He just walked in and started shooting the tellers... one was pregnant
http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2007/05/two_employees_shot_to_death_in.html
http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2007/05/two_employees_shot_to_death_in.html
This is awful. This was my hometown. I was raised less than a mile from this bank. I read news stories about it earlier today but I didn't realize which bank in Bessemer that it was. I just wish I had the names of all the people hurt in this thing. I'm very worried now. I don't live near Bessemer now, but I have a ton of friends and family that live there. Oh man.
I just called my sister who lives in the area. My mom was supposed to be at that bank this morning! Something happened where she didn't go, Thank the Lord! I have to call my mom now.
SG, let us know if you find out any other info. Praying for everyone in Bessemer, here in Auburn/Opelika.
Thanks. I just talked to my mom. She was actually at the hospital across the street at the time of the robbery. You can see the top of the hospital in the picture in the link that Melly posted. Anyway she said that they didn't bring those injured into that hospital but airlifted them to Birmingham. That means the injuries are pretty bad. We still don't know if we know anybody involved or not. There is supposed to be a press conference tonight at 5:00 central time, so I hope to find out more then.
I just can't get over that the guy walked in and just started shooting... it makes no sense! I am a Wachovia employee, though I don't work in a branch, and this just makes me so sad for my co-workers and their families.
yeah, that was my thought as well...I sent this story to a friend of mine in Ohio who has a criminal justice background and he said the guy was out to kill, not steal money, and it may end up being a personal vendetta against the bank, or against one of the tellers, more than a robbery attempt.
The federal trial of a man who faces a possible death sentence if convicted in the 2007 slayings of two Bessemer bank tellers and the wounding of two others has been delayed again after a government expert found the man is not competent to stand trial.
U.S. District Court Judge David Proctor, in an order issued Friday afternoon, indefinitely delayed the trial of William Merriweather Jr. The trial had been slated to begin April 20.
The judge ordered Merriweather to be taken to a federal mental health facility for a period of not more than four months to determine "whether there is a substantial probability that in the foreseeable future he will attain the capacity to permit the trial to proceed."
Merriweather is charged in the May 14, 2007 bank robbery and deaths of Eva Lovelady Hudson and Sheila McWaine Prevo, and with the wounding of Anita Siler Gordon, Latoya Shaniece Freeman, all tellers at a Wachovia Bank branch in Bessemer.
Merriweather faces one count of killing during the commission of a bank robbery and two counts of use of a firearm during a crime of violence. If convicted he could face the death penalty.
Merriweather's trial has been reset multiple times as attorneys have argued the past eight years that Merriweather is schizophrenic and is incompetent to stand trial.
On Friday, Gordon and Freeman said the nine year wait for justice is frustrating and painful.
They say they want Merriweather to be held accountable to bring closure for the families of Prevo and Hudson.
Both Merriweather's attorney and the United States Attorney's office would not comment on the case Friday.
Merriweather faces the death penalty and is currently being held in a federal medical facility in Ayer, Massachusetts.
Police said they broke up a highly coordinated effort of smuggling the drug Suboxone into the Porter County Jail in the form of tiny sublingual sheets that were sold for up to $100each among inmates.
The crackdown, which came as a result of word from a confidential informant, has resulted in three arrests.
One of those charged, William Merriweather Jr., 46, of South Bend, is scheduled to stand trial this week before Porter Superior Court Judge Bill Alexa on a felony count of dealing a controlled substance.
In a series of hearings today, U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor found Merriweather, 41, competent to stand trial, then accepted his guilty pleas and sentenced him to prison for the rest of his life.
The victims of Merriweathers brutal crime and the families of the victims who he killed have endured a long wait for him to be convicted and punished, stated U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey in a press release. Today that wait ends, and Merriweather will never again walk free.
Merriweathers utter disregard for human life is beyond comprehension, stated FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp in the same press release from the U.S. Department of Justice. I applaud the sentence handed down today, as Merriweather will now spend the rest of his life behind bars as a consequence for his heartless actions.
"My life changed dramatically," Freeman said. "William Merriweather dragged me by my hair as if I was an animal. I was forced to lay in my own blood not knowing if I would live or die."
She said she suffers from survivors guilt, anger, and depression. "I have no sympathy, no anything for William Merriweather... For 10 years I've waited for this very moment. You are a cruel and evil person. You had no regard for human life."
"Mr. Merriweather... I've listened to you, I've given you hearing after hearing...please do not mistake my professional interaction with you as an acceptance of what you've done," Judge Proctor said.
He called Merriweather's actions "malicious, cold-blooded, evil, despicable, and hideous."
"To say that you should be ashamed is an understatement," Proctor said. "I wish this case had not taken so long-- too long."
"Is this justice for me, no!," said Gordon, one of the surviving victims. "Merriweather has been found competent previously, [and] we were ready to go to court," she said. "Some unforeseen craziness happened on our end so here we are again... It's been 10 years."
"To come with this offer 10 years later is a big disappointment," Gordon said. "We could've had this nightmare over years ago, so justice--no. Closure, maybe."