.

However, they have charged another man with stealing his wallet while he lay unconscious in a nearby parking lot.
Troy David Smith Jr., 24, was charged with common-law robbery, but was not charged with murder, despite claims by family members of the victim, Mark Denton, that he was beaten to death.

Investigators say Denton, 45, died as the result of a fall from a 2-foot-high retaining wall while intoxicated.

Earlier that night, Denton had been involved in an altercation with bouncers at the Corner Pocket pool hall on Merrimon Avenue. Bar staff repeatedly had asked him to leve, and at one point he had become aggressive toward one of the bouncers, according to police reports.

Police noted that Dentonís blood-alcohol content was more than four times the legal limit at the time of his death.
However, at least one employee of the pool hall claims that Denton was badly beaten.

Bar manager Rob Cole said that Denton was killed by ìthree punks,î who took advantage of his being drunk and beat him up outside the pool hall.

Cole acknowledged that he was not there during the incident, but said that a bartender who was told him about what happened.

Cole says that three patrons of the bar, who were in the back room, went out the back door after seeing Cole thrown out for a third time, beat him up, took his wallet and then went back inside.

Cole said he later saw the men go through Dentonís wallet on the barís surveillance video. However, the computerized system erases after a week, he said, so they no longer have the footage. Police have copied portions of the video, he noted.

Police say there was a struggle with bar staff, but nothing that would have led to his death. According to the police department, preliminary findings of the State Medical Examinerís Officeís autopsy report indicate that Denton died as a result of brain injuries after fracturing his skull.

Dentonís family members say they want someone charged with murder. He was identified as a murder victim in his obituary, and Dentonís sister says that police should have been called when he was kicked out of the bar.

Meanwhile, the police department has come under fire from nearby residents because it did not notify the public of the incident for two weeks after Dentonís death. The pool hall backs up to a residential neighborhood.

A spokesman for the police department responded that because all of the parties involved were easily identified, there was no need to warn the public about the death.

Body found in homeís yard
IDíd as that of missing man

BREVARD ó A body that was found buried in the back yard of a Brevard home is that of a man who has been missing since last month, medical examiners announced last Friday.

Transylvania County Sheriff David Manhoney said that an autopsy conducted in Chapel Hill had identified the body as that of David Morgan, of Rosman, who was last seen around Nov. 14 in three different locations in Brevard.

Morganís son reported his father missing on Nov. 28.

The body was discovered in a shallow grave last Wednesday by Thomas Reid, a South Caldwell Street resident, after he noticed a spot in his backyard that appeared to have been freshly dug. Reid began digging into the area, found an arm and immediately called law enforcement.

The grave was about 18 inches deep, authorities said.

The State Bureau of Investigation and local authorities exhumed the body and had it taken to Chapel Hill for examination.
Morgan was self-employed as a handyman, according to Mahoney. His death has been ruled a homicide.

Anyone with information about the case can contact the Transylvania County Sheriffís Office at 884-3168.

High school coach accused
of showing porn to student

MARSHALL ó A Madison County physical education teacher and assistant football coach has been barred from all school campuses after being arrested on a charge of showing a pornographic cell-phone video to a female student.

Chad Vance Draper, who taught at Madison High School, was charged with a misdemeanor count of disseminating harmful material.

Sheriffís deputies arrested Draper, 29, at his Marshall home on Dec. 9.

Draperís accuser said he called her into a coachesí office to show her the video, according to Sheriff John Ledford.
Draper was hired at the start of the school year. He previously had worked in Buncombe County Schools and was an assistant football coach at Reynolds High School.

He had been hired in Buncombe County in August 2000 as an exceptional-childrenís assistant at Cane Creek Middle School. In August 2001, he took a job as an exceptional-childrenís assistant at Reynolds and left in October, school officials said.

The Madison County Sheriffís Office began investigating Draper after the student and her mother reported the incident on Dec. 7. Deputies were unable to find him until Sunday evening. Deputies reportedly found a pornographic video on his cell phone.
He was released under an unsecured bond.

City police buy back guns;
weapons will be destroyed

The Asheville Police Department bought nearly 300 guns from area residents during four recent gun buy-back sessions this month.

Under the program, the department paid $50 for operational handguns and long guns and $100 for operational assault rifles, no questions asked.

At the first session, which was held at Stephens Lee recreation center, police collected one assault rifle and about even numbers of pistols and long guns and paid out $3,300.

Among the weapons turned in at that session were two antiques and one worth $400 to $600.

Three subsequent buyback sessions were held, concluding with one at Montford Community Center last Saturday.

The city had appropriated $25,000 for the program and two private groups, the Brad Daugherty Foundation and Eblen Foundation are accepting donations to match city funds.

Several other businesses and groups also have contributed to the fund.

Former Vice Mayor Gene Ellison heads a group that is trying to raise $25,000 to match the city funds.

Ellison, a former pro basketball player, joined Brad and Bobby Daugherty in donating $1,000 each. Youth from St. James AME Church donated $500 and AdvantageWest also donated $500 in services, including mail-outs.

Anyone interested in donating to the program can send a check to the Brad Daugherty Foundation, c/o Gene Ellison, 185 Biltmore Ave., Asheville, NC 28801.

Those making contributions should indicate on the check that the money is for the gun buyback program.

Any leftover money will be put into the Community Police Officers Fund, which oversees programs at the cityís recreation centers.

Even though the collection sessions are over, residents may still sell their guns to the police department by calling 259-5660. Officers will make arrangements to come collect the weapons.

Candler man faces charges
of taking indecent liberties

CANDLER ó A Candler man was arrested Dec. 11 on four counts of taking indecent liberties with a child.

Thomas Eugene Garrett Jr., 46, of Smoky Park Highway, is accused of committing the acts involving a child younger than 16 in November 2006 and last March and October.

He was released under $20,000 unsecured bond.

Other arrests in Buncombe County on Dec. 11 include:

ï Terry Jermaine Davis, 28, charged by Asheville police with possession with intent to sell and deliver cocaine. The Brickyard Road resident was being held in lieu of $2,500.

Arrests in the county on Dec. 10 include:

ï† Connie Lee Wallace, of Dustin Drive in Swannanoa, and Avery Ray McKinney III, of Bent Creek Road in Arden.
Buncombe County sheriffís deputies charged Wallace, 26, with stealing a credit card from another Swannanoa woman.

McKinney, 17, is accused of using the card to purchase $204.64 worth of goods and services from several merchants.

Both were released from jail on a written promise to appear in court.

ï Christopher Richard Dighton, 34, arrested by Asheville and Black Mountain police on multiple charges, including breaking and entering, larceny after breaking and entering, possession of burglary tools, damage to real property and first-degree tresspassing.

Police say Dighton broke into a building on Craven Street in Asheville and took two spotlights, a DVD player and a saw.
He also destroyed the lock on a camper trailer and damaged a fence at Whatever Rents on U.S. Highway 70, police said.
The resident of Kultz Street in Maiden was being held in lieu of $4,000 bond.

Animal shelter to be closed;
500 animals need adoption

HENDERSONVILLE ó An animal rescue shelter that will close its doors in March, under pressure from state regulators, is seeking homes for 500 animals currently in its care.

Calling it the 500 Campaign,† All Creatures Great and Small is seeking to find people to adopt the animals before it closes as a result of an agreement with the N.C. Department of Agriculture. More than 600 animals are currently in the shelterís care.

The shelter repeatedly has failed inspections for several years and animal-rights activists have charged that animals are mistreated and neglected at the facility.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals recently released a video of animals that it said were suffering and neglected at the shelter.

On its Web site, PETA documents allegations that injured animals were left untreated by veterinarians and that the animalsí living quarters were ìfilthyî and overrun with rats.

The site includes video and pictures that were taken by an employee during what it said was a seven-month undercover investigation of the shelter.

Officials with All Creatures counter that the animals often came to them in bad condition. The shelter regularly caught injured or loose animals that were reported by law enforcement.

Angel McMinn, the facilityís human resources director, said that the ìno-killî shelter does not euthanize animals unless they are suffering and nothing can be done to help them.

The effort to find homes for the animals is prompted by a desire to avoid their being sent to shelters that euthanize when All Creatures closes, she added.

All Creatures is in the process of constructing a new shelter on 32 acres in Greenville County, S.C., that will include two 13,200-square-feet buildings. The current building is 4,800-square feet on four acres.

The new construction, which will cost $2 million, is being funded by Don Gladieux, who owns the shelter property in Hendersonville.

However, only one building will be finished at the new site by March and there will not be enough room for all the animals by the time the Hendersonville facility closes.

Under a court order, the Agriculture Department can assign up to 350 of any animals left at the center to another organization. State officials have not yet said which organizations they would use.

But shelter officials say that will not be necessary if they can find homes for the animals.

The facility will be open for adoption daily from 1-6 p.m. through March.The cost of adopting an animal is $65 for cats and $75 for dogs, including spaying or neutering fees and shots. Anyone interested in adopting an animal can call 216-0694.

Buncombe Sheriffís Dept.
promotes 3 to sergeants

Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan announced recently that three deputies who work at the Buncombe County Detention Facility have been promoted to the rank of sergeant.

Rusty Williams, Randy Dunsmoor and Timothy Miller all received the promotion.