| Sources |
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 4 Oct 1999.
Katie Phillips - Mitzi Phillips - Eddie Phillips - Cora May Phillips - Earl Phillips - One in custody in connection with murder of North Carolina family
A North Carolina man is being held in connection with the murders of three generations of a mountain family near Jonathan Creek in Haywood County.
The murders, in what is being called the worst homicide in western North Carolina in many years, happened Thursday night in a house off Rabbit Skin Road near the Maggie Valley exit of Interstate 40.
Cove Creek Missionary Baptist Church deacon and song leader Earl Phillips , 72; his wife of 45 years, Cora May; their son, Eddie , 40; daughter-in-law, Mitzi , 42; and their granddaughter, Katie , were murdered in what North Carolina law enforcement officers believe was a random slaying.
Charles Wesley Roache, 25, of Alexander County, North Carolina, is being held without bond. He is charged with five counts of first-degree murder in connection with the incident.
Jim Fowler, a neighbor from nearby Liberty Church Road, held Roache at gunpoint Friday morning until officers could arrive and take him into custody.
Fowler and his son were alerted by their dog, Bingo, that Roache was hiding under a pickup camper on Fowler's property.
Fowler, held a weapon on Roache and told him to come out. He had Roache put his hands above his head and lie in a ditch until authorities could arrive.
Roache had been in trouble with the law before according to Alexander County Sheriff Ray Warren.
"We know him pretty well. We met often," he said.
Warren said Roache has faced charges of assault on an officer, assault, resisting arrest, breaking and entering, and larceny.
The second suspect is described as in his late teens or early 20s, has dark medium-length hair, and weighs between 180 and 220 pounds, and was wearing jeans or dark pants. He may not be wearing a shirt, and is believed to have suffered cuts and scrapes.
A massive manhunt continued Friday night for the second suspect. Local area law enforcement officers including Cocke County Sheriff's Department officers and Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers were kept busy Friday pursuing leads.
Some local citizens speculated Friday night that a roadblock held by the Tennessee Highway Patrol at the Glen C. Shults Bridge on Highway 321 near Indian Camp Road was a search for the second suspect in the shooting.
Tennessee Highway Patrol Sergeant Danny Talley said the roadblock had been planned and was an effort by the department to keep the highways safe for the driving public.
North Carolina authorities believe the men stole a 1970 Ford F-150 in Statesville in Iredell County on Wednesday or Thursday and tried to abandon it near the murder scene.
North Carolina Bureau of Investigation Special Agent David Barnes said he believed the two men came off the interstate to dump that vehicle and, "Just decided…I bet those people got a vehicle," he said.
A neighbor who was returning from a store discovered the bodies. Shotgun shells littered the winding gravel driveway to the home where the victims were found by a neighbor.
Danny Messer said he saw Earl Phillips ' truck tipped over at the end of the Phillips ' driveway. When he went to tell Phillips about the vehicle, he saw two strangers driving Mitzi Phillips ' car. He said he then saw Eddie Phillips tumble out of the vehicle.
"They pushed him out," he said, his voice quavering and nearly in tears.
"I got out to make sure he was breathing." he said.
Phillips was lying on his back near the road-still alive. He had been shot in the back. Messer said he watched as Phillips drew his last few breaths.
"I could see air coming out of his mouth because it was cold. His stomach was moving," he said.
He ran inside the house to call 911, but the telephone was dead. He assumed the line had been cut.
" Mitzi was laying in front of the stove in the kitchen. Earl was in the living room in front of the couch face down. Cora was in the living room next to him. I never saw the girl. She was in the bathroom," he said.
He said Cora Phillips had been shot in the head and was almost unrecognizable.
He then drove to a nearby Exxon and called 911.
The Phillips were, their neighbors all said, God fearing people.
"If people don't believe in God, all they have to do is just look at these mountains," Earl Phillips told neighbor Shirley Ferguson last Sunday morning.
Earl and Cora Phillips are survived by a daughter, Earlene. Eddie and Mitzi Phillips are survived by four daughters.
- [S147] Find a Grave, (Memorial: 79501794).
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1927 - 1999 (72 years)
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