SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
http://www.GoUpstate.com/
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Posted on-line on December 18, 1990

Polygraph Tests to be Set for Witnesses to Shooting

Police Chief Wayne Elder has begun scheduling lie detector tests for five witnesses to a double shooting that left two men dead in Blacksburg last month.
John Calvin Bradley, 30, of 207 Academy St., Blacksburg, and William Wayne Hall, 18, of Route 1, Bowman, N.C., were killed in the Nov. 18 shooting, which occurred about 1:30 a.m. in a house at 107 Railroad Ave. A ballistic report compiled by the S.C. Law Enforcement Division indicates that Bradley and Hall were killed by bullets fired from the same gun, a .357 Magnum belonging to Bradley. Both men died of single gunshots to the head.
The next step is to determine whether Bradley's fatal wound was self-inflicted, Elder said. Witnesses told police that Bradley stormed into the Railroad Avenue house and shot Hall before turning the gun on himself. Hall was at the house to visit a woman, believed to be Bradley's ex-girlfried, authorities said. He had a .22-caliber pistol tucked in his belt at the time he was shot, but there is no evidence that gun was fired, said Elder. The same two men were involved in a shooting incident the night before the fatal shooting, but no one was injured, and no charges were filed.
The witnesses' statements conflict with pathologist Joel Sexton of Newberry, who stated in his autopsy report that Bradley's injury was not consistent with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. "We want to make sure that what everybody told us is truthful," Elder said. The ballistic report also determined that the bullet entered the top right side of Bradley's head in a slightly downward and forward path, a fact that leads authorities to question whether Bradley shot himself, Elder said. Moreover, the ballistic report revealed no gunpowder burns on Bradley's head, meaning the barrel of the gun would have had to have been at least three to five inches away when the shot was fired, Elder said.
Elder has withheld the names of the witnesses during the course of the investigation. Originally, only four of the witnesses said they were in the front room of the house when the shooting occurred. Another witness first told police he was not in the room, but he later changed his statement to say he was in the room, Elder said.
Two of the five witnesses will undergo polygraph tests Jan. 3 at the State Law Enforcement Division in Columbia, Elder said. Tests for the other three witnesses will be scheduled at a later date. Elder said he expects all of the witnesses will agree to a polygraph test. "We have no indication that anybody will refuse to take it at this time," he said.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
http://www.GoUpstate.com/
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Posted on-line on November 29, 1990

Blacksburg Chief Waiting for Ballistic Tests

BLACKSBURG - Blacksburg police Chief Wayne Elder said yesterday he is waiting for ballistic tests from the S.C. Law Enforcement Division before going any further in the investigation of a shooting last week that left two men dead. John Calvin Bradley, 30, of 207 Academy St. in Blacksburg, and William Wayne Hall, 18, of Route 1, Box 767, Bowman, N.C., were killed in the Nov. 18 shooting, which occurred about 1:30 a.m. at a house at 107 Railroad Avenue in Blacksburg.
Elder is trying to confirm whether the bullets that killed the two men came from the same gun. Hall was visiting a woman, believed to be Bradley's ex-girlfriend, at the Railroad Avenue house when Bradley stormed through the front door and opened fire with a .357 Magnum, Elder said.
Bradley fired four shots at Hall, hitting him once in the head. The other three shots went into the couch where Hall was sitting. Hall was pronounced dead at the scene. Four other people also were in the house when the shooting broke out, but none of them was injured. The witnesses told Elder that Bradley turned the gun on himself after shooting Hall.
Bradley died at 11:07 a.m. in Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. But the preliminary results from an autopsy performed on Bradley's body contradicted the witnesses' claim that Bradley shot himself. Elder said he has the final autopsy results but would not release them. Elder said he has re-interviewed all five witnesses to the shooting, but would not say if there were any discrepancies in the second round of interviews.
The two bullets that killed Bradley and Hall are at SLED undergoing tests to determine whether both of them came from Bradley's .357 Magnum, Elder said. Hall had a .22-caliber pistol in his belt at the time he was shot, but Elder said there is no evidence that the gun was fired. Elder said he did not know when the tests results might come back from SLED, which is also analyzing other evidence in the case. Elder added that he is waiting on the SLED report before asking witnesses to polygraph or lie detector tests concerning the accounts of the events. The same two men were involved in a shooting incident the night before the fatal shooting, but no one was injured. There were no charges filed in the first incident.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
http://www.GoUpstate.com/
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Posted on-line on November 20, 1990

Second Confrontation Kills 2. 2 Shootings: 1 Harmless, 1 Fatal, Leave Men Dead

BLACKSBURG - Two men involved in a no-injury shooting incident Friday died after the two clashed again Sunday. Dead are John Calvin Bradley, 30, of 207 Academy St. in Blacksburg, and William Wayne Hall, 18, of Route 1, Box 767, Bowman, N.C. Details of the two shootings are still being investigated. The fatal shooting occurred about 1:30 a.m. Sunday at the home of Herbert L. Martin at 107 Railroad Avenue, Blacksburg Police Chief Wayne Elder said yesterday.
Chief Elder gave this account of the events: Late Saturday night and early Sunday morning, Hall had been at the Martin residence on Railroad Avenue visiting a woman who police would only identify as Bradley's ex-girlfriend. Hall, the woman and three others were in the living room when Bradley stormed through the front door and opened fire with a .357 Magnum. Bradley fired four shots at Hall, hitting him once in the head. The other three shots went into the couch where Hall was sitting.
Hall was taken to Upstate Carolina Medical Center in Gaffney and later transported to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. He was pronounced dead at the Charlotte hospital at 11:07 a.m. Sunday. Witnesses told police that Bradley turned the gun on himself after shooting Hall. Bradley was pronounced dead at the scene by Cherokee County Coroner Joe Vinesett from a gunshot wound to the head.
Elder reports that an autopsy performed on Bradley's body at Newberry Medical Center yesterday had results that appear to contradict the witnesses' claim that Bradley shot himself. He added that Bradley's gunshot wound was not consistent with a self-inflicted wound. Elder said the witnesses would be asked to take polygraph or lie detector tests concerning their accounts of the events.
About the earlier shooting Friday, Elder said one shot was fired. In that incident, Hall apparently went to Quail Hollow Apartments to see the same woman who was at the Sunday shooting scene. Hall told police that when he arrived at the apartments, he was confronted by Bradley, who shot at him.
Blacksburg police advised Hall to contact a county magistrate to swear out a warrant against Bradley and have him charged with assault and battery. Hall talked with Chief Magistrate Charles Greene, who did not issue a warrant because the incident occurred in Blacksburg. Greene reportedly told Hall that he needed to see Magistrate Harold Patterson in Blacksburg, Elder said.
Greene was out of his office yesterday afternoon and could not be reached at home for comment. The incident, however, did lead Hall to purchase a gun while in Gaffney Saturday, and he had the .22-caliber pistol stuffed in his belt when he was shot Sunday, Elder said.
The dead are John Calvin Bradley, 30, of 207 Academy St., Blacksburg and William Wayne Hall, 18, Route 1, Box 767, Bowman, N.C.

[Posted by the Spartanburg Herald-Journal on November 22, 1990]
CLARIFICATION: A story in Tuesday's Herald-Journal reported that Cherokee County Chief Magistrate Charles Greene failed to issue an arrest warrant in connection with a shooting in Blacksburg Friday. Greene said yesterday that no one came to see him to request that a warrant be issued in the incident.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
http://www.GoUpstate.com/
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Posted on-line on May 22, 1990

Man Charged in Arson of His Neighbor's House - Blacksburg

A 42-year-old Blacksburg man has been charged with setting fire to his neighbor's house Sunday night.
Eugene Hilliard Coker of South Rutherfordton Street was arrested and charged with arson after holding police at bay for 25 minutes, Blacksburg Police Chief Wayne Elder said.
Coker is accused of starting a fire at the residence of George Blanton, 300 S. Rutherfordton St., about 10:40 p.m. Blanton and an unidentified person were in the house at the time of the fire, but both escaped uninjured, Elder said. The Blacksburg Volunteer Fire Department put out the flames before the house suffered much damage. Elder said he does not know why the fire was started.
Coker refused for about a half-hour to come out of his house when police asked, Elder said. Officers broke through Coker's front door to find him holding a machete. He dropped the knife and surrendered to police.
Coker's wife and two children were in the house with him but were not harmed, Elder said. Coker remains in the Cherokee County Jail. He was refused bond by Magistrate Jim Holland Jr.