Jerry Bledsoe's account of living with a death threat is now online (thnx JJ for the tip).

The drug business is especially vicious. Greensboro's homicide rate attests to that. Street thugs eagerly kill to prove their manhood and establish pride. Or just for the excitement of it. Professional killers from out of state can be hired for only a few thousand dollars. They usually work in pairs. They swoop in, make the hit and disappear. Catching them and bringing them to justice is often hopeless.

Driving home, I was fully conscious of how easy it would be for a pair of killers to pull alongside my car and open up with an automatic weapon. From now on, I would have to be constantly on the lookout for suspicious vehicles and people whenever I was away from home, but especially so in Greensboro. Even with vigilance, my chances wouldn't be good if an attack occurred.

We have a gate at the entrance to our driveway. It always stayed open. I locked it behind me when I got home. Linda was waiting. I told her what I'd learned at the meeting, and we began discussing the precautions we would need to take. A home invasion likely would come late at night while we were sleeping and not able to respond quickly. We would have to prepare for that possibility.

Read the whole thing.

Comments

[Spag]

The fact that Jerry can't get the GPD to tell him who pulled his records is quite telling. Why Mitch Johnson isn't holding Bellamy accountable the same way he held Wray is even more revealing. Jerry and the public deserve to know why Jerry's records were pulled and who pulled them.

Ben?

[Bubba]

"The fact that Jerry can't get the GPD to tell him who pulled his records is quite telling. Why Mitch Johnson isn't holding Bellamy accountable the same way he held Wray is even more revealing."

We are sure to get the standard response from those in authority, including the N&R:

"Nothing to see here. Let's move forward."

[Jeffrey Sykes]

Heads can roll ...

From GNR 6 Oct 2005:

*A former Rockingham County sheriff's deputy has been charged with computer trespassing, in effect misusing the police computer system that's used to search arrest records.

Jeannie Powell Justice, 44, was charged this week by the State Bureau of Investigation.

Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page would not discuss details about the charge, and the SBI did not return phone calls.

However, Jeffrey Sykes, a former editor of The Reidsville Review and Eden Daily News, said the charges stem from Justice using the Division of Criminal Information computer system to look up an old arrest record on him.*

[Spag]

"The fact that Jerry can't get the GPD to tell him who pulled his records is quite telling"

Actually, the correct pun is "not telling" considering my poor choice of words, but you get the point.

Sykes raises a good point. Where are you Mitch Johnson? Have you called RMA yet?

[Ian McDowell]

The dog-fighting connection, which Bledsoe mentions in passing, is something I heard from an acquaintance who claimed to know Terry Bracken, back when this story first broke, although he didn't actually name Bracken. "He owns dog-fighting houses all over this county" is how my acquaintance put it. He also said "the hit was defintely on Jerry, not Hammer" at a time when the News and Record had identified the latter as the target.

[Jonathan Jones]

Ian, the first N&R story noted the discrepancy contained in the transcript of Striblin's conversation with the criminal informant.

In the transcript, the two were talking about a hit on the 'editor' of the weekly paper, while there was a footnote at the bottom that Bledsoe was actually the author of the stories the men were talking about.

[Spag]

I wonder why the N&R isn't curious about who pulled Jerry's record?

Perhaps the next owner of the paper will be.

[Roch101]

Jeff,

What was the result of that computer trespassing charge against the deputy?

[Fred Gregory]

Why does that matter , Roch?

This is the quintessence of bunker mentality.

The entire thing is distubing and scary.

"Agree to disagree" Guano !

[Jeffrey Sykes]

She pleaded guilty. There were more stories about it in GNR, but I couldn't find them online.

It was the sheriff who called in the SBI for assistance to maintain the integrity of his office.

I only found out after she was fired because a local official called me and asked if I had heard about it.

She had run my name and sent a printout to Mr. Richard Moore of Reidsville who printed the entire document in his publication. The document contained her terminal and user id numbers and when the sheriff saw it he fired her and called the SBI.

Most reporters who have ever covered the police beat (which I did for three years) know that the police are very restricted in what information they can look-up in a law enforcement database.

In Jerry's case, it may be more of a policy violation than a criminal infraction based on whether the operator accessed a local database or a DMV database or an FBI database. In my case she accessed NCIC, the federal database, which is very restricted.

I just think it is absurd that the GPD is not coming clean on this after all they have been through.

[Margaret Banks]

"I wonder why the N&R isn't curious about who pulled Jerry's record?"

Sam, what gives you the idea we're not interested? It's Friday, right? My colleagues and I learned about this information the same way you did - when it was published in the Rhino one day earlier.

I'll make a public records request for that information on Monday.

You disagree with the N&R on many issues, Sam, and I have absolutely no problem with that. Your comments often challenge me to think about situations differently. But this time you have maligned us unfairly.

[Spag]

Jeff, I am more concerned about why the GPD officer pulled the record and what connection he may have to the Bledsoe series.

[Spag]

Margaret, perhaps it is because the N&R has disappointed me in the past on such things. I'm glad you are working on it.

By the same token, it appears to me that the grudge between John Robinson and Jerry Bledsoe also affects the N&R coverage and I don't find that particularly fair.

I may have some info for you in the near future about related matters.

[Roch101]

Margaret,

Has the N&R received a reply to your last public records request?

Jeff,

Thanks for the info.

[Margaret Banks]

Roch, I don't think so. But I've been on vacation since Jan. 23. I feel certain I would have heard about it if we had received it, though.

[Roch101]

You know how to reach me, Margaret, please let me know if you get a refusal and the reason why. Sam, Joe and I have been told we will be refused certain documents and I'm really not seeing a legal justification for the denial. I would be interested to know the reasons given should your request be denied.

[Margaret Banks]

Roch, I will let you know, and I will also blog it.

[Spag]

To add to what Roch said, it is highly unlikely that we will simply accept the City's position without further action. We are waiting for additional clarification on the objections raised by the City, but it appears probable that some matters will be decided by a judge.

Of course, the response from the City to my last letter might be interesting on its own.

[Bubba]

"Sam, what gives you the idea we're not interested? It's Friday, right? My colleagues and I learned about this information the same way you did - when it was published in the Rhino one day earlier."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the N&R aware of the basic information about the story last year?

The only difference now is that we have Bledsoe's first hand narrative which contains much more detail.

[Spag]

Bubba, I don't think the N&R knew about the cop pulling Jerry's records last year. Perhaps if JR would set aside his pissing contest with Jerry for a moment and not automatically discount everything that Jerry says or is written in the Rhino, he might get some leads on stories like this.

The N&R has still not questioned Linda Miles about the "basement" memo posted on Ben Holder's site that I am aware of. Hence, my disappointment. Leave no rock unturned when it comes to crying racism, ignore those rocks that might show something else was at work.

[Bubba]

"Perhaps if JR would set aside his pissing contest with Jerry for a moment and not automatically discount everything that Jerry says or is written in the Rhino...."

There's some hope for that.

I understand it's a little frosty here right about now.