Crime on our western NC mountain: Strange tales from strange times.

[DemoTex]

I just hosted a neighborhood meeting at the mountain house tonight. We have had a little crime out here (burglary), so we are addressing that. We had a detective from the Transylvania Sheriff's Dept. out to brief us on the case(s). It is wild!

They have a suspect, Kerry Lee Jones (not his real name), who lives in a camping trailer behind his dad's double-wide near the county dump. Kerry Lee is a methamphetamine junkie who has been a suspect in many county burglaries, presumably to support his habit. He has stolen firearms and is considered armed and dangerous. One of his drug dealers is thought to be his dad, Gary. Kerry used to sell drugs for Gary, but now that Kerry is strung out, dad doesn't trust him any more. The Transylvania Sheriff's Dept. is close to nailing dad (Gary). It gets better (or worse, depending on point-of-view).

Kerry Lee Jones is, or rather was, friends with the Stringfellow brothers who live in a small rental house on a private road on our mountain. They too are meth freaks. The Stringfellow brothers and Kerry Lee Jones have gotten into beaucoup trouble together in Transylvania County. Presumably, the Stringfellow brothers cased houses out here for seasonal vacancy, ease of entry, etc., and passed the info on to Jones.

The Stringfellow brothers, however, are now in the Transylvania slammer. Last Thursday, it seems, the Stringfellow brothers developed an "issue" with Kerry Lee Jones. They got in their old Dodge van, armed to the teeth, and set out to murder Kerry Lee. They almost succeeded. Jones's early 90s dark-blue Jeep Cherokee (which the detective described so well for us two weeks ago) now has another identifying characteristic: numerous bullet holes meant for Kerry Lee Jones's body.

The discussion in my living room tonight, with many extra chairs moved in for the crowd of twenty five, got political. The sheriff's detective told us of massive budget cuts (due to tax cuts). He blamed the county council (R). Someone asked if our Congress-Critter, Charles Taylor (Ultra-right R) has been any help to law enforcement agencies in Transylvania County. "No help," he said. "In fact his Washington policies hurt us."