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Story Date 12/29/2004 81614 AM
Jonesboro Sun
Shooting suspect at large
By Stan Mitchell
Jonesboro and Sharp County authorities continued their
search Tuesday for a suspect wanted in connection with the shooting of a
Jonesboro attorney on Monday.
Police want to question 60-year-old Allen C. Evans,
formerly of 51 Spring Hollow Road, Hardy, in reference to Monday's
shooting of William "Bill" E. Webster, 61, of Jonesboro.
Webster, whose medical condition improved Tuesday, was
able to speak from his hospital bed with investigating officers,
Jonesboro Detective Sgt. Todd Nelson said.
"He has periods of consciousness," Nelson
said of Webster. "We're able to communicate with him some."
Police sources said Webster was shot once in the face
and again in the chest Monday afternoon, allegedly by Evans, in the
parking lot of the attorney's law office, located at Franklin Place,
1411 Franklin St.
The weapon used in the shooting is believed to be a
.22-caliber rifle, Nelson added.
After the shooting, Evans allegedly fled the scene in
a gray 1993 Isuzu Rodeo with a fictitious Florida
license plate number HC8906, Nelson continued.
Evans, an ex-Navy Seal and Vietnam War
veteran, told his friends that he was suffering from a brain tumor and
had less than one month to live, Nelson said in a 1-page police "Be
On the Look Out" (BOLO) alert sent to law enforcement agencies.
Evans "also gave some of his hunting equipment
away before the shooting," the alert continued.
The suspect is considered to be "suicidal"
and "extremely dangerous," the alert read.
Evans also is a suspect in a shooting incident in
Sharp County on Sunday.
Sharp County Chief Deputy Joe H. Stidman said police
were called to the Sherman Oakes residence in northeastern Sharp where
Oakes and his sister, Carol Howell, reported that a vehicle pulled up to
the front of the house and honked the horn, then went to the back of the
home.
"Mrs. Howell went out the back door onto the
porch and saw a man sitting in the vehicle and observed a long firearm
lying across his lap," Stidman wrote in a 2-page release. "She
asked who he was and he replied, 'I'm Allen Evans. Is Sherman
here?'"
Howell told Evans that Oakes was in the house, but
Oakes was sick.
When asked by Howell what he needed, Evans allegedly
responded "I owe him some money."
Howell said she told Evans he could pay her, and he
needed to leave. At that point, Oakes walked onto the back porch,
Stidman said.
"(Evans) then fired two shots, striking the house
and a window above the kitchen sink," the released read.
"Carol Howell was then struck in the left thigh by one of the
pellets."
Two expended 12-gauge shotgun shell casings were found
at the scene.
Howell received a minor wound and bruising in the
incident, Stidman said.
Oakes told police he knew Evans and that Evans was
upset with him over real estate that Oakes had financed and later
repossessed.
In Sharp County, police plan to charge Evans with two
counts of aggravated assault once he is in custody. Charges in the
Jonesboro incident had not been filed as of Tuesday.
A woman inside Carousel Beauty Salon, a business
across the street from Webster's law office, said she was getting her
hair done when the man shot Webster and sped away in a vehicle.
The witness said she and another woman ran to
Webster's aid as the gunman fled the area.
Webster's wife, Kaye, said Evans might be a
disgruntled law client.
"Right now, what I say is hearsay ... but (Oakes)
told us that Mr. Webster was Allen Evans' lawyer," Detective Sgt.
David Huffmaster of the Sharp County Sheriff's Department, said.
Nelson said Evans has lived in both Hudson, Fla., and
Spring Hill, Fla., in the past.
Anyone who comes into contact with Evans should
exercise extreme caution and should contact their local police or Nelson
at (870) 935-6649.
Sunday, January 02, 2005
Attorney remains in critical
condition
Jonesboro attorney William "Bill" Webster, 61, who was
shot Monday by a man who was apparently a dissatisfied law
client, remained in critical condition Saturday, a spokesman at
St. Bernard's Medical Center said.
Friends of the former judge set up a fund to help address his
medical expenses and assist his family. Jim Burton, a fellow
Jonesboro lawyer, said the fund was established Friday at
American State Bank in Jonesboro.
Webster was shot twice -- once in the chest and once in the face
-- while on the parking lot outside his office. Police arrested
Allen C. Evans, 60, formerly of Hardy, in central Florida
Wednesday in connection with the shooting.
Evans has also been accused of shooting a Sharp County woman
last Sunday in a dispute over a land deal. Police have said they
believe the shootings were related to Webster's representation
of Evans in the land issue.
Evans was charged with criminal attempt to commit capital murder
in the Webster shooting and with two counts of aggravated
assault and one count of first-degree battery in the wounding of
the Sharp woman.
Jonesboro officers said they plan to travel to Florida this week
and return Evans to Arkansas to stand trial in the two
shootings.
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The South Missourian
Wirth shooting suspect in custody
http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=883&NewsID=601495&CategoryID=10537&on=0 |
Staff Writer
01/06/05
CHRIS WULFF
Arkansas
authorities have begun proceedings to bring a Florida man,
who confessed to shooting a woman near Wirth and another
in Jonesboro, back to Arkansas.
Hernando County
Florida deputies arrested Allen Evans, 60, Dec. 29, a day
after a female friend in Florida reported him to
authorities as "missing and endangered," said
Donna Black, public information officer for the Hernando
County Sheriff's Office.
"He stayed at
her home for a week and she made him leave on the 21st,"
Black said. "She called because she became concerned
about his state of mind. We were looking for him to make
sure he was OK."
Florida authorities
found Evans asleep in his Isuzu Rodeo parked in the
driveway of the friend's home in Spring Hill, Black said.
When authorities
ran Evan's name through the national database they found
he was wanted in Arkansas for two shootings in northeast
Arkansas, Black said.
According to the
affidavit from Jonesboro Police Department, when the
Florida officers found Evans, they also recovered a Marlin
.22-caliber rifle in his vehicle. Evans is charged with
one count of criminal attempt to commit capital murder in
Craighead County and two counts of aggravated assault and
one count of first-degree battery in Sharp County.
He refused to sign
extradition papers, said Sgt. Stephen McDaniel with the
Jonesboro Police Department. The prosecuting attorney is
attempting to extradite Evans against his will.
"Usually
people waive extradition and come back," McDaniel
said. "It isn't often when they don't.
Gov. Mike Huckabee
will have to work with Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to get Evans
back to Arkansas, McDaniel said.
Sheriff Dale Weaver
said Evans confessed to the Dec. 26 shooting of Carol
Howell, 62, of Coffeeville, Miss., and to the Dec. 27
shooting of Jonesboro attorney and former Craighead County
Municipal Judge Bill Webster.
Weaver said Evans
told Florida authorities he "shot to kill."
Webster was outside
of his office on Franklin Street in Jonesboro Dec. 27 when
he was shot with a rifle at close range. Webster suffered
severe injuries to his abdomen and face. He is still
listed as a patient in St. Bernard's Regional Medical
Center as of press time Jan. 3. His condition was not
released.
The day before
Evans shot Webster he went to the home of Sherman Oakes,
55, of Oakes Lane near Wirth and fired two shotgun blasts
toward the home. A pellet hit Howell's leg, but she was
not seriously injured.
Oakes had owner
financed a piece of property for Evans years before, said
Sharp County criminal investigator Sgt. David Huffmaster.
When Evans didn't pay, the deal fell through, he said.
"He apparently
held a grudge over that property," Huffmaster said.
The probable cause
affidavit from Jonesboro said Evans "had given
Webster money and that he was supposed to help him keep
his house in Hardy and assist in his divorce but didn't do
anything." Evans said Oakes and Webster 'got what
they deserved," according to authorities.
Evans is a
decorated Vietnam veteran who trained with the Navy
Seals. He received three Purple Hearts and a Navy
Cross for his service, Weaver said. |
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