Opinion ID: 353818
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: September, 1973: A Truck Theft and Its Aftermath:

Text: 16 On September 24, 1973, a Caterpillar front-end loader and a Ford dump truck were stolen from a construction site near Atlanta. That night, J. C. Hawkins appeared at the Eubanks Tire and Battery Company near Macon to purchase a new tire for the stolen dump truck. He gave his name as Roy Evans, and remained on the opposite side of the highway in a brown Buick while Tommy Ellison, an employee of Eubanks, changed the tire. 17 In the pre-dawn hours of the following day, September 25, Terry Singleton, a Bibb County Sheriff's Deputy, received a call from Jimmy Reeves. Reeves stated that J. C. had just telephoned him and asked him to go to the Waffle House at the intersection of I-475 and U. S. 80. Singleton and his partner, Jim Reid, conducted a surveillance of the Waffle House, where they observed J. C. with a light blue Continental Mark IV and Reeves, in his pick-up truck. Eventually, Reeves' truck left the Waffle House, proceeding west on U. S. 80. Singleton saw the truck slow down and flash its left turn signal near an underpass, but it never executed the turn. Within an hour, Singleton called Reeves to learn what had happened. Reeves reported that he drove J. C. along U. S. 80 so that J. C. could show him where the dump truck and front-end loader were hidden, but that just as he was about to turn left to reach the spot, J. C. observed a marked patrol car and was spooked. Singleton drove to the area described by Reeves and found the stolen equipment. On January 21, 1974, J. C. was indicted in state court for the theft of the dump truck and front-end loader. 18 1. The Murder of Jimmy Reeves: In the spring of 1974, J. C. and Gunnells had discussed the purchase of antique watches and guns from Jimmy Reeves. One night in April or May of that year, J. C. received a call at his home in the presence of Gunnells. After the call, J. C. told Gunnells that they should be glad they had not done business with Reeves, whom J. C. then described as a finking son of a bitch. Later that night, during a conversation about the state theft charges pending against him, J. C. commented to Gunnells that they wouldn't have a witness. 19 Early on the morning of May 27, 1974, Reeves received a telephone call. He left his home in his pick-up truck immediately after the call, explaining to his wife and children that he did not have time to eat breakfast. At 8:40 that morning, in a church yard not far from his home, Reeves' body was found lying on the floor board of his truck. He had been killed by three 16-gauge shotgun blasts using Number One buckshot. Extensive powder burns associated with two of Reeves' wounds indicated that they had been inflicted at a very close range. T. 556-57. 20 Two or three days after the Reeves murder, Gunnells was present at J. C.'s house and overheard a conversation between J. C. and his brother, Recea. J. C. asked, How did it go?, to which Recea responded, First shot out of the barrel and he didn't even know what happened didn't even see it coming. Recea explained that he was real sure because he was close enough for powder burns. T. 321. Other evidence circumstantially linking Recea to the Reeves murder came from an eyewitness who observed a dark blue car parked on a dirt road near the church yard shortly before 8:00 on the morning of the murder. In May, 1974, Recea owned a 1968 or 1969 dark blue Pontiac. 21 2. The Intimidation of Tommy Ellison: In September 1974, one year after he sold a tire to Roy Evans, Ellison was approached at his place of work in Griffin, Georgia, by two black men who offered to drive him to Atlanta to have some fun. Ellison explained that he could only go on a rainy day, when he would not be required to work. About a week later, on a rainy day, the men returned and drove Ellison to Atlanta in a Lincoln Continental with two pistols lying on the front seat. During the ride, the men offered Ellison $150 to make a statement that he did not know a friend of theirs. Ellison agreed. In Atlanta, he was taken to the office of Charles E. Clark, an attorney, where he signed a sworn statement reading, in part, as follows: 22 Upon being introduced to a man called J. C. HAWKINS, I noticed immediately that this was not the man to whom I gave tire service on the night of September 24, 1973. The man that I observed at the Eubanks Tire Center was several inches taller and weighed more than this man. I have never seen the man introduced to me as J. C. Hawkins before in my life. 23 According to Ellison, this statement was false. After signing it, he was introduced to J. C., who had been waiting in another office. J. C. said, I appreciate what you did and my friends will take care of you, what they promised you, and gave Ellison a drink of liquor. The two black men then drove Ellison back to Griffin, but paid him only $25.