Community rallies to keep author at bay

A book signing scheduled for Monday at Leath Memorial Library in Rockingham, featuring a book of poetry written by author Joanna Catherine Scott, in collaboration with a convicted murderer, stirred up an emotional outcry from the community this week.

Her co-author had killed two Richmond County men 20 years ago.

Complaints from the community to the library, which had agreed to host Scott, letters to the editor of the Daily Journal and outraged reader comments on the newspaper?s website seemed to unite many in the county with the same thought ? Scott is not welcome to promote her book here.

In the end, the library postponed the author?s visit.

She was set to promote her new book ?An Innocent in the House of the Dead,? a collaboration with former death row inmate John Lee Conaway.

Conaway was charged with the 1991 offenses of murder in the first degree, kidnapping in the first degree, robbery with a dangerous weapon and larceny.

In the case of the State of North Carolina v. John Lee Conaway, the jury returned verdicts finding Conaway guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the shooting deaths of Paul DeWitt Callahan and Thomas Amos Weatherford, on the theory of premeditation and deliberation, according to court records.

?My son was just 21 years old, and left behind a baby when his life was taken,? said Gabriel Helms, Weatherford?s mother. ?All (Scott) is trying to do is sell a book, and she has no right to do that here.?

According to court records, on the evening of Aug. 22, 1991, Thomas Amos Weatherford and Paul DeWitt Callahan were in the Pantry store located on Highway 177 South in Hamlet, North Carolina. Weatherford was working as the night-shift clerk. Callahan, his roommate, had driven Weatherford to work at 11 p.m. and stayed at the store with him for several hours that night.

Records show that Conaway was in Richmond County in violation of his Maryland parole, and that he was in possession of a handgun stolen from his grandmother?s purse.

It was reported that sometime between 1:30 a.m. and 1:45 a.m. on Aug. 23, 1991, Conaway entered the Pantry, stole $78 from the cash register and kidnapped Weatherford and Callahan at gunpoint.

After Conaway passed the former Coca-Cola plant on Highway 74, east of Hamlet, he stopped the car on the side of the road in an isolated area and ordered the pair to get out of the car.

The state?s evidence tended to show that after getting out of the car, Conaway walked the victims 87 feet into the woods. He ordered the victims to get on their knees, and he shot each of them one time at point-blank range in the back of the head, records show.

When Conaway returned to the car, he told the other three passengers that he had made the two men get on their knees and shot them both in the back of the head. He also told the other men that after he shot the first man, the second victim begged for his life before he killed him, records show.

The three passengers, Kelly Harrington, Michael McKinnon and Kevin ?Keith? Scott, testified to those events during trial, according to court records.

?It was such a heartless thing, he could have just taken the car,? said Helms. ?He wasn?t satisfied with that, he had to kill them for just a few dollars.?

On Aug. 25, 1991, Conaway was arrested in Cambridge, Maryland, in possession of a .25 caliber handgun, which he later admitted was stolen from his grandmother.

Four days later, Army Sergeant Daniel Poe was flying his ultralight plane near Hamlet looking for his lost dog. He noticed something white on the ground, took a closer look and saw the victims? bodies. He landed the ultralight and called the police.

Conaway spent 16 years on death row, before a federal court granted him a writ of habeas corpus, and he is currently seeking a new lawyer who will help him ?prove his innocence,? according to Scott, who lives in Chapel Hill.

?John was granted a writ of habeas corpus by the federal court on grounds of jury bias ? the double first cousin of one of his accusers was on the jury ? and is waiting for the resolution of his case,? Scott states on her website.

Scott claims to have befriended, and legally adopted the inmate, after visiting him in prison. On her website, she states that ?(Conaway?s) story has opened my eyes to the plight of the poor black man entangled on our so-called justice system.?

In a previous interview with the Daily Journal, Scott described Conaway as ?lovely,? and stated that ?John was brought up as a sad, beaten and abandoned child.?

?I don?t care about (Conaway?s) life story,? said Helms. ?(Scott) can go to prison to visit him, but the closest I can get to my son is getting on my knees at the cemetery.?

Upon learning of the author?s intentions to promote her book in Rockingham, family, friends and community members joined together in an effort to halt the event.

Cries went out on the Daily Journal?s website and Facebook to unite, and stop the book signing. Some claimed to be seeking permits to demonstrate, while others made calls to the Daily Journal and Leath Memorial Library voicing their concerns.

The library issued a statement on Thursday that the book signing had been postponed because, ?While the author did disclose the topic of her poetry was a man on death row, the author did not say that the victims of the subject of her poetry were from Richmond County. We want to be respectful of the interest of all Richmond County citizens.?

?I appreciate our family?s friends and other people in the community going online and calling the library to get this thing called off,? said Robert Callahan, brother of Paul Callahan. ?That really means a lot that people cared so much.?

Lisa England, of Rockingham, was one such concerned community member.

?I stopped by the library to personally voice a complaint,? said England. ?I called the Daily Journal, I called Central Prison and I faxed a letter to Gov. Bev Perdue. I made copies of the articles and sent them to her office. What about the victims? Central Prison might be fine with all this going on with one of its inmates, but I am not OK with any of this.?

England said that as a community member, she felt terrible for the families of the victims dealing with the author?s potential visit, and the content of her work. She went on to say that, as a former correctional officer, she was outraged that Conaway was even allowed to participate in writing a book.

?I found out in the Daily Journal that the event has been postponed, and I?m so glad,? said England. ?I don?t know why she was even thinking of coming here.?

Scott could not be reached for immediate comment, but posted this statement on her website regarding the event, all in red capital letters:

?THIS READING WAS CANCELLED. RICHMOND COUNTY SHUT ME DOWN. THE LOCAL PAPER PRINTED HATE MAIL AND I GOT THE FIRST HATE MAIL I HAVE EVER HAD. THE BLACK COMMUNITY IS UPSET TO SAY THE LEAST. I?VE NEVER CAUSED A RIOT BEFORE, ESPECIALLY ABOUT POETRY. SO MUCH FOR FREE SPEECH IN DOWN HOME USA.?

? Staff Writer Kelli Easterling can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 18, or by email at keasterling@heartlandpublications.com.

Source: http://yourdailyjournal.com/bookmark/17014126

bret michaels the unit seabiscuit bob weston david wilson bill obrien reggie mckenzie