The Greenville News from Greenville, South Carolina • Page 10

Id) A 9 r-M LI LAJ SECTION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1994 OBITUARIES CLASSIFIEDS Piling Confederate flag keeps Kimberly Aiken's parents away sociation for the Advancement of Colored People has threatened an economic boycott of the state unless the state Supreme Court orders the flag down. Sen. Robert Ford, a Charleston Democrat who has been a vocal opponent of the rebel banner and has worked with flag supporters for a compromise, said blacks might have been sensitive to the flag-waving at the party. "It was belittling to the African-Americans who were at the activity," he said. COLUMBIA (AP) The parents of last year's Miss America refused to attend an Atlantic City, N.J., party after learning Confederate flags would fly at the celebration sponsored by delegates from Southern states.

The rebel banner has caused bitter divisions in South Carolina, where the banner flies above the Statehouse. Blacks argue the flag is a reminder of slavery and bigotry while defenders say it honors Southern history and heritage. The Aiken's daughter, Kimber- were in attendance. "We never, ever had any plans on our part to offend a soul." South Carolina is the last state to fly the flag above its capitol, but the design is part of the state flags of Georgia and Mississippi. The Legislature refused this year to pass a compromise that would remove the flag from atop the Statehouse.

The National As They decided not to attend after learning the flags would be there. "We have an American flag in our home a state flag, and that's it," he said. "We don't relate to the other flag." A Confederate flag hung from the ceiling of the Trump Regency Hotel ballroom Saturday night, and at least two men were dressed as Confederate soldiers at the black-tie event. Several in the crowd waved small flags. Sanders, who sported a "stars and bars" tie at the private party, said the costumes and flags are part of the event's tradition.

"It's something that has been done for 30 years. All of a sudden, it became an issue to someone," he said. "Other black invitees Murderer wants state's top court to allow his execution Father, daughter go on trial for Laurens deaths Defense says it was self-defense i ly, wore the Miss America crown last year. She was the first black Miss South Carolina. Charles Aiken said he and his wife were invited to attend the Saturday night party by Gail Sanders, the wife of Miss South Carolina Pageant President Joe Sanders III.

Aiken said he, his wife and their daughter find the flag offensive. listening to both sides can you intelligently come to a verdict." The attorney representing Ms. Kirk, Thomas Babb of Laurens, told the jury that evidence of criminal intent will be lacking against his client. The only testimony against her will likely be that she removed a gun from the glove compartment of a vehicle, then gave it to her father, he said. "The state must prove criminal intent for her to be guilty," Babb said.

Lamar Henderson of Ware Shoals testified Tuesday that he and his wife notified authorities after his children discovered the bodies inside Brock's pickup that afternoon. "Our two boys had been fishing at the lake," he said. "They told us there was a problem at the creek. They thought they heard firecrackers." He had his wife walked the short distance from their home to the scene, he testified. There, they found two people dead.

"The blinker on the truck was flashing, and the radio was playing," Henderson said. "Mr. Brock was lying inside to the right, and Mrs. New had her back against the passenger window." The prosecution will argue New and Ms. Kirk ambushed the couple.

Investigators allege the shootings resulted from a bitter domestic dispute that reached as far back as the spring of 1993, when the New family's house on Poplar Springs Road burned and they moved in with Brock. Testimony in the case is scheduled to resume Wednesday at the Laurens County Courthouse before 8th Circuit Court Judge James W. Johnson Jr. today, and all were negative." Monday night was restful and uneventful for Thurmond, Mrs. Cimko said.

Tests were done on his heart and scans were done on his brain along with a chest X-ray and blood tests. "It could be another day or so (before he's released). He's fine, he's fine," Mrs. Cimko said. Complaining of feeling lightheaded, Thurmond was checked Monday night by the Capitol's at April Moorefield-Lucas Bureau LAURENS The prosecutor said it was the intense obsession James New held for his estranged wife that erupted violently in the Independence Day 1993 slayings of Barbara New and Bud Brock in western Laurens County.

But the defense attorney said the shots were self-defense. So began the trial of a father and daughter accused in the slayings of New's estranged wife and her male companion. During opening arguments Tuesday, 8th Circuit Deputy Solicitor Michael T. Coulter said of James New: "His obsession grew to encompass his entire family, and obsession can be a dangerous thing. When obsession becomes mixed with jealousy, it can become deadly, and on July 4, 1993, it grew to a murderous level." i New, 43, and his daughter, Donna Sue Kirk, 20, both of Conway Avenue, Laurens, are standing trial this week on two counts of murder in the deaths of Mrs.

New and Brock. Both defendants also are charged with two counts each of using a firearm during the commission of a violent crime. Authorities found the bodies of Mrs. New and Brock in a pickup truck near a bridge crossing Walnut Creek on Poplar Springs Road, according to testimony. Jhe two died of gunshot wounds to the head.

1 Laurens Defense Attorney Thomas J. Thompson, who represents New in the case, told the jury his client admits shooting the two victims. But the shots were fired in self-defense, he said. "There are two parts to this Story," Thompson said. "Only by 7 Her day in court Vanessa Burns, 12, testifies during the opening day of a murder trial Tuesday in Greenville about how a man used a hot-steam iron to burn her mother's face in November 1992.

Her mother, Susan Ann Burns of Spartanburg, later died in a hospital. David Paul Atkinson, of 20 Spinnaker Court, Greenville, is charged with murder in the woman's death. COLUMBIA (AP) Death Row inmate Michael Torrence calmly asked South Carolina's Supreme Court on Tuesday to allow his execution. Torrence, convicted of stabbing a Lexington businessman 19 times during a robbery attempt, has done just about everything he can do to reach the electric chair. He has admitted to at least three brutal deaths, tried to throw out an insanity defense, told a jury he feels no remorse and specifically asked for the death penalty.

He is the state's first Death Row inmate to ask to drop his appeals since the death penalty was restored in 1977. Torrence, 33, is fighting the public defender, Joe Savitz, appointed to represent him. Savitz said that based on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Torrence might be entitled to a new trial. Savitz told the state's top court that Lexington County jurors who sentenced Torrence to death in 1992 were nbt told by the judge or prosecutor Donald Myers that Torrence wouldn't get parole because of prior convictions.

"Myers told the jury that the only way to stop Torrence was to give him a death sentence," Savitz said. "That was a consideration the jury never should have had in their minds. They were all afraid Myers would come knocking on their doors after he got out on parole." In the case of South Carolina Death Row inmate Jonathan Simmons, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled recently that Simmons was entitled to a new trial under similar circumstances. The Simmons decision came after Torrence's sentencing but should apply to his appeal, Savitz said.

State law requires Supreme Court review of Torrence's death sentence, he said. Simmons wrote the state Supreme Court in August saying he wanted to die. Another inmate, Michael Elkins, also petitioned in July to drop his death sentence appeal but changed his mind a few weeks later. Torrence calmly read his statement to the justices asking to be executed. He was brought into the court handcuffed and shackled but was released to read the statement.

"I broke the law, and the law says I should be put to death due to the aggravated nature of my crimes," Torrence said. "I would ask the court to allow me to be sentenced to death." Myers attacked Savitz's contention that Torrence was in- Existing trails New trails SOURCE: The Palmetto Conservation Foundation STAFF BILL KALIS senator. There were no plans for any of Thurmond's three children to visit, Mrs. Cimko said. A combination of missing lunch on Monday and a grueling schedule over the weekend might have played at least a partial role in Thurmond's illness, Mrs.

Cimko said. On Friday, he attended meetings in Washington and then flew to Philadelphia and on to Atlantic See Thurmond, Page 2C They're saying because he wants the death penalty, he can't be rational. But I bet that he understands the judicial system better than anyone Donald Myers, 'prosecutor Michael Torrence competent. "While he hates blacks, Jews and women, that doesn't make him incompetent to stand trial," Myers said. "They're saying because he wants the death penalty, he can't be rational.

But I bet that he understands the judicial system better than anyone else." If the court allows Torrence to drop his appeal, by law the justices would have to do a brief review of his case before he could be executed. The justices did not indicate when they might rule. Chief Justice Lee Chandler extensively questioned Torrence about his understanding of legal terms and the consequences of dropping his appeal. He answered with extensive explanations of how they applied to his case. Finally, Chandler asked Torrence whether he would rather be electrocuted than spend the rest of his life in prison.

"Yes, sir," Torrence replied. National I Fnmst McClellanville STAFF Suz Riddle H. is. fY if National Thurmond feeling fine, aides say By Dan Hoover Washington Bureau f- WASHINGTON U.S. Sen.

Strom Thurmond remained at jValter Reed Army Medical Center for rest and observation Tuesday, and aides described the senator as feeling fine and likely to be released Wednesday or Thursday. "He's doing real, real well," aid Thurmond's press secretary, Chris Cimko. "He had more tests Group dreams of path across state and connection to Appalachian Trail tending physician who found nothing amiss but recommended he go to the hospital, aides said. Thurmond was taken to Walter Reed by ambulance, standard procedure for senators and House members. At 91, Thurmond is the oldest member of Congress.

Extending his hospitalization period is a precaution, Mrs. Cimko said. Thurmond's estranged wife, Nancy, arrived from South Carolina on Tuesday and visited the mers at camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and that's why I love the mountains so much." Once the Palmetto Trail is built, Ms. Smith said she hopes to convince North Carolina officials to link it to the Appalachian Trail with a 25-mile trail. About 40 miles of the Palmetto Trail would run through northern Greenville County, possibly including some of the county's wa- 'I think most people who live in Greenville are interested in the coast and spend time at the coast.

And this will offer a hiking opportunity a little different from what we already have in the Greenville lawyer Cary H. Hall tershed area if it can be worked out, said Ken Driggers, a spokesman for the foundation. Greenville lawyer Cary H. Hall, who is on the group's newly formed board, said Upstate residents will enthusiastically support the trail. "I think most people who live in Greenville are interested in the coast and spend time at the coast," he said.

"And this will offer a hiking opportunity a little different from what we already have in the mountains." About a third of the trail already is built in parks, and much of the proposed trail is on publicly owned land, including Francis Marion National Forest and the Sumter National Forest. Palmetto Trails officials said they hope timber holders and other property owners will donate right of ways. Trails in other states have See Trail, Page 2C By Melinda Gladfelter Environmental writer Kit Smith imagines a walking trail stretching from a South Carolina beach to Maine, including a 40-mile hike through Greenville County. It's a dream she hopes to realize by the year 2000. The Appalachian Trail that hooks North Carolina to Maine already exists, and a group of South Carolinians want to connect the Palmetto State to that famous trail.

But first they must build a 320-mile trail from the coast in McClellanville to the mountains in Oconee State Park. A nonprofit group called Palmetto Trails has formed to spearhead the project, and plans have been drawn to connect trails in state and national parks, including the Foothills Trail. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had an Appalachian Trail that ran through South Carolina, so we .1 XISV Mah could appreciate the beauty of this place?" said Ms. Smith, the dreamer behind the trail's roots. A Richland County councilwo-man, Ms.

Smith is the chairwoman of Palmetto Conservation Foundation, the group that spun off Palmetto Trails. "We in South Carolina are committed to the land, and it's shaped us as a culture," she said. "I grew up in Gaffney and spent my sum-.