Old? New? It Depends/Paroles

Current Florence Senior Center

Florence will be getting a new senior center in the near future. A spokesman for the group using the current facility has asked for a building that will last 40 or 50 years. City officials have indicated the new center will be designed for add-ons when needed to extend the usefulness of the structure, but 40 years is a relatively short life span. No one can say built-in obsolescence is dead in the U.S.

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Waterloo is getting something new--it's called a Village Post Office. It will be located in a store, bank, or similar facility and provide basic mailing services. Hmmmm, isn't that just a fancy name for a postal sub-station. We can recall one in the Elting branch of SunTrust. Apparently if you can't come up with a new idea, at least give an old idea a new name.

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Tuscumbia Mayor Bill Shoemaker wants Lauderdale cities to support the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. While we hope everyone in the area does support the AMHOF, somehow Shoemaker's proposal seems just a little ludicrous considering the recent Colbert County events surrounding RegionalCare's new hospital.

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D.K. attended the parole hearings of both Matthew Fox and  Jamie Mackey. Neither man was granted an early release. Fox will serve the remainder of his sentence, and Mackey will next appear before the board in five years.



Shoalanda

How to Identify a Murderer...or a Genius

Law enforcement has for years been looking for a way to find criminals before they strike, especially murderers. We've looked over some Shoals area murders from the past few years and have spotted a definite trend. How can you spot the murderer?

Easy...they would all give you the shirt off their back. It seems it's always said of those who are arrested or convicted for murder--the Johnson brothers, the Brewer brothers, and many others. We actually think it may be why they commit murder; they are always cold, and that makes for angry individuals.

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How to spot a genius? That one is really easy. They're all under 30 and still know everything. Apparently intelligence tends to decrease exponentially as a person ages and their experiences increase.

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D.K. tells us that Christolyne Brown's parole was turned down last Tuesday. Tomorrow, Matthew Fox and Jamie Mackey will have their day before the board. One week from tomorrow, one of the Shoals' most infamous killers will be up for parole. We'll discuss him tomorrow...



Shoalanda

Matthew Fox & Jamie Mackey

We've previously mentioned that Matthew Fox will be having a parole hearing on September 18th. He has far more chance of making parole than did his co-conspirator Ashley Greenhill. Fox has no previous criminal record and quite possibly has legal representation on his side.

The family of Amanda Taylor doesn't want to see Fox released, and we agree. Fox entered the situation of his own free will and failed to extricate himself when he had the chance.

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Also on September 18th, Jamie Allen Mackey will be up for parole. You may read about Mackey here:

No More Cruisin' on Woodward Avenue

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Matthew Fox

AIS# 289240

Jamie Allen Mackey

AIS# 200300

301 South Ripley Street
PO Box 302405
Montgomery, Al 36130-2405
Telephone:  (334) 353-7771, 353-8067
FAX:  (334) 242-1809

Shoalanda

Matthew Williams: Was Justice Done?

Did Matthew Daniel Williams take a bullet that was meant for someone else? It's hard to come to any other conclusion after reviewing the various statements concerning the March 15, 1997, drive-by shooting.

While driving north on Woodward Avenue, Matthew Williams was behind the wheel, while his friend Bradley Williams, an alleged member of the Crips, sat on the passenger side; between them sat Brandi Lee Campbell, often described as a gang-wannabe. Bradley Williams had been involved in a verbal altercation with 16 year-old Charles Eugene Black earlier in the evening. Now, Black was a passenger in a car driven by 18 year-old Jamie Allen Mackey. Three other youths rode in the back seat of Mackey's car, all either members of or closely associated with the Folk Nation.

As Mackey's car maneuvered alongside Matthew Williams' truck, Brandi Campbell saw the glint of a gun as it misfired. Telling her fiance' Bradley Williams to duck, Campbell followed suit, allowing the second shot to strike Matthew Williams in the head. According to Campbell's dramatic testimony, she knew he was dead as soon as she felt him slump against her.

A Colbert County jury took 45 minutes to convict Charles Black of capital murder. Black is serving a sentence of life without possibility of parole at the St. Clair Correctional Facility. Mackey was convicted of felony murder and is currently serving a life sentence at Limestone Correctional Facility; he is eligible for parole.

The third defendant in the case was Ben Edward Burt (pictured). A resident of Reedtown, the 37 year-old Burt was supposedly the Northwest Alabama leader of the Folk gang and a close associate of Mark Anthony Hurley, aka the Reedtown rapist. The Franklin County resident admitted to ordering a random hit on a member of the Crip gang and was given a plea deal for his testimony. Burt received a twenty year sentence and is currently incarcerated at Limestone.

According to Danny and Elaine Williams, Matthew's parents, while they accepted the plea deal, they expected Burt to receive much longer than his twenty year sentence. Now Burt's case is to be presented to the Alabama Board of Pardons & Parole on April 13. They are asking that all concerned citizens write the Board in protest of Ben Edward Burt's parole. We don't think it's too much to ask that Burt serve the remaining seven years of his sentence.

Address:
Alabama Board of Pardons & Parole
Post Office Box 302405
Montgomery, Alabama 36130-2405
Re: Ben Edward Burt - AIS #197375


Shoalanda