Thursday, November 14, 2013
TIME MACHINE ... This Sunday's Preview
1893.. This is Crisfield at 30; 1977.. What's the newest equipment for the Pocomoke City Police Department?; 1892.. Look who's visiting New Church; 1893.. Only brick allowed for new Snow Hill business district construction; 1964.. Pocomoke High School winners named in Civil War relics contest.
Although you may not find these items in a history book, they are a part of our local history and you can read more about it this Sunday right here at The Pocomoke Public Eye!
Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers.. such as a big snow storm, a favorite school teacher, a local happening, something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? It can be just a line or two, or more if you wish. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!
Liberal Special Interest Groups Oppose Economic Relief for Middle-Class Families
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 13, 2013
November 13, 2013
Contact:
Steve Crim
ANNAPOLIS — Special
interest groups outlined their opposition to proposed tax cuts that
would provide economic relief for struggling middle-class families, in
an article published Sunday by the Baltimore Sun. Much of their arguments were based on the need for government revenue.
"After
seven years of tax and fee hikes, Maryland's working families are
struggling more than ever. For years, the governor and his special
interest groups have argued that a small tax or fee increase won't hurt
anybody's bottom line. But, the cumulative effect of all those
increases have had a devastating effect on the budgets of those who can
least afford it," charged Larry Hogan, Chairman of the non-partisan
grassroots organization Change Maryland. "Next year's election year
politics mean that we may finally see some relief for these families and
the far-left special interest groups aren’t happy."
Hogan's
comments come on the heels of reports that the same lawmakers who
increased over 40 taxes and fees have done an about face and are looking
to cut some taxes like the corporate income tax and the much reviled
"rain tax." Both Senate President Mike Miller and Speaker of the House
Mike Busch have indicated they would consider tax cuts next year as a
mean to improve job growth and Maryland’s flailing economy.
"Every
four years, these politicians have an epiphany that tax relief will
create jobs and grow the economy. Then, once re-elected, they do just
the opposite," said Hogan. "Now, if the far-left special interest
groups have their way, middle-class families won’t even get a brief
election year respite."
Environmental
and health care groups, as well as key legislators in the General
Assembly have warned against tax relief for Marylanders saying that any
reduction in revenue will hurt their pet projects. Governor O’Malley
has also indicated that he will not push for middle class economic
relief next year.
"The
time has come for our state government to reign in spending," Hogan
continued. "We wouldn't need these outrageous taxes if our lawmakers
were able to fund projects efficiently. Instead, their M.O. is to
continually throw money at a problem, without regard to how it's spent.
By dialing down the taxes and spending more efficiently, we would be
able to fund all our worthy causes without putting even more pressure on
taxpayers."
SOURCES: Advocates line up in defense of Maryland taxes The Baltimore Sun, November 10, 2013 http://articles.baltimoresun.
Nassawadox Man Charged With Rape In Northampton Circuit Court
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
By Wesley Edwards
In Northampton County Circuit court Tuesday, Hebrew Finney of Nassawadox Va. was charged with rape of a eleven year old girl. Mr. Finney was found guilty by a bench trial on April 15, 2013.
Several family members, mother, aunt, and sister were all witnesses for Mr. Finney telling the court that since incarceration in April 2013 Mr. Finney had changed.
The Commonwealth pointed out that Mr. Finney had a long record of alcohol abuse and should be punished for this forcible rape.
Judge Lewis said to the defendant that even though this was his first felony that the crime of forcible rape of an 11-year-old young girl exposed him to a life sentence in prison but he was going to give him 33 years and eight months with 20 years suspended and the suspension would be hanging over the defendants head for the full 20 years.
John Knapp of New Jersey was charged with reckless driving.
On the afternoon of April 26, 2012 on the southbound side of Highway 13 just before the tollbooth Mr. Knapp was clocked at 101 mph in a 55 mph zone. Mr. Knapp, a New Jersey police officer, was off duty and going to visit family in Virginia Beach. With a speedometer calibration certification presented showing a 3 mile-per-hour correction the charges was reduced by judge Lewis to 98 mph in a 55 mile-per-hour zone. Judge Lewis explained to Mr. Knapp that the signs on the bridge were very clearly marked therefore he sentenced Mr. Knapp to 30 days all suspended with a stern warning plus a $1500.00 fine.
Source:
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Enchanted Florist Business After Hours
Business After Hours at
Enchanted Florist
Downtown Pocomoke City
Thursday, November 14
5 pm to 7 pm
Eastern Shore States Merging?
Could there be the state of Delmarva?
Would you like to live in the state of Delmarva? According to a report on WBOC-TV, some Maryland legislators favor pursuing a scenario where the Maryland Eastern Shore counties would merge with the lower two counties of Delaware and Accomack and Northampton Counties of Virginia to form another state.
This isn't new as the Eastern Shore counties of Maryland have been dreaming of leaving Maryland for years. Eastern Shore of Maryland residents have long resented control of the state by the metro Baltimore counties and lower Delaware residents have likewise grown weary of a state that's politically controlled by Kent County in the Wilmington area.
In Virginia, most of the rural counties including the Eastern Shore trend conservative but Northern Virginia, Metro Richmond and Norfolk generally lean liberal. In the last several elections, Virginia has moved from a strong red to purple or even blue with these areas generally controlling the elections.
The report on WBOC quoted a Maryland Senator Richard Coburn and a Delaware resident but did not quote anyone from Virginia's Eastern Shore on the matter. While its quite unlikely to happen, the divide demonstrates the overall national political battle between those who want less government versus those who look to the government to solve all of their problems.
Maryland also has problems in its western region. Five counties in western Maryland have discussed breaking off from the rest of the state.
Source:
Mar-Va Theater This Weekend
Friday, November 15th
Saturday, November 16th
7PM
Tickets: $5
www.marvatheater.com
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Change Maryland on LG Brown's Veterans tax relief plan: Where’s the follow through?
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 12, 2013
Contact:
Steve Crim
ANNAPOLIS
- Lt. Governor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Anthony Brown
issued a proposal yesterday - Veterans Day - to exempt military
retirement income from Maryland taxes. In 2010, as a candidate for
lieutenant governor, Brown vocally opposed the same proposal.
Change
Maryland Chairman Larry Hogan blasted Brown's hypocrisy: "Four years
ago, this Lieutenant Governor stood before all Marylanders at a press
conference and criticized this very proposal,"
he said. "Not only did his administration not cut taxes for veterans
for seven years, Brown and other tax and spend politicians raised taxes
forty consecutive times, further burdening struggling veterans. Now, as
he looks to succeed his political mentor, Anthony Brown is finally
ready to talk cuts. Our veterans deserve better than a Governor who is
only in their corner when it's politically convenient."
Touting tax relief in an election year is old-hat for Brown, who joined Governor O’Malley in promising no new taxes
on the campaign trail in 2010. However when the duo won reelection,
they pushed for the most regressive taxes we have seen in recent
history, which have taken billions out of Maryland's economy.
"Yesterday's
proposal from Anthony Brown is nothing new," Hogan continued. "It is a
plan that has stalled in Annapolis for nearly eight years. At any
point during his seven year tenure as lieutenant governor, Brown could
have followed through and championed this issue. Instead, he did
nothing - except raise more taxes."
"For
over seven years the O'Malley-Brown Administration ignored the needs of
Marylanders, including the men and women who serve our country," said
Hogan. "Now, during an election year, we're supposed to believe that
Brown and others like him view veterans as a priority. But if history
is any indication of what Brown would do as governor, it's obvious that
our veterans, and Maryland as a whole, can't afford another four years
of broken promises and failed policies."
Change
Maryland is the state's largest grassroots political organization.
Under the leadership of successful businessman and former Ehrlich
Cabinet secretary Larry Hogan, the group has exploded to over 60,000
Democrats, Republicans, and Independents from every county in the state,
advocating for fiscal responsibility and common sense policies in
Annapolis.
###
@ChangeMaryland
SOURCES:
Ehrlich pushes 'no-brainer' military tax exemption
The Washington Post, August 24, 2010
O'Malley thanks voters, says no new taxes next year
The Washington Post, November 3, 2010
O'Malley/Brown/Gansler Double Down on Rain Tax
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 12, 2013
Contact:
Steve Crim
ANNAPOLIS
– According to recent news reports, the Maryland Department of
Environment and the Attorney General's office have warned counties who
have not implemented the rain tax that they will face heavy fines for
not complying with state law. These "non-complying" counties have found
alternative funding sources for projects aimed at reducing stormwater
runoff.
"The
rain tax has outraged Marylanders across the state, and leaders smart
enough to realize the unpopularity of this tax have found alternative
ways to fund their priority projects. For the state to force these
jurisdictions to implement a rain tax just proves this is another money
grab by the O'Malley-Brown Administration," said Change Maryland
Chairman, Larry Hogan. "The Attorney General is just as culpable as the
O'Malley-Brown Administration on this issue."
In
a letter released last Tuesday, the state attorney general's office
notified officials in Carroll and Frederick Counties that they were in
violation of the 2012 law imposing the rain tax, or stormwater
management fee, and could face action from the state if they charge an
"insufficient" tax. In addition to the letter from the attorney
general’s office, the Maryland Department of Environment has also warned
these counties that they could face thousands of dollars in fines: up
to $10,000 per day in Carroll, and up to $32,500 per day in Frederick.
"Everyone wants a clean and healthy Chesapeake Bay," Hogan reiterated on Wednesday.
"But this most recent missive from the administration proves that this
is more about increasing people's taxes than protecting our Bay. It's
time for us to start electing real leaders who will fund important
projects like cleaning up the Bay without breaking the backs of
taxpayers."
In
Carroll County, Commissioners invested $20 million in stormwater
control projects with existing property taxes, rather than levying an
additional tax. In Frederick County, officials set aside $3 million in
the county budget for stormwater clean-up.
The
rain tax is just one of forty consecutive tax hikes that have been
levied by the O'Malley-Brown Administration since 2007 that have taken
over $9.5 billion out of the Maryland economy and are projected to cost
taxpayers $20 billion by 2018.
###
@ChangeMaryland
Coast Guard, Navy Rescue 3 From Disabled Sailboat
Coast Guard Fifth District watchstanders initially received a call Friday from a commercial towing company who were relaying a request for assistance via a satellite phone on behalf of the crew of the Wing.
The crew of the Wing reported they were not in distress and had plenty of provisions aboard but had lost their rudder.
At approximately 8 a.m. Sunday, the crew of the Wings contacted Coast Guard watchstanders to discuss options, and in light of the worsening weather, the decision was made to conduct a rescue.
Watchstanders launched crews aboard an HC-130 Hercules airplane and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C.
The watchstanders also contacted the Navy who diverted the USS Cole toward the location of the Wings.
At approximately 10 a.m., the Jayhawk crew hoisted the three people from the Wings and dropped them off on the Cole. The Jayhawk crew then flew to another distress call that was determined to be a non-distress situation.
Returning to the Cole, the Jayhawk retrieved the three rescued people and took them to Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C.
There are no reports of injuries.
Sketch Released In Cherrystone Sexual Assault
The suspect is said to be in his early twenties. He is described as being 5ft 8 in tall, slender, with blond hair and acne on his face.
If anyone has any information that could help the investigation, call the Northampton County Sheriffs Department at 757-678-0458.
Source:
Monday, November 11, 2013
Coast Guard Completes 28-hour Tow of Disabled Sailboat
 |
| Photo/ US Coast Guard |
Coast Guard assets towed the Zulu more than 150 miles over a 28-hour period.
The captain aboard the Zulu initially contacted Sector North Carolina watchstanders via satellite phone at 11:30 p.m. Thursday, reporting the sailboat was disabled and adrift with three people aboard approximately 100 miles east of Oregon Inlet, N.C.
The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Block Island arrived on scene Friday morning, but due to heavy weather conditions could not take the Zulu into a tow until approximately 5:30 p.m.
The Block Island towed the Zulu to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, where a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Station Little Creek took up the tow and moored the vessel at Cobb Marina in Norfolk.
"This multi-day response illustrates the absolute dedication of Coast Guard crews to the safety of mariners in distress," said Capt. John Little, commander of Sector Hampton Roads.
No injuries were reported.
Submitted:
U.S. Coast Guard
Veteran's Day
Thanking those who have served and those who continue to serve in protecting this great Nation!
Sunday, November 10, 2013
TIME MACHINE ... 1960, 1977, 1891, 1894, 1971
(Reader-friendly viewing of newspaper archives material)
May, 1960
John F. Kennedy campaigns in Salisbury.
It was May, 14, 1960, three days before Maryland's 1960 presidential primary, and John F. Kennedy made a swing through the Eastern Shore with his agenda including an appearance in Salisbury before the Wicomico Democratic Women's Club at Johnny And Sammy's Restaurant and a walk through downtown. Accompanied by state and local office holders and other party supporters the young Senator from Massachusetts seemed to carry an aura of a Hollywood celebrity, or rock star. As far as security arrangements for the presidential candidate's Salisbury visit- a sign of those times- there were none. As a courtesy, Salisbury police did provide some traffic control assistance for the motorcade. -tk
(Excerpts- The Salisbury Times- May 16. 1960)
By Dick Moore
(Of The Times Staff)
Kennedy, "The Candidate," came to Salisbury.
He left, one hour and 45 minutes later, as Kennedy"The man."
At least, that's the reaction of most partisan Democrats, male or female.
And it seemed to be the reaction of most all females, Democrat, Republican, or independent.
The more elderly Democratic women tittered like teenagers when they saw him Saturday. Some restrained impulse to reach out and touch him.
Others were not so restrained, They laid their hands on his arms, and grinned their toothiest. In return they received the warm Kennedy smile, still a boyish grin, yet fully masculine on the square face and under the shock of hair.
Under the personal convoy of Sen. Mary L. Nock of Wicomico County, he was led into Johnny And Sammy's Restaurant after brief greetings outside among a couple hundred assorted Democrats, from Little Leaguers in full baseball regalia to bobbysoxers, party faithful, and the ever present curious women.
As the women filed by him, serious faced Kennedy seemed to be taking a good look at each one- the smiling faces, the colorful hats and the corsages. Then his smile broke on them and they left like "new women."
"Isn't he just wonderful?" exclaimed Mrs. Ruth White, a party veteran.
It was the same with most of them as Kennedy wove his magic.
(following the restaurant visit) .... the caravan moved downtown where Kennedy alighted in front of the County Trust Bank and began to shake hands.
He walked west on Main Street with an easy gait, introducing himself to all who came by. Some pedestrians rushed up to greet him. Others held back, some in disbelief that here was a candidate for president right before their eyes.
To a small boy's request to buy a poppy, Kennedy pointed to one already is his lapel.
To a crippled man who hobbled a hundred or more feet from behind to catch up and shake Kennedy's hand, the senator said, "Thanks for catching up."
Teenagers gathered- especially girl teenagers. But (Senator) Joseph Tydings, Kennedy's big man in Maryland, kept them at arm's length in an effort to stop the demand for autographs. Occasionally one slipped by though, and the senator obliged.
Crossing Main Street for a walk up the north side, Kennedy was grabbed by young John Hess and taken through a quick tour of his store. By then time was running out. The big Kennedy plane was being reved up a for takeoff at Salisbury Wicomico County Airport to take him to his Maryland finale at the University Of Maryland Saturday night.
A hotel room was obtained at the Wicomico Hotel so the Senator could make some phone calls. Then still looking like a sun-tanned young executive just home from a vacation rather than a political candidate in the midst of a great campaign to meet people, he walked across the street to Central Drug Company for a quiet soft drink and a hot dog. Customers gathered to stare. The store-keeper, Dr. Irvin Kamanitz, seemed pleased with his guest. Finally, the clock ran out. The Eastern Shore tour beginning early Saturday at Elkton was over. He had visited in Centreville, Easton, and Cambridge, shaking hands, making brief speeches, talking to people.
Primaries, he said, give the candidates this chance. The people should know the candidates. They shouldn't be picked in a smoke-filled hotel room.
Maryland and Eastern Shore reaction to Kennedy's invasion of the state- the reaction that counts- will come tomorrow in the primary.
June, 1977
(The Derrick- Oil City, Pa.)
Graduates From Dental School
Richard L. McNamara II, son of Dr. and Mrs. L.B. McNamara of 5 Pinoak Circle, graduated from the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Dentistry recently.
He plans to open a practice soon in Pocomoke City, Md.
He received the Zugsmith Award for general excellence through four years of dental school.
He graduated in 1965 from Cranberry High School and in 1969 from Grove City College.
McNamara served four years in the U.S. Coast Guard. He attained the rank of lieutenant junior grade.
His wife is the former Peggy Jean Evans of Lewisburg, W.Va.
Footnote: The young Dr. McNamara joined the dental practice of Dr. Leon Meinster on Second Street and continued the practice, moving to his current Vine Street location, when Dr. Meinster retired.
March, 1891(The Daily News- Frederick, Md.)
The lastest enterprise on the Eastern Shore of Maryland is a marriage bureau. The inhabitants pronounce it a very "pat" way of furthering matramonial projects.
April, 1894
(Peninsula Enterprise- Accomac Court House, Va.)
T. V. Rhea & Co., the lightning rod men who worked the Shore last year, and to the satisfaction, we believe, of their patrons, are again with us, with their headquarters at Onancock. They return with three wagons and say "they are better equipped for their business now than ever before, as they have found what it takes to stand the salt water air and have brought it." They solicit your patronage.
May, 1971 (Time Machine archive)
17-year-old Becky Culp was named Miss Pocomoke for 1971 with Peggy L. Richardson placing as first runner up in the annual competition sponsored by the Pocomoke Junior Woman's Club. Five-year-old Sharon Yvonne Daugherty was crowned Little Miss Pocomoke and Terri Anne Christian was runner up.
Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers.. such as a big snow storm, a favorite school teacher, a local happening, something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? It can be just a line or two, or more if you wish. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!
May, 1960
John F. Kennedy campaigns in Salisbury.
It was May, 14, 1960, three days before Maryland's 1960 presidential primary, and John F. Kennedy made a swing through the Eastern Shore with his agenda including an appearance in Salisbury before the Wicomico Democratic Women's Club at Johnny And Sammy's Restaurant and a walk through downtown. Accompanied by state and local office holders and other party supporters the young Senator from Massachusetts seemed to carry an aura of a Hollywood celebrity, or rock star. As far as security arrangements for the presidential candidate's Salisbury visit- a sign of those times- there were none. As a courtesy, Salisbury police did provide some traffic control assistance for the motorcade. -tk
(Excerpts- The Salisbury Times- May 16. 1960)
By Dick Moore
(Of The Times Staff)
Kennedy, "The Candidate," came to Salisbury.
He left, one hour and 45 minutes later, as Kennedy"The man."
At least, that's the reaction of most partisan Democrats, male or female.
And it seemed to be the reaction of most all females, Democrat, Republican, or independent.
The more elderly Democratic women tittered like teenagers when they saw him Saturday. Some restrained impulse to reach out and touch him.
Others were not so restrained, They laid their hands on his arms, and grinned their toothiest. In return they received the warm Kennedy smile, still a boyish grin, yet fully masculine on the square face and under the shock of hair.
Under the personal convoy of Sen. Mary L. Nock of Wicomico County, he was led into Johnny And Sammy's Restaurant after brief greetings outside among a couple hundred assorted Democrats, from Little Leaguers in full baseball regalia to bobbysoxers, party faithful, and the ever present curious women.
As the women filed by him, serious faced Kennedy seemed to be taking a good look at each one- the smiling faces, the colorful hats and the corsages. Then his smile broke on them and they left like "new women."
"Isn't he just wonderful?" exclaimed Mrs. Ruth White, a party veteran.
It was the same with most of them as Kennedy wove his magic.
(following the restaurant visit) .... the caravan moved downtown where Kennedy alighted in front of the County Trust Bank and began to shake hands.
He walked west on Main Street with an easy gait, introducing himself to all who came by. Some pedestrians rushed up to greet him. Others held back, some in disbelief that here was a candidate for president right before their eyes.
To a small boy's request to buy a poppy, Kennedy pointed to one already is his lapel.
To a crippled man who hobbled a hundred or more feet from behind to catch up and shake Kennedy's hand, the senator said, "Thanks for catching up."
Teenagers gathered- especially girl teenagers. But (Senator) Joseph Tydings, Kennedy's big man in Maryland, kept them at arm's length in an effort to stop the demand for autographs. Occasionally one slipped by though, and the senator obliged.
Crossing Main Street for a walk up the north side, Kennedy was grabbed by young John Hess and taken through a quick tour of his store. By then time was running out. The big Kennedy plane was being reved up a for takeoff at Salisbury Wicomico County Airport to take him to his Maryland finale at the University Of Maryland Saturday night.
A hotel room was obtained at the Wicomico Hotel so the Senator could make some phone calls. Then still looking like a sun-tanned young executive just home from a vacation rather than a political candidate in the midst of a great campaign to meet people, he walked across the street to Central Drug Company for a quiet soft drink and a hot dog. Customers gathered to stare. The store-keeper, Dr. Irvin Kamanitz, seemed pleased with his guest. Finally, the clock ran out. The Eastern Shore tour beginning early Saturday at Elkton was over. He had visited in Centreville, Easton, and Cambridge, shaking hands, making brief speeches, talking to people.
Primaries, he said, give the candidates this chance. The people should know the candidates. They shouldn't be picked in a smoke-filled hotel room.
Maryland and Eastern Shore reaction to Kennedy's invasion of the state- the reaction that counts- will come tomorrow in the primary.
June, 1977
(The Derrick- Oil City, Pa.)
Graduates From Dental School
Richard L. McNamara II, son of Dr. and Mrs. L.B. McNamara of 5 Pinoak Circle, graduated from the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Dentistry recently.
He plans to open a practice soon in Pocomoke City, Md.
He received the Zugsmith Award for general excellence through four years of dental school.
He graduated in 1965 from Cranberry High School and in 1969 from Grove City College.
McNamara served four years in the U.S. Coast Guard. He attained the rank of lieutenant junior grade.
His wife is the former Peggy Jean Evans of Lewisburg, W.Va.
Footnote: The young Dr. McNamara joined the dental practice of Dr. Leon Meinster on Second Street and continued the practice, moving to his current Vine Street location, when Dr. Meinster retired.
March, 1891(The Daily News- Frederick, Md.)
The lastest enterprise on the Eastern Shore of Maryland is a marriage bureau. The inhabitants pronounce it a very "pat" way of furthering matramonial projects.
April, 1894
(Peninsula Enterprise- Accomac Court House, Va.)
T. V. Rhea & Co., the lightning rod men who worked the Shore last year, and to the satisfaction, we believe, of their patrons, are again with us, with their headquarters at Onancock. They return with three wagons and say "they are better equipped for their business now than ever before, as they have found what it takes to stand the salt water air and have brought it." They solicit your patronage.
May, 1971 (Time Machine archive)
17-year-old Becky Culp was named Miss Pocomoke for 1971 with Peggy L. Richardson placing as first runner up in the annual competition sponsored by the Pocomoke Junior Woman's Club. Five-year-old Sharon Yvonne Daugherty was crowned Little Miss Pocomoke and Terri Anne Christian was runner up.
Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers.. such as a big snow storm, a favorite school teacher, a local happening, something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? It can be just a line or two, or more if you wish. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!
DELMARVA POWER CUSTOMERS TARGET OF UTILITY SCAM
The scammer will explain that the victim’s power would be shut off unless a past due balance was paid. Victims are then instructed to buy a Greendot MoneyPak card and add the past due amount onto the card or asked to provide a credit card number.
Citizens are reminded that Delmarva Power will not contact customers about late payments until first notifying the customer by mail.
Citizens with information are asked to contact the Ocean City Police Department at 410-723-6610.
Submitted:
Ocean City Police Dept.
Accomack County Circuit Court Hearings
Thursday, November 7, 2013
By Wesley Edwards
David Marsh, charged with possession and the transporting obscene items pled guilty to a reduced charge. On or about August 6, 2012 Mr. Marsh's Apple iPod was found with pictures of children and adults in compromising situations. Because of questionable evidence the charges were reduced to a class I misdemeanor. The defendant pleaded guilty under the reduced charges. Judge Revell Lewis III sentenced Mr. Marsh to six months with all but four days suspended for two years. The defendant was told to report by 5 PM Friday for his jail time.
William Nelson was charged with distribution of cocaine. Nelson was arrested on January 3, 2013 at his residence with the help of an informant and the drug task force. He was indicted by a grand jury in June. Judge Lewis continued the case until February pending the preparation of a presentence report.
Noe Escalante Velasquez faced multiple charges, one hit-and-run, charge two unauthorized use of a vehicle, charge three driving with a revoked drivers license, and charge four of driving to close. Valasquez pled guilty to all charges with the help of an interpreter. In addition to the charges pending is a deportation motion. The defendant fled the scene on foot but was tracked after the accident by motor vehicle registration to Dreamland trailer park where he was arrested. Due to questions about the defendants arrest record judge Lewis continued this case until next Thursday so the records could be cleared up.
Asia Woolford was charged with grand larceny and shoplifting in December 2012 at the Walmart in Onley. The defendant and her boyfriend brought their own Walmart bags and filled them pushing their cart outside without going through checkout. Ms. Woolford ran across the street to Shore Lodge where she lived and was subsequently arrested. Ms. Woolford was told that she was going to jail for this event and should make arrangements for child care while this case was pending a presentence report for February 3, 2014.
Source:
Coast Guard Rescues 4, Assists Others Off Va., NC Coasts
Coast Guard assets and personnel involved in Thursday and Friday's search, rescue and vessel assists were crews aboard two HC-130 Hercules airplanes and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Block Island, a 110-foot patrol boat homeported in Atlantic Beach, N.C., a 47-foot Motor Life Boat crew from Coast Guard Station Hatteras Inlet, N.C., and the command center personnel of the 5th Coast Guard District and Sector North Carolina.
In the first case, crewmembers aboard the 41-foot sailboat, Ahimsa, participating in the Salty Dawg Rally, sent out a distress signal via a satellite tracking device, stating that they were taking on water approximately 230 miles east of Virginia Beach and were in need of assistance.
5th District watchstanders launched crews aboard a Hercules airplane to search and a Jayhawk helicopter to perform the rescue. Watchstanders also contacted the Navy, who diverted the USS Vella Gulf to assist.
At approximately 11 p.m., the Jayhawk crew arrived at the Vella Gulf's location and refuled aboard the ship. Proceeding from the Vella Gulf, the Jayhawk hoisted four people from the Ahimsa at approximately 1:30 a.m., and took the boaters back to Air Station Elizabeth City, where they declined medical treatment.
In a second case, crewmembers aboard the 38-foot sailboat Nyapa, participating in the Salty Dawg Rally, sent out a distress signal via a satellite tracking device stating that they had lost their mast and were taking on water approximately 275 miles east of Virginia Beach and were in need of assistance.
5th District Watchstanders diverted the first Hercules crew from the Ahimsa case to search for the Nyapa, but were unable to locate the boat. A HC-130 crew from the air station launched at approximately 10 p.m., and utilizing new information recieved from the coordinator of the Salty Dawg Rally, located the Nyapa and established communications.
A crewmember aboard the Nyapa stated they had 4 people aboard and confirmed they lost their mast, but no one was injured and they were continuing south via motors and no longer needed assistance.
In a third case, 5th District watchstanders received an alert from an emergency position indicating radio beacon registered the sailboat Aurora. The alert positioned the Aurora 230 miles east of Elizabeth City, N.C.
Both Hercules crews searched the area but were unable to locate the boat. The crew of a nearby sailboat, the Dreamreach, responded to the Coast Guard's radio broadcasts inquiring the after Aurora, stating that they had been in contact with the vessel and that the Aurora was not in distress and were heading to Bermuda.
In a fourth case, crewmembers aboard the sailboat Brave Heart, located approximately 50 miles southeast of Ocracoke Inlet, N.C., contacted Sector North Carolina watchstanders, reporting a 67-year-old man aboard had a arm injury.
Watchstanders launched a Coast Guard Station Hatteras Inlet crew aboard a 47-foot Motor Life Boat to attempt a medevac. Once on scene, the MLB was unable to conduct the medevac due to adverse weather conditions.
The Coast Guard Cutter Block Island was dispatched to escort the Brave Heart into Beaufort, N.C., but was diverted to assist with another case with a disabled sailboat. Watchstanders established a communication schedule with the Brave Heart and planned to send a crew from Coast Guard Station Fort Macon to escort the Brave Heart in, but crewmembers aboard the Brave Heart stated they no longer needed Coast Guard assistance.
In a fifth case, crewmembers aboard the 54-foot sailboat, Zulu, located approximately 100 miles east of Oregon Inlet, N.C., contacted Sector North Carolina watchstanders via satellite phone, reporting that they were disabled and adrift. The Cutter Block Island crew arrived on scene and is preparing to set up a tow to bring the Zulu back to shore.
Submitted:
U.S. Coast Guard
Saturday, November 9, 2013
UPDATE On Pocomoke Stabbing
There has been a second arrest in the stabbing of Desmond Roberts.
 |
| Torrance Davis |
Pocomoke City Police Officers arrested Torrance Davis after a three hour standoff at 713 Fourth Street.
Submitted:
Kelvin D. Sewell,
Police Chief
Pocomoke City
BROTHERS CROSSING WORCESTER CO. HIGHWAY STRUCK BY TROOPER
The trooper is identified as Trooper Nicholas Hager, 21, a one year veteran assigned to the Berlin Barrack. Tpr. Hager was transported by Maryland State Police personnel to Atlantic General Hospital due to injuries sustained during the crash.
One teenager was transported by ambulance to Atlantic General Hospital where he was pronounced dead. He is identified as Tymeir D. Dennis, 16, of the 10800 block of Maple Court, Berlin, Maryland.
His brother was transported at Peninsula Regional Medical Center prior to being transferred by air to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center for treatment. He is identified as Tyheym D. Bowen.
The preliminary investigation indicates that at about 8:00 p.m. yesterday, a state trooper assigned to the Berlin Barrack was on routine patrol in his unmarked patrol car. The trooper was headed northbound on Rt. 113 approaching Bay Street. For reasons unknown at this time, the two brothers crossed Rt. 113 from east to west, in the area of Bay Street. They ran directly into the path of the approaching patrol car.
The trooper attempted to take evasive action, but was unable to avoid striking both youths. He immediately called for emergency medical services and began to provide emergency care to both teens.
One victim was taken by ambulance to Atlantic General Hospital. The other was taken by the ambulance to Peninsula Regional Medical Center. He was later transported by air to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center for treatment. The trooper was taken by state police personnel to the Atlantic General Hospital.
Command staff from the Berlin Barrack responded to the scene to oversee the ongoing investigation. There has been no determination of speed at this time. The investigation is being conducted by the Maryland State Police Crash Team. The investigation continues.
Submitted:
Maryland State Police
Berlin Barrack
TIME MACHINE ... This Sunday's Preview
1960.. John Kennedy campaigns in Salisbury; 1977.. Who's the young new dentist coming to Pocomoke City?; 1891.. A unique new enterprise for the Eastern Shore; 1894.. The lightning rod men have returned to Onancock; 1971.. A new Miss Pocomoke is named.
Although you may not find all of these items in a history book, they are a part of our local history and you can read more about it this Sunday right here at The Pocomoke Public Eye!
Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers.. such as a big snow storm, a favorite school teacher, a local happening, something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? It can be just a line or two, or more if you wish. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!
Friday, November 8, 2013
What's Inside The Mind Of An Arsonist
This story was posted in the EASTERN SHORE POST last week. If you followed the nightmare Accomack County went through from November 2012 until April of 2013 you NEED to read this! I have read the story twice and still can find NO sympathy for anyone such as these two, who, in the middle of the night for most nights put so many other lives at risk.
Confession of an Arsonist
By Linda Cicoira
November 3, 2013
Arsonist Charles Robert Smith III told police he deliberately set dozens of fires in Accomack County because he has problems with impotency and feared his fiancée would break off their relationship if he didn’t do as she directed.
“I love the fire service,” the former fire company captain continued. “It’s just a problem I had and it’s my way of dealing with it … I wish I was back on drugs. That way, I’d have an excuse.”
“I think this was a stress reliever the way it came about,” Smith, also known as Charlie Applegate, 38, said. “I thought it was a joke at first (when she mentioned setting fires). We were just out riding … she just came out of her mouth with it … I just started laughing and then I figured out she was for real.”
Smith was referring to 40-year-old Tonya Susan Bundick. The two lived together on Matthews Road in Hopeton when they were arrested on April 1 just after a fire was started on Airport Drive near Melfa. Smith pleaded guilty to 67 arsons and a count of conspiracy to commit arson at a trial on Oct. 31. Bundick is charged with one count each of arson and conspiracy and has yet to be tried.
The auto body shop owner said he never used a flashlight when he went through woods and fields or while in the houses. “That would be a dead giveaway,” Smith noted. “In the fire academy they taught you how to just feel … I wore a black mask every time.” He said Bundick did use a flashlight for the fires she set.
“I know I was wrong in the beginning for driving but … after she did that first one, it just seemed like some of her problems went away. I’d basically do anything for her … I’ve had a lot of sleepless nights over this,” Smith continued.
“We’ve been right there with ya,” Accomack Sheriff Todd Godwin couldn’t help replying to Smith’s last comment.
Godwin and Special Agent Robert F. Barnes Jr. of the State Police interrogated Smith just after his arrest. In recordings included in evidence at Smith’s arson trial last week, the defendant said the spree started with revenge graffiti that he and Bundick spray-painted across roads, signs and buildings in the area.
Those scrawls escalated to arsons, with Bundick setting the first of nearly six-dozen fires and him taking over the job because she almost got caught, Smith disclosed.
Smith said the only night he enjoyed committing arson was when he lit up the former Whispering Pines Motel in Tasley, which was not far from his shop. “That was only because I’d always wanted to see that place burn.” He said he went in a door that was open in the back of the building and set “probably 40 or 50 mattresses” and “some old chairs” ablaze.
Smith said the fire-starting excursions always included a trip to Walmart in Onley.
“I don’t know why people have to paint” over the graffiti that seemed to cover every available spot from the Maryland state line to Northampton County in the summer of 2012, Smith said. “I just used some cheap paint … it was spray paint but it costs like 80 cent … you can take a scrub brush and soap and water and it comes right off.”
The graffiti described Jay Floyd of the Parksley area as a “narc,” and was done because Floyd and his girlfriend, Danielle, “were constantly talking … behind my back,” said Smith. “Putting me down and telling how no count I was” to Bundick.
Ironically, “they’re the ones who set me up with her,” he said. “When I got with her I thought we were just a booty call,” Smith recalled. “I tried not to (fall in love with her) for about eight months … I was doing everything wrong just to try to get her to get the hell away from me because the ones I love the most are the ones I always end up hurting and they’re the ones who hurt me the worst.”
The couple hasn’t been charged with graffiti-related offenses.
Smith may be sentenced as early as December and could face up to 584 years in prison and fines of more than $5.6 million. His lawyer noted that even if he got a year for each offense he wouldn’t outlive his terms.
Evidence involved four DVDs of his confession and a list of incidents that were compiled by Commonwealth’s Attorney Gary Agar and Smith’s lawyer. The discs and documents were available the next day.
“Nobody else has been with us,” Smith said. “I stay on the phone with her the whole time. Basically when I got to them (the sites), I’d call her or she’d call me unless we got stuck where we couldn’t get a signal.” Then he would wait for a horn to blow.
“Never once did we ride around and look” for houses to burn, Smith told police. “We rode around looking for where the cops were.” However, later in the videos, he confessed that on the last night, he wanted to catch fire to an old building near the State Police barracks. Bundick chose the place on Airport Drive, which was fire number 67 in the list of charges.
“I knew we were busted before we did it,” Smith said of the last arson. “Too many cars. It was a dead giveaway. I even told her that. I said, ‘This place is a setup.’ She’s a lot smarter than me and she said that it wasn’t … that I was imagining things.”
In all, there were more than 80 suspicious fires reported in about five months. Smith said he and Bundick were not responsible for fires in chicken houses, Exmore, Horntown, Greenbackville or New Church. “I think some … was (for the) insurance,” he said of those incidents.
Bundick drove and he ignited the structures after a close call they had with the 14th fire on Drummond Lane in Tasley, Smith said. “I was going nuts that night waiting at Colleen’s” (the dentist’s office on nearby Lankford Highway). The incident was near the Department of Forestry where Arson Investigator Glen Neal has an office. Local folks speculated the fire was set to ridicule police.
In that case, Smith reported, Bundick was unable to get back to the vehicle before officers arrived, but she eventually did manage to leave undetected.
“I was hoping after that night it was the end,” Smith added. “She don’t express herself very well … whenever she was out there doing that stuff she would talk about her problems. It would actually mellow her out.”
Smith told Godwin and Barnes that the fires were not because of issues with police or fire companies. However, he noted that he quit the Tasley Fire Company after serving for 8½ years as an officer because of the chief. “Outside the fire company I can get along with him great … either I was going to catch an assault and battery against him … or just stop running” calls. So Smith quit.
There were no fires from Dec. 24, 2012, to Jan. 20, 2013. We “stopped because of the kids. You know what this is going to do to them,” Smith said.
The first fire in the arson series was on Nov. 12. However, Smith admitted the “real” beginning involved a house in Lee Mont where Bundick’s father grew up.
Smith said delinquent taxes caused the property to be sold. Bundick owned it with two other family members and wanted it torched if she couldn’t have it. “I just couldn’t come up with the money,” he said.
Smith said he tried to burn down a house in Tasley because he was mad about the way the owner, who was supposed to be his friend, talked to Bundick on Facebook. “I made sure he wasn’t home.”
Smith said he set another fire at the home of a former boyfriend of Bundick’s. “I pondered on that one for months … she was just dead set.”
“I never wanted to hurt nobody,” Smith said. Even at the boyfriend’s house, Smith said they made sure no one was home. “We rode by his house I don’t know how many times and then we watched them leave … we were actually on our way home and (he) had to walk out … and leave.” Smith said sometimes when his fiancée wanted him to burn a place, he would “make up some kind of an excuse why I couldn’t do it.”
He said neither he nor Bundick was involved with the fire at Ah’s Kitchen near Pungoteague. “Were weren’t trying to take someone’s business.” And “we stayed away from Sanford and Saxis because Bundick contended, ‘It’s such a tight-knit community.’ ”
Smith gave details of a fire at the “old Belote house” on Lankford Highway beside Blue Crow Antique Mall near Painter. “I hiked in from the pond … oh God I cut myself that night.” He confessed to going to an opening at the back of the house and reaching in and stuffing rags on top of the ductwork.
When he burned an abandoned structure on Holland Road, “it took me 15 minutes” to get to the house. “I thought I could just walk down the railroad tracks … I had to climb up trees and over branches to get over the ditches.” Another time, he said, he got lost in the woods when he went to set a fire near Withams.
For the blaze in a shed on Nelsonia Road, “I hiked in quite a ways,” Smith said, explaining that Bundick dropped him off at the intersection of Fletcher Road “all the way on the other side of that field.” He “just lit some cardboard.” On the way in and out, “I just kept laying down when I saw a car.”
Smith said Bundick dropped him off on the highway so he could burn a house on Ticktown Road. “I almost broke my leg … there was a fence or something I tripped over … I dropped a lighter. You can go look for it,” he told the officers.
To burn down a house on Redwood Road, Bundick dropped him off in front. “I thought I got busted that night … I accidentally ran out in front of a car.”
One of the first fires was in a neighbor’s two-car garage with chicken coops on Matthews Road. He repeatedly hit the building with a plastic pipe to make sure there weren’t any chickens inside. “I went back there five times to get that lit.” Smith said Bundick was angry because the owner made negative comments about her children.
“More than likely she’s going to pin this all on me and I’m fine with that,” he said. “I could have stopped from day one,” he laughed.
A big house that served as Hungar Haven restaurant in the 1980s and later as Mallard’s was lit with empty beer boxes in the pump house. This act was also for revenge. Smith said he thought Johnnie Mo still owned the building and he had a grievance with him.
Smith also admitted setting fire to a house Anita Johnson was renovating on Front Street in Accomac. Smith said Bundick dropped him off on Back Street. “There were three rows of shelves … I just threw a (lit) rag on that.” Smith said he remembered fighting a fire near there.
For a building on Whites Crossing Road, Smith used leaves to set the fire.
Agent Barnes said police thought a woman lit the large two-story house fire on Church Road behind the former BaySys mansion. But Smith insisted he did it. “It’s God’s honest truth. I went in the back door … she dropped me off.”
He blamed the fire at Leatherbury United Methodist Church in Deep Creek on Bundick.
Asked why a church was chosen, Smith replied, “Your guess is as good as mine. I honestly do not know … I wasn’t the mastermind of this… trust me I would have been busted” sooner.
Smith said he did not get sexual gratification from setting the fires. “I did it all for the wrong reasons. I never got a thrill out of this.”
He also swore that he never used an accelerant but toward the end of the confession he admitted to using a mixture of motor oil and citronella fuel at a house on Drummondtown Road near Wachapreague. “I did bring a rag for every one of them, but I just didn’t always use it.”
The former grader shed that belongs to Winter Cullen in Mappsburg went up after Smith lit the contents of a bushel basket. Bundick dropped him off on Seaside Road, he said.
During the interrogation, Smith repeatedly asked if he could see Bundick. He also was concerned about more than $300 of his that was left in their van. “It’s actually mine but I just wondered if we could split it,” he said. Smith deferred questions about where her children would go to Bundick.
Asked by 1st Sgt. J.P. Koushel what police could have done differently, Smith replied, “I think you all did a great job, to be honest.” Smith said if his firefighter brother had gotten hurt because of one of the fires, he probably would have shot himself.
Smith said he didn’t keep notes or newspaper articles of the fires. He got kicked off an arson site on Facebook for getting mad at someone who said Bundick “was nothing but a joke.” Smith said, “She watched the news … most of the time when a special news bulletin came on. … I’d go make a snack.”
Smith used cars that belonged to his customers during the spree, but did not elaborate about it in the interview.
“Are you glad that we caught you?” Godwin asked Smith
“No, I’m not because I was supposed to get married” in May, Smith answered. “I know where I’m going” now, he said. Smith is not a stranger to prison. Between lockups and drug rehabilitation when he was in his 20s, he served about eight years for forgery, burglary and bad-check offenses.
Smith fidgeted, shook his legs and often laughed loudly while being questioned. He also smoked cigarettes continuously and while handcuffed got a lighter out of his pocket to light up.
“I just have a bad feeling when I go in there (Accomack Jail) if I set any of (their) houses on fire,” Smith said. Godwin offered to send him to Eastern Shore Regional Jail in Eastville, but Smith didn’t want to go there either.
Source:
By Linda Cicoira
November 3, 2013
Arsonist Charles Robert Smith III told police he deliberately set dozens of fires in Accomack County because he has problems with impotency and feared his fiancée would break off their relationship if he didn’t do as she directed.
“I love the fire service,” the former fire company captain continued. “It’s just a problem I had and it’s my way of dealing with it … I wish I was back on drugs. That way, I’d have an excuse.”
“I think this was a stress reliever the way it came about,” Smith, also known as Charlie Applegate, 38, said. “I thought it was a joke at first (when she mentioned setting fires). We were just out riding … she just came out of her mouth with it … I just started laughing and then I figured out she was for real.”
Smith was referring to 40-year-old Tonya Susan Bundick. The two lived together on Matthews Road in Hopeton when they were arrested on April 1 just after a fire was started on Airport Drive near Melfa. Smith pleaded guilty to 67 arsons and a count of conspiracy to commit arson at a trial on Oct. 31. Bundick is charged with one count each of arson and conspiracy and has yet to be tried.
The auto body shop owner said he never used a flashlight when he went through woods and fields or while in the houses. “That would be a dead giveaway,” Smith noted. “In the fire academy they taught you how to just feel … I wore a black mask every time.” He said Bundick did use a flashlight for the fires she set.
“I know I was wrong in the beginning for driving but … after she did that first one, it just seemed like some of her problems went away. I’d basically do anything for her … I’ve had a lot of sleepless nights over this,” Smith continued.
“We’ve been right there with ya,” Accomack Sheriff Todd Godwin couldn’t help replying to Smith’s last comment.
Godwin and Special Agent Robert F. Barnes Jr. of the State Police interrogated Smith just after his arrest. In recordings included in evidence at Smith’s arson trial last week, the defendant said the spree started with revenge graffiti that he and Bundick spray-painted across roads, signs and buildings in the area.
Those scrawls escalated to arsons, with Bundick setting the first of nearly six-dozen fires and him taking over the job because she almost got caught, Smith disclosed.
Smith said the only night he enjoyed committing arson was when he lit up the former Whispering Pines Motel in Tasley, which was not far from his shop. “That was only because I’d always wanted to see that place burn.” He said he went in a door that was open in the back of the building and set “probably 40 or 50 mattresses” and “some old chairs” ablaze.
Smith said the fire-starting excursions always included a trip to Walmart in Onley.
“I don’t know why people have to paint” over the graffiti that seemed to cover every available spot from the Maryland state line to Northampton County in the summer of 2012, Smith said. “I just used some cheap paint … it was spray paint but it costs like 80 cent … you can take a scrub brush and soap and water and it comes right off.”
The graffiti described Jay Floyd of the Parksley area as a “narc,” and was done because Floyd and his girlfriend, Danielle, “were constantly talking … behind my back,” said Smith. “Putting me down and telling how no count I was” to Bundick.
Ironically, “they’re the ones who set me up with her,” he said. “When I got with her I thought we were just a booty call,” Smith recalled. “I tried not to (fall in love with her) for about eight months … I was doing everything wrong just to try to get her to get the hell away from me because the ones I love the most are the ones I always end up hurting and they’re the ones who hurt me the worst.”
The couple hasn’t been charged with graffiti-related offenses.
Smith may be sentenced as early as December and could face up to 584 years in prison and fines of more than $5.6 million. His lawyer noted that even if he got a year for each offense he wouldn’t outlive his terms.
Evidence involved four DVDs of his confession and a list of incidents that were compiled by Commonwealth’s Attorney Gary Agar and Smith’s lawyer. The discs and documents were available the next day.
“Nobody else has been with us,” Smith said. “I stay on the phone with her the whole time. Basically when I got to them (the sites), I’d call her or she’d call me unless we got stuck where we couldn’t get a signal.” Then he would wait for a horn to blow.
“Never once did we ride around and look” for houses to burn, Smith told police. “We rode around looking for where the cops were.” However, later in the videos, he confessed that on the last night, he wanted to catch fire to an old building near the State Police barracks. Bundick chose the place on Airport Drive, which was fire number 67 in the list of charges.
“I knew we were busted before we did it,” Smith said of the last arson. “Too many cars. It was a dead giveaway. I even told her that. I said, ‘This place is a setup.’ She’s a lot smarter than me and she said that it wasn’t … that I was imagining things.”
In all, there were more than 80 suspicious fires reported in about five months. Smith said he and Bundick were not responsible for fires in chicken houses, Exmore, Horntown, Greenbackville or New Church. “I think some … was (for the) insurance,” he said of those incidents.
Bundick drove and he ignited the structures after a close call they had with the 14th fire on Drummond Lane in Tasley, Smith said. “I was going nuts that night waiting at Colleen’s” (the dentist’s office on nearby Lankford Highway). The incident was near the Department of Forestry where Arson Investigator Glen Neal has an office. Local folks speculated the fire was set to ridicule police.
In that case, Smith reported, Bundick was unable to get back to the vehicle before officers arrived, but she eventually did manage to leave undetected.
“I was hoping after that night it was the end,” Smith added. “She don’t express herself very well … whenever she was out there doing that stuff she would talk about her problems. It would actually mellow her out.”
Smith told Godwin and Barnes that the fires were not because of issues with police or fire companies. However, he noted that he quit the Tasley Fire Company after serving for 8½ years as an officer because of the chief. “Outside the fire company I can get along with him great … either I was going to catch an assault and battery against him … or just stop running” calls. So Smith quit.
There were no fires from Dec. 24, 2012, to Jan. 20, 2013. We “stopped because of the kids. You know what this is going to do to them,” Smith said.
The first fire in the arson series was on Nov. 12. However, Smith admitted the “real” beginning involved a house in Lee Mont where Bundick’s father grew up.
Smith said delinquent taxes caused the property to be sold. Bundick owned it with two other family members and wanted it torched if she couldn’t have it. “I just couldn’t come up with the money,” he said.
Smith said he tried to burn down a house in Tasley because he was mad about the way the owner, who was supposed to be his friend, talked to Bundick on Facebook. “I made sure he wasn’t home.”
Smith said he set another fire at the home of a former boyfriend of Bundick’s. “I pondered on that one for months … she was just dead set.”
“I never wanted to hurt nobody,” Smith said. Even at the boyfriend’s house, Smith said they made sure no one was home. “We rode by his house I don’t know how many times and then we watched them leave … we were actually on our way home and (he) had to walk out … and leave.” Smith said sometimes when his fiancée wanted him to burn a place, he would “make up some kind of an excuse why I couldn’t do it.”
He said neither he nor Bundick was involved with the fire at Ah’s Kitchen near Pungoteague. “Were weren’t trying to take someone’s business.” And “we stayed away from Sanford and Saxis because Bundick contended, ‘It’s such a tight-knit community.’ ”
Smith gave details of a fire at the “old Belote house” on Lankford Highway beside Blue Crow Antique Mall near Painter. “I hiked in from the pond … oh God I cut myself that night.” He confessed to going to an opening at the back of the house and reaching in and stuffing rags on top of the ductwork.
When he burned an abandoned structure on Holland Road, “it took me 15 minutes” to get to the house. “I thought I could just walk down the railroad tracks … I had to climb up trees and over branches to get over the ditches.” Another time, he said, he got lost in the woods when he went to set a fire near Withams.
For the blaze in a shed on Nelsonia Road, “I hiked in quite a ways,” Smith said, explaining that Bundick dropped him off at the intersection of Fletcher Road “all the way on the other side of that field.” He “just lit some cardboard.” On the way in and out, “I just kept laying down when I saw a car.”
Smith said Bundick dropped him off on the highway so he could burn a house on Ticktown Road. “I almost broke my leg … there was a fence or something I tripped over … I dropped a lighter. You can go look for it,” he told the officers.
To burn down a house on Redwood Road, Bundick dropped him off in front. “I thought I got busted that night … I accidentally ran out in front of a car.”
One of the first fires was in a neighbor’s two-car garage with chicken coops on Matthews Road. He repeatedly hit the building with a plastic pipe to make sure there weren’t any chickens inside. “I went back there five times to get that lit.” Smith said Bundick was angry because the owner made negative comments about her children.
“More than likely she’s going to pin this all on me and I’m fine with that,” he said. “I could have stopped from day one,” he laughed.
A big house that served as Hungar Haven restaurant in the 1980s and later as Mallard’s was lit with empty beer boxes in the pump house. This act was also for revenge. Smith said he thought Johnnie Mo still owned the building and he had a grievance with him.
Smith also admitted setting fire to a house Anita Johnson was renovating on Front Street in Accomac. Smith said Bundick dropped him off on Back Street. “There were three rows of shelves … I just threw a (lit) rag on that.” Smith said he remembered fighting a fire near there.
For a building on Whites Crossing Road, Smith used leaves to set the fire.
Agent Barnes said police thought a woman lit the large two-story house fire on Church Road behind the former BaySys mansion. But Smith insisted he did it. “It’s God’s honest truth. I went in the back door … she dropped me off.”
He blamed the fire at Leatherbury United Methodist Church in Deep Creek on Bundick.
Asked why a church was chosen, Smith replied, “Your guess is as good as mine. I honestly do not know … I wasn’t the mastermind of this… trust me I would have been busted” sooner.
Smith said he did not get sexual gratification from setting the fires. “I did it all for the wrong reasons. I never got a thrill out of this.”
He also swore that he never used an accelerant but toward the end of the confession he admitted to using a mixture of motor oil and citronella fuel at a house on Drummondtown Road near Wachapreague. “I did bring a rag for every one of them, but I just didn’t always use it.”
The former grader shed that belongs to Winter Cullen in Mappsburg went up after Smith lit the contents of a bushel basket. Bundick dropped him off on Seaside Road, he said.
During the interrogation, Smith repeatedly asked if he could see Bundick. He also was concerned about more than $300 of his that was left in their van. “It’s actually mine but I just wondered if we could split it,” he said. Smith deferred questions about where her children would go to Bundick.
Asked by 1st Sgt. J.P. Koushel what police could have done differently, Smith replied, “I think you all did a great job, to be honest.” Smith said if his firefighter brother had gotten hurt because of one of the fires, he probably would have shot himself.
Smith said he didn’t keep notes or newspaper articles of the fires. He got kicked off an arson site on Facebook for getting mad at someone who said Bundick “was nothing but a joke.” Smith said, “She watched the news … most of the time when a special news bulletin came on. … I’d go make a snack.”
Smith used cars that belonged to his customers during the spree, but did not elaborate about it in the interview.
“Are you glad that we caught you?” Godwin asked Smith
“No, I’m not because I was supposed to get married” in May, Smith answered. “I know where I’m going” now, he said. Smith is not a stranger to prison. Between lockups and drug rehabilitation when he was in his 20s, he served about eight years for forgery, burglary and bad-check offenses.
Smith fidgeted, shook his legs and often laughed loudly while being questioned. He also smoked cigarettes continuously and while handcuffed got a lighter out of his pocket to light up.
“I just have a bad feeling when I go in there (Accomack Jail) if I set any of (their) houses on fire,” Smith said. Godwin offered to send him to Eastern Shore Regional Jail in Eastville, but Smith didn’t want to go there either.
Source:
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