Johnson City Press from Johnson City, Tennessee • 9

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OillurJ Clcttn't ij- Supply 2824 Market St Johnson City 926-7312 JoteouGtyPress Thursday April 29 2004 Section Pan admits shooting but not killing victim Judge sas Demery is himself with his testimony He ran Into the bedroom and when he did a round went off from the gun Timothy Demery charged with murder By Robert Houk Elizabethton Bureau rhoukohnsondtypress com defendant on the day of his arrest Earlier in the day Criminal Court Bob Cupp said he would allow the video to be admitted as evidence even though he felt it was and should be Cupp said he believed there was the state could use the tape to impeach testimony since the story of self-defense remained consistent throughout the lengthy interview despite being harangued by his questioners never seen anything like it in my 30 years of the judge said Assistant District Attorney General Ken Baldwin however decided to play portions of the taped interview to jurors during his cross examination of Demery At one point during the viewing a visibly agitated Demery said he had been by investigators and suggested Baldwin play the entire tape for the jury asked me the same questions over and over Demery said said if you tell me this put you in a ELIZABETHTON Timothy Lee Demery took the witness stand in his first-degree murder trial on Wednesday and told jurors he shot a 37-year-old Johhkon City man 15 times in self defehse after the victim and two other men -attacked him in his home kept shooting until the gun was said Demery 27 who is charged with shooting David Harmon 1531 Whispering Pines Road 16 times on Majfth 14 2002 and leaving his body in the back of a pickup truck abandoned in a church parking lot Even so Demery said he did not fire the shot to head that a forensic pathologist testified Tuesday was the fatal wound Dr Gretel Stephens said Harmon died after being shot in the right brow by a 25-caliber pistol at a distance of less than 2 feet Demery told jurors Harmon waS in possession of the pistol at the time of his death ran into the bedroom and when he did a round went off from the he said testimony on Wednesday renewed a dispute between the state and the defense over the viewing of a four-hour videotaped interview that investigators had conducted with the Timothy Demery right looks at a diagram of his mobile home with Public Defender Bobby Oaks See SHOOTING Page 4B Til Ron CampbellJohnson City Press YOUng takes photOS Of win- Young inspects the top of the Downtown Centre where many vehicles that have been impounded are stored dows that open Search under way to find cause of problems City is kind of known Young said 1 is not exactly a clear cut cause and Young said after re-examining the back wall of the electrical room in the department where a large crack appears at the intersection of two walls are looking for the cause of that crack itself and also looking at any kind of correlation with cracking that has been ongoing with the torezzo floor movement of windows and bowing out of the wall in front of one of the main Young said In 1995 a large crack appeared in the ter-razzo flooring in front of courtrooms three and four and the hallway in front of the office Powell reported earlier in a memo to members of the Washington County Commission The stability of the parking garage apparently is not in question are looking at the Kingsport center site falls victim to sinkholes By Chelsea Griffith NET News Service KINGSPORT Caves will prevent a welcome center from being built on a site selected by the Kingsport Board of Mayor and Aldermen earlier this year The site located halfway between the Wilcox Drive and Rock Springs exits on Interstate 181 is owned by Kingsport attorney Bill Rogers In January the BMA endorsed the site as its selection' for the welcome center funded with $85 million from the Appalachian Regional Commission The Tfennessee Department 1 of Transportation is coordinating the welcome construction Kim Keelor TDOT public information officer in Nashville said Wednesday that geologists discovered sinkholes as well as contaminated groundwater at the site Sinkholes indicate the presence of caves and cause the ground to be unstable she said A review done by Wilbur Smith Associates for Kingsport indicated no major concerns Keelor said But TDOT requires much more rigorous environmental testing before a final decision on a site is made conditions were discovered when TDOT began the environmental review Keelor said those kinds of things were not The discovery does not mean the project happen Keelor said It just means another site will have to be sought Jef Fleming assistant city manager for development saidTTDOT has not ruled out thp possibility of another site incite general vicinity of the Rogers property staff is going back to the drawing board to redesign soipe of the basic elements of the interchange and look for Fleming said tlfja suitable site near the Rogers property found Fleming said a location on the southern slopes of Bays Mountain may be considered more seriously That site was identified to the BMA as a possibility during discussions earlier this year But it only allows for southbound access so it was turned down Now that the Rogers site has been ruled out Fleming said the Bays Mountain site may be discussed further site is being more seriously considered now as a he said Fleming said plans for the welcome center are back on the drawing board and TDOT has said not to expect any new information for at least two months Regardless of where the welcome center is built city leaders would like to go a step further than the standard TDOT welcome center and'ereate a unique visitors center for the region of the building Since making an initial inspection last Thursday Young said he has been analyzing drawings and blueprints of the three-story parking garage constructed in 1979 In the mid-1980s the first floor of the garage was converted into county offices and four courtrooms The parking garage is still in use today along with a vehicle impoundment lot for the department on the top floor are reviewing building plans from top to bottom looking for the cause any type of indication whatsoever be it from the original details or some type of movement that has occurred at the foundation level that downtown Johnson By Bob Robinson Press StaffWriter bnobmsonjohnsondtypress com Craig Young structural engineer is looking for a proverbial needle in a haystack The haystack is the Washington County Downtown Centre Courthouse and the needle is the cause of a building settling problem Young principal of Ahler Young Fall Branch accompanied by Jim Powell county safety director made another inspection at the Downtown Centre on Wednesday to determine the cause of a loud noise heard April 15 that left some doors and windows wedged shut and large cracks in walls Young and Powell check along the edge of the building for cracks apparent overstress of beams no visual cracking of the beams other than normal wear and Young said A written report on See HUNT Page 4B original design of the upper floor (of the parking garage) As long as it was designed properly as a garage or car storage area there should not be a problem from a structural standpoint There is no Communication problems dominate EMS meeting Land swap would give city old Power Board building Director not pleased that he was not told of obscene calls first By John Thompson Press StaffWriter jthompsonohnsoncitypress com Am I the director and these things supposed to be reported to me Allen Taylor EMS director The old Power Board building in downtown Johnson City may become city property if the City Commission approves a land swap proposal which would give the utility 33 acres of surplus property on Tenn Highway 81 in Lamar The Power Board authorized the swap during their meeting on Tliesday General Manager Doyle Walters will request that the land swap be included in the agenda for the May 6 City Commission meeting Walters said the undeveloped rural land was equal in value to the 50-year-old approximately 34000 square-foot building and adjoining warehouse He said both should be worth about $650000 Walters said the Power Board wants the Lamar property because it will enable the utility to connect with a Tennessee Valley Authority main line At the current time the substation in Lamar and six others in the southern part of the county are supplied from one line originating out of Johnson City There have been a times when a lightning strike on that line or an equipment failure has knocked out power to the entire southern section By John Thompson Press StaffWriter Jthompsonjohnsonatypress com The board of directors of the Washington County-Johnson City Emergency Medical Service wrestled with problems of lack of communication and obscene communications during its Wednesday night meeting Three profane and sexually explicit phone calls were made to an EMS employee on her private phone on Thursday afternoon The calls were left on the voice mail and she did not listen to them until Monday morning The caller also referred to a second employee on the third phone call Ron CampbellJohnson City Press The city may trade land in Lamar for the former JCPB headquarters of the county Once an alternate line is in place the Power Board can make upgrades to the existing line Walters said the offer to the city is for the North Roan Street building in its present condition The Power Board is currently installing a new roof Johnson City Public Works Director Phil Pindzola said the Lamar property was purchased by the city as part of the acquisition of the Washington County Utility District approximately 20 years ago Pindzola said the city has never used the prop- See SWAP Page 4B The first employee reported the incident to Washington County Mayor George Jaynes who is chairman of the board Jaynes told the employee to call the police The Johnson City Police Department responded and is investigating the incident know who did it but if we Fmd him he will be prosecuted to the Jaynes said during See EMS Page 4B STS i LA ft U'UliWIn -6 A A 1 I.