The Tampa Tribune from Tampa, Florida • 33

(TD A SECTION OF THE TAMPA TRIBUNE Serving Florida's Heartland Friday, February 20, 1987 Diiffter guilty, off stamglimig Mary Toothman F': -7 "73 Polk womann I VI Mu 4 ID Don't wait till someone dies in court Did you see the story about the fatal shooting at the Pasco County Courthouse last week? According to police, a Zephyrhills man carried a handgun into the courthouse and shot his estranged wife. The 70-year-old man was charged with first-degree murder in the death of the 57-year-old woman he married in 1975. Witnesses said the man, upset about his final divorce hearing and property settlement Issues, shot the woman three times in the courthouse lobby. Pasco Court Clerk Jed Pittman said security in the Dade City courthouse was "atrocious." He approached the county commissioners there on Tuesday and asked that something be done. Commissioners agreed to appoint a committee to recommend ways to tighten building security and to let the U.S.

Marshal's Service survey the buildings. This all occurred just a few days after a close call in Polk County, when a man who was in divorce court allegedly made violent threats in the presence of court workers. He was followed to his car, seen getting a gun and caught as he was headed back to the courthouse, according to police reports. Tenth Judicial Circuit Chief Judge William A. Noiris who has strongly pushed for a new security system, said the incident illustrated the need to install new security equipment But the Polk County Commission chose not to take action after a committee reported that it would cost millions to install a good system in the new Judicial complex that's ber present at the trial.

Ambrose's only son died of Hodgkln's disease before his mother's murder, and she had been a widow since 1957, friends attending the trial said. Several friends and fellow Jehovah's Witnesses who attended her church have been spectators, and they had similar reactions to the verdict "I feel good about It" said Berta Thomas, Ambrose's neighbor for 19 years. "There wasn't any reason for him to do that to a nice, elegant lady, and that's what she was. She wasn't some old, decrepit lady; she was a nice, tall, elegant lady." Assistant Public Defender Robert Norgard had asked the Jury during closing arguments Thursday morning to return a lesser verdict of manslaughter in the case. Norgard stressed that Hayter didn't Intend to kill Ambrose.

According to statements Hayter gave to police, he had been hitchhiking when he saw the empty house and decided to burglarize it. Ambrose came home while he was ransacking the house, and he tied her up so she couldn't call for help, Hayter said, admitting, "I might have tied her too tight around the neck." He said Ambrose was still alive when he left her home and drove away in her car. A medical examiner testified that the ties around the neck crushed Ambrose's larynx and broke a bone inside her neck. He also said It was possible Ambrose contributed to her own death by struggling against the ties around her neck, which were attached to ties around her feet and arms and pulled up behind her back. Assistant State Attorney Hardy See HAYTER, Page 4 By CHERYL NORDBY SCHMIDT Tribune Staff Writer BARTOW A Polk Circuit Court jury convicted a drifter from Texas Thursday of first-degree murder in the September strangulation death of an 80-year-old Lakeland woman.

The Jury will meet again today to arrive at a recommendation on whether John Price Hayter, 53, should receive the death penalty or a life prison sentence for killing Teena Ambrose, a widow who lived alone In a house near Interstate 4. The presiding judge, Charles Davis, has the ultimate sentencing decision. Hayter showed no emotion as he listened to the first-degree murder verdict and two additional guilty verdicts on charges of burglary and robbery. The jury deliberated just less than three hours before convicting Hayter, who continued to chew on cough drops while the verdicts were announced, as he has through much of the four-day trial. After the verdict was read, one of Hayter's defense attorneys moved to have Davis immediately sentence the defendant to life in prison and waive the jury recommendation portion of the trial.

Davis denied the motion and said he would listen to the evidence presented today, which attorneys said will include information that Hayter previously was convicted of first-degree murder In Texas and sentenced to life in prison when he killed a fellow inmate. Hayter had been paroled from prison in Texas just months before Ambrose was killed. "I'm glad, and I hope they give him the death sentence because that's what he deserves," said Jeri Hall after the verdict. Hall is married to one of Ambrose's two grandsons and was the only family mem I .1 4 Tribune photo by ED SACKETT Here kitty, kitty It's not quite a house cat, but this 1 0-week-old Bengal tiger gets a lot of aff ettion from children watching the Endangered Species Inc. display of exotic felines at the Lakeland Mall Thursday morning.

The display continues through Sunday. Chief, carries complaint to state attorney The second complaint refers to meetings held before the commission authorized the closing of a section of Avenue Northwest at the request of St Paul's Episcopal Church. Lear said there were three closed sessions, none of which members of the press or the general public attended. No public notice of those meetings was given, Lear charged. The Sunshine Law requires that commission meetings, work sessions and committee meetings be open to the public.

Young has maintained that the meetings in question were not subject to the provisions of the Sunshine Law and that no violation took place. Young did not answer several messages from the Tribune. One aspect of Lear's complaint centers on alleged secret meetings last month to negotiate a deal to transfer $104,000 worth of city land to the Winter Haven Area Chamber of Commerce for $10. According to city officials, no written or taped record was made at the meetings in question, which were attended by Young, Strang and former interim City Manager Charlie Brown, as well as representatives from the Chamber of Commerce. No public notice was given before the meetings were held.

The land transfer was approved at the Feb. 9 meeting with a vote of 4-1. Costello, the lone dissenter, asked Young before the vote whether the meetings should have been held "in the sunshine." Young assured him that they were exempt Hill and turned the matter over to him, and that is all I'm going to say about it" Martin said. City officials do not deny that the meetings addressed in the complaint were held, but they dispute that the meetings were under Sunshine Law jurisdiction. "The facts are not at issue here; the law is," Simmonds said recently in response to the charges.

Assistant State Attorney Gary Allen said an investigator was named to the case Thursday. Allen speculated that It would take several weeks to complete the investigation. "There are a number of allegations and it's complicated enough so that I imagine it's going to take several weeks to take a thorough look at this thing," Allen said. By LA. MAXWELL Tribune Staff Writer WINTER HAVEN The State Attorney's Office will investigate a complaint against the Winter Haven City Commission and City Attorney Neal Young concerning alleged violations of Florida's open meetings law.

Complaints against Mayor John Simmonds and commissioners Ann E. Darby, Sarah Hays, Dan Costello and Carl Strang were filed last week with the city by former City Commissioner Jim Lear. Lear alleged that the commission and Young violated the Florida Sunshine Law, which requires local governments to conduct open meetings and to announce them to the public. Police Chief Ron Martin said he met Monday with State Attorney Jerry Hill. "I met with under construction.

Boy, are they going to feel bad when somebody dies in a Polk, County Courthouse. A word from the sour oranges department Tribune staff writer Mike Wolny's story on Wednesday revealed that you can't buy an orange at the Florida Citrus Festival and Polk County Fair. The festival, which takes place under the giant orange dome and features more orangy-type decor than you can shake a peel at offers all sorts of food for sale. But when Wolny, who was surveying the food available, sought to find an orange, he was out of luck. The fair manager said nobody seemed Interested in going to the trouble of setting up a booth to sell fresh fruit This is Incredible! Outrageous! Totally Un-Floridian! What if you went to the Plant City Strawberry Festival and couldn't eat berries? It's peak snowbird season, and many Northerners who visit the fair would probably get a kick out of eating an orange.

If nobody's willing to sell them at the fair, they should give away a free orange with each main gate ticket sold. No oranges at the Citrus Festival. Good grief! News flash: I've received an updated list from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles about the handicapped parking reciprocity agreement. See TOOTHMAN, Page 4 Polk City substation will remain Parking lot threatens centennial home site -M Sill' By DOUG NURSE Tribune Staff Writer BARTOW Polk County Sheriff Lawrence Crow Jr. has abandoned plans to close the Polk City substation after verifying that the five deputies stationed there patrol 99 square miles instead of 1 square miles as the sheriff originally thought.

"It was a conglomeration of misunderstanding," sheriff's Col. Don McDaniel said Thursday. "I met with Polk City Manager Vincent Meloy, and we corrected the misunderstandings." McDaniel said the substation will continue to serve as a base for five deputies, who will patrol all of the 99quare-mile zone. He said the only change will be that briefings will be conducted in Winter Haven. Previously, shift briefings were not conducted, he said.

"The guys will still be there to respond to calls and assist with whatever they are needed to do in the city per the contract" McDaniel said. Crow said everyone involved tried to be reasonable and do the right thing. "The people in Polk City have been fair, and we're certainly trying to be fair with them," he said. "The See SHERIFF, Page 4 By MIKE WOLNY Tribune Staff Writer LAKELAND From the front porch of the house owned by her pioneer family for four generations, Carolyn Suit Bethany gazed past a white picket fence toward City Hall. The Bar-Blaine has stood in City Hall's shadow at 506 E.

Orange Street for 76 years, serving as the city's Centennial Showcase house in 1984. But City Hall's expansion plans under consideration by commmls-sioners call for a 400-space parking garage to crowd the stately old home off the site. "I'd have to go a million miles away if they tear this house down," said Bethany, whose pioneer grandfather, John Alfred Suit built the house. "I wouldn't be able to accept It here in my hometown." Bethany made a brief plea to city commissioners Monday to find a way to spare the two-story, wood-frame house. She reminded commissioners that her grandfather founded the nearby shuffleboard courts.

She told commissioners that the Lakeland Centennial Committee selected the home as the showcase of a traditional Lakeland home during the city's 100th birthday. I I 1 I Trlhniu nhntn hu I APQY ALSPAUQH Carolyn Bethany's father build this house, which was Lakeland's Centennial Showcase home In 1984. "I'd just ask that you find a way built where the Suit house and two don't think they would want to take to keep from tearing down our other wood-frame homes now stand, away a token of our history, house," she said. Commissioners stopped short of Bethany, a retired teacher who Commissioners approved City approving Strickland's plan, saying moved back lnt0 the house In Manager Gene Strickland's request they wanted the architect to con- December, said she would like to to employ an architect to begin work sider alternatives that would Include open toe nouse t0 tour groups and nn Jinn million exoanslon efforts, a hieh-rlse annex northeast of City functi0ns Involving local clubs If Florida Citrus Festival Today's Events 6:30 p.m., 9:30 p.m. Bonnie Nelson appears under the show tent.

7:45 p.m. The Black Mountain Cloggers dance under the dome. CM.lilsiu('i nlon -allc for a fltv Hull Holl fniind a WaV to SaVB commissioners found a way to save annex, a new home for the Electric "I just have faith that the com- lt and Water Utilities Division on Lake missloners will come up with a way Mirror, and a parking garage to be to build around us," Bethany said. "I See HOUSE, Page 4.