#pineburr

[objectattachment]

One of my current WIPs from an inspiring class I took with @tarafaughnan and hosted by @trianglemqg. I’m really enjoying the process of this piece...figuring out the layout as I go...playing with colors and negative space. #pineburr #modernquilt #wip #trianglemqg #ihavetoomanywips

[ghostwaffleheimer]

"Go get Flashpoint and Pineburr. It's time something was done about our outsiders."

More of Barkstar committing war crimes. Hating the presence of the cats living in the cove for how they seemed to treat this life as an easy game, ignorant of the old clans and their code that she felt she was destined to restore, she wanted to teach them a lesson. Taking her supporters (and a handful of cats who did not want to go), she set out to lay waste and claim the land for hers. A lot of cats on both sides died.

Gullfeather had been with her kits when Barkstar and her most loyal follower arrived, and thought quickly to hide them in some shrubbery. She'd been no match and they were still found.

Barkstar hated the cats that came from the woods with their kittens. How dare they get to survive the forest while two of her own kits died there? She devised a plan to lure them into this den with the false pretense of taking these now-motherless kits back to the quarry after they were done, and use the opportunity for more slaughter, blaming them for the death of a queen and her kits as an excuse to drive their own children out.

She'd gotten finished with Flashpoint and Pineburr and was turning towards the two grey kittens cowering in the bush, when who but Wavestar would come in carrying Barkstar's own young son, the last of her doomed litter, limp in his jaws.

[the-record-newspaper]

The Killing of Rhonda Hinson Part 23

By LARRY J. GRIFFIN

Special Investigative Reporter

For The Record

 …If someone took her out of the car to try and help her, I appreciate that so much.  If you tried to help her, please tell me…--Comment by Judy Hinson on the “Remembering Rhonda Hinson” Facebook page.

 Approximately 12 hours after the killing of Rhonda Hinson—on Dec. 23, 1981—Reggie Donald Smart was “interviewed by Lieutenant Warlick of the Burke County Sheriff’s Department (BCSD) and reporting agent.” The essence of the interrogation was recorded in supplemental document appended to one already submitted by Special Agent John Suttle of the SBI.  

“He [Reggie Smart] stated he was at Lawrence Fulbright’s Garage, which is located approximately one (1) mile north of Valdese, working on his truck, and left that garage at about 1:00 AM on December 23, 1981, returning to his home.  He said as he approached I-40 on the Mineral Springs Mountain Road, he observed a beige car backed into the ditch on the right side of the road in the direction he was traveling.  He said he was not sure of the make of the car, but it was beige and appeared new.  He said he observed a white female with blond hair slumped over the steering wheel, leaning forward, and more to the driver’s side of the car.  He said the door was open and the dome light was on at the time he observed it.”

But that wasn’t all that Mr. Smart witnessed. He described a white male—about 6’0”tall and weighing approximately 170 pounds standing on the outside of the driver’s door.  At that juncture, he could recall neither the color of his hair nor how he was dressed.

In an April 1983 conversation, Mr. Smart elaborated upon his observation of an old model Chevelle that passed him on Eldred  Street (Highway 350) traveling at a high rate of speed and turned onto Pineburr  Avenue.  As he glanced into his rearview mirror, he averred that he noticed a police car turning onto Pineburr behind the Chevelle. The synopsis of the conversation noted that:

“Reggie Smart continues on Highway 350 toward Interstate 40 approximately three-fourths of a mile and sees a car backed off the road, with the front portion in the highway, the headlights are on, the door is open, and a girl (whom Smart describes as Rhonda) was leaning over the steering wheel. The door was open and a white male with blonde hair is standing beside the driver’s door….

Steve Whisenant, of the BCSD, noted that Mr. Smart had undergone hypnosis and “all he said he saw he saw.”

As previously reported, Unsolved Mysteries—Season 2, Episode 7, first televised on Nov.r 15, 1989—aired an excerpt from the taped hypnosis session. In it, Reggie provided more detail about the blue, 1970’s Chevelle that passed him traveling at a high rate of speed, stipulating that it had grey primer on the front end that was “messed up.” He also described “sort of a dark brown-haired guy,” six-foot or 5’ 10” in height, that he initially identified at the driver’s side door of Rhonda’s Datsun 210. 

         Mark Micol        

Also previously referenced, on April 1, 1987, Mr. Smart spoke over the telephone with Judy Hinson.  In that conversation, he described the Blue Chevrolet Chevelle, the blonde male who was standing on the bank on the driver’s side of Rhonda’s Datsun, and the driver’s side door being ajar.  Rhonda was still inside the car.  He also described a dark-colored blue Trans-Am and a small blue Toyota parked on the opposite side of the highway with someone inside.  

The former automobile was identified by at least four other individuals as belonging to Mark Micol; the latter was identified by Todd Garrou—in a couple of recent phone conversations with this writer—as belonging to himself.  Todd’s asseveration corroborates that of Reggie Smart who recalled seeing the blue Toyota with someone inside.  Mr. Garrou also averred that he and passenger Brent Smith remained inside the vehicle while Jerry Baker exited to talk with Pons and Micol.

                  Tim Pons

Mr. Smart made no mention—in neither of his statements nor conversation with the Hinsons—of law enforcement being at the crime scene when he drove through.

But Reggie Smart was not the only unwitting witness to the aftermath of a murder.  

Charles Kincaid recounted his recollections of that early late-December morning to Judy Hinson during a taped conversation, circa 1987, and heard by this writer over the weekend past.  “I am sorry for your loss; I am willing to do anything that I can to help,” Mr. Kincaid began.  

It was around 1 a.m., when he was driving his two-tone blue Buick down Eldred Street toward I-40 West and the adjacent town of Morganton.  As he approached the Home and Garden Center, he saw Rhonda’s car back into the ditch on the side of the road on which he was traveling.  It was then that he noticed a tall, slender young man with blonde, almost shoulder-length hair standing by the passenger’s side door.  The door, he maintained, was fully open; and the guy was standing behind it—slightly crouched down, with one foot propped just inside the car; one arm rested atop the vehicle, the other draped over the opened door.  

As Charles approached, he stated that the young man pulled the car door back toward himself and out of the travel lane.

“As I drove past, I made sorta eye contact with him.  I looked in my rearview mirror and saw him standing there still looking in my direction,” Mr. Kincaid remembered.  “I could tell he was still looking at me.”

Admittedly, Charles Kincaid paid more attention to the young fair-haired male than he did to anything else.  When asked by Judy Hinson, he was unable to verify whether or not her daughter was still in the automobile.  

Mr. Kincaid was subsequently interviewed by law enforcement and asked to identify the aforementioned blonde male from amongst a group of photographs.  A number of the snapshots that were shown to him were those of inmates whom he recognized because he was working at the prison at the time.  

“…So you were not able to identify any of them?”  Judy queried.

“Oh no, Ma’am; I did identify one who looked like the guy I saw and told them [law enforcement] so,” Charles responded.  “But it wasn’t anybody that I know.”

During the brief conversation, Mr. Kincaid speculated that he might have been one of the first cars to drive through shortly after Rhonda Hinson was killed.  And he did clarify one misconception.  When told of the encounter that Tim Pons and Mark Micol had with a black man driving a green surveyor-type vehicle that stopped to talk with them, he affirmed that he was not that man.

“We were under the impression that you were that man,” Judy explained.

“No Ma’am, I am not…I was driving a blue, two-toned Buick.”

“Well then, there was apparently another person who came through that morning that we have not identified,” Ms. Hinson responded.

In a document generated on Tuesday Sept. 25, 2001, lead investigator and reporting officer Sgt. Charles Morris charted a timeline of events prior to and subsequent to the killing of Rhonda Hinson.  In the section labeled “1:00 am +/-,” Detective Morris wrote a synopsis of the statements of Reggie Smart and Charles Kincaid—then he added another:

“Jeffrey Allison…drove down Mineral Springs Mtn. Rd. and saw Rhonda’s vehicle in the ditch.  Head lights on—dome light on—driver’s door open—did not see any other vehicles or persons.  However, he saw what he believed to be the top of someone’s head either on the driver’s side inside the vehicle or just outside the driver’s side…

On Saturday, Aug. 10 of this year, this writer was contacted through the Remembering Rhonda Hinson Facebook page by an informant—who wishes to remain anonymous—indicating that a great-uncle drove past the murder scene the early morning of December 23rd.  

“He is a coon hunter.  They had been coon-hunting that night and lost one of the dogs.  After searching for hours, he decided to go to Jack B Quick in Valdese [approximately a mile away from Interstate-40 down Eldred Street] for a cup of coffee before heading back home across Mineral Springs Mountain…He said he saw a vehicle off the road and assumed them to be drunk…He saw someone pulling a young girl out of the car and assumed she was drunk… [He] said that a car then followed him all the way to his home closely.  Later on, a detective reached out to him for information…and he could only recall fragments…He was hypnotized by someone at the department and could remember details including tag numbers.” [Note:  Attempts to contact this witness, via telephone, have been unsuccessful. However, efforts to reach him continue.]

Numerous accounts—interviews, recorded conversations, and statements by law enforcement—place Mark Micol and Tim Pons at the murder scene around 1 a.m., riding in Mr. Micol’s blue Trans-Am, and credit the duo with being the first to discover Rhonda’s Datsun 210.  Joining them from a cabin on Mineral Springs Mountain, were Todd Garrou, driving his blue Toyota, and passengers Jerry Baker and Brent Smith.  

Former classmates, friends, and family members have described each of these young men as they would have appeared in 1981. High School yearbook photos tend to confirm most of the physical traits noted by these aforementioned sources. Mark Micol was described as blonde-headed, lean, and at least six-foot in height.  The late Tim Pons was apparently around 5’ 8” tall with black hair.

Todd Garrou identified himself as red-headed, around 5’ 8” or 5’ 9” in height.  Others described him similarly.  Jerry Baker was described most often as easily 6-foot in height; a well-built football player-type who was, incidentally, a high school MVP; and with dirty-blonde hair.  One acquaintance stated that his hair was brown.  Brent Smith, likely the youngest of the travelers that evening, was less than six-foot tall, with blonde hair.    

Three of these five young men ostensibly exited their vehicles and approached the wrecked Datsun belonging to Rhonda Hinson.

  [Editor’s Note:  As of this writing, Mark Micol has yet to respond.  His comments will appear in an installment when he does.  Efforts are being made to locate Brent Smith for comment.]

[charlottecraigslistfraudblog]

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[the-record-newspaper]

The killing of Rhonda Hinson: Part 21

The Hinson family: Rhonda’s mother, Judy; brother, Robbie; and father, Bobby. This photo was taken by a photographer from the News Herald in Morganton about a month after Rhonda was killed in December of 1981. 

By LARRY J. GRIFFIN

Special Investigative Reporter

For The Record

 It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

 Marguerite Fletcher lived in Holly Hills located approximately one-half mile from the Mineral Springs Mountain exit ramp off Interstate 40 West.  In fact, she lived in proximity to Rhonda Hinson’s best friend, Jill Turner-Mull.  And on Dec. 23, 1981—unbeknownst to her—Ms. Fletcher would become one of the two most credible, oft-quoted witnesses to an impending crime: the killing of Rhonda Hinson.  

At the time, Ms. Fletcher was employed at Curley’s Fish Camp in Hildebran and was driving home subsequent to her evening shift and likely a visit to a friend’s house.  It was approaching 12:30 a.m., when she turned off the exit and paused at the stop sign at the end of the ramp before routinely turning left toward her Hazel Street residence.  

According to earlier reportage, Ms. Fletcher purportedly told law enforcement that she observed a blue General Motors Chevy parked under the bridge at the Mineral Springs Mountain overpass and two white males sitting inside it. The vehicle was facing in a northerly direction [toward Valdese] and parked near the I-40 Westbound off ramp that Rhonda Hinson would subsequently travel.

But in an April 9, 1987, recorded conversation with Judy Hinson—over five years after Rhonda’s shooting death, and heard by this writer over the weekend past—Marguerite recounted that which she could recall of the fateful evening, adding one other insightful detail:

“I always came through there when I worked at Curley’s…I don’t remember what time it was—it’s been so long.  I do remember though that it wasn’t long before that [the shooting] happened…I think it was minutes before it happened.  There was an old model car parked under the bridge; I don’t remember what color it was.  I remember as I was coming on the off ramp, I saw this car, and this man got out.  The reason I remember that is that the man had on an outfit the same color as his car.  It was cold.  He was going to the back of his car toward the trunk.  I don’t know cars, but it looked like a newer car.  I looked in my rearview mirror, and he was at the trunk doing something.  I then saw the car under the bridge….

“That was the first time I had seen a car there, and I haven’t seen one since....I didn’t notice if anyone else was in the car with the man on the off ramp. The man that was getting out of that car (It was beige and his clothes were beige.) was an older man.  The reason I remember it so well is because of his clothes being the same color of the car.

Marguerite Fletcher told Judy Hinson that she was tired and paying little attention at the time, though she maintained that better attention would have been afforded if she had even a prescient inkling that something significant was about to occur that evening.

I could have gotten the tag number….It looked like the car on the off ramp was a hatchback, between a tan and a beige, with an outfit that matched the car to a tee.

Though Ms. Fletcher could not recollect the color of car parked at the bridge, she averred that at the time law enforcement initially questioned her, she was able to tell them the color.  

The strangest thing about the car under the bridge was that it was on the wrong side of the road, facing Valdese—going toward Valdese on the left side, directly under the bridge.  

The late Reggie Donald Smart was working on his truck at Lawrence Fulbright’s Garage, located approximately one mile north of Valdese, during the early morning of Dec. 23, 1981.  He left the garage about 1 a.m., to return home. His statement recounting the events of the evening would become the second most significant eyewitness account of the crime scene and the only passer-by to-date to see Rhonda Hinson slumped over the steering wheel of her Datsun 210.  

In his interview with Lieutenant Warlick of the Burke County Sheriff’s Department and Special Agent John Suttle of the SBI, he detailed his journey toward I-40.  The following is excerpted from SA Suttle’s recapitulation:

“…He observed a beige car backed into the ditch on the right side of the road in the direction he was traveling.  He said he was not sure of the make of the car; but, it was beige and appeared new.  He said he observed a white female with blond hair slumped over the steering wheel, leaning forward, and more to the driver’s side of the car.  He said the door was open and the dome light was on at the time he observed it.”

He said he observed a white male about 6-feet tall standing on the outside of the driver’s door.  He said he estimated the weight of this white male as 170 pounds.  He said he could not recall the color of this white male’s hair, nor how he was dressed.

Mr. Smart stated that he didn’t think much about what he had witnessed at first, concluding that he had happened upon a mishap perpetrated by a drunken driver.  Given that assumption, he didn’t get a good look at the man standing at the driver’s door.  

Subsequent to his initial statement to authorities, Reggie Smart submitted to hypnosis in an effort to ascertain details of that evening tucked in the recesses of his brain.  On Wednesday Nov. 15, 1989, the TV show Unsolved Mysteries aired a segment relative to the killing of Rhonda Hinson.  In it, the producers aired an excerpted segment of the actual audio tape from Reggie’s hypnosis session:

“A Chevelle.  It looks blue, ’70 model, I believe.  Looks like the front end of it has been messed up.  It’s in primer—the primer is grey…He’s not a big guy.  He’s about six-foot or 5’ 10”…He’s about medium build…Sort of a dark brown haired guy…”

In April 1983, Mr. Smart reiterated his earlier statements but elaborated on one detail involving an old model Chevelle. According to notes from that session, Reggie was driving on Eldred Street within a mile of the murder scene when he passed an old model Chevelle traveling at a high rate of speed.  The automobile turned up Pineburr Avenue [that runs east to west just south of Valdese]. As he glanced back through his rearview mirror, he averred that he saw a police car turn onto Pineburr  Avenue behind the Chevelle.  

Mr. Smart’s asseveration notwithstanding, Valdese Police later stated that the cruiser was not from their fleet, as did the Burke County Sheriff’s Department.  Two Valdese officers were working that early morning:  Harry Feimster, who was patrolling Main Street and Danny Barus, was on Church   Street on “the other side of town.”  

During Wednesday, April Fool’s Day, 1987, Reggie Smart was once again queried about the aforementioned detail.  Seven-years before his death, he remembered that the Blue Chevelle was driving: “…pretty fast and turned onto Pineburr Avenue. and the police car turning right behind the Chevelle; but, did not see the color of the police car nor does he know what kind of light was on the police car  (a long light like the sheriff’s department or a round light like the local police).  

Reggie Donald “Tut” Smart died on Friday April 15, 1994 [Find-a-Grave also lists his date-of-death as Wednesday March 23, 1994] in Burke County.  He is entombed at Catawba Memorial Park in Hickory.

Approximately five years subsequent to their daughter’s murder, the Hinsons decided that they could no longer tolerate the dearth of information trickling down to them from the Burke County Sheriff’s Department. Already, they had secured the services of sundry consultants to assist in the investigation, as previously reported. But in 1986/87, Bobby and Judy commenced to calling the principals who had been questioned by authorities and to qualifying rumors that they had heard across the years.  

With some degree of frequency, Bobby Hinson phoned SBI Special Agent John Suttle, in whom he had immense confidence at the time, to inquire as to the progress of his investigations into the death of his daughter.  And apparently, Mr. Suttle began to resent Bobby’s encroachment upon his time and questioning—as he perceived it—his ability to discharge his responsibilities. He said as much in a recorded conversation with a former law officer—heard by this writer over the weekend.

“…Bobby keeps calling me wanting to know what I am doing…I don’t know why I’ve been so nice to them because all they’re doing, every time they call me, is questioning my ability to do my job.  It’s getting to the point that I am getting tired of it…I am not far from telling them never to call me again at home.  If they do, I’m going to hang up on ‘em….It’s like they are portraying to me that I’m totally incompetent and need someone to call me every week to tell me what to do…”

[Editor’s Note:  Former SBI Special Agent John Suttle has been issued an invitation to comment upon remarks he made during a recorded conversation approximately five years after the killing of Rhonda Hinson.  To date, he has not chosen to do so.  If he should in the future, his comments will be reported as he articulates them.]