Transylvania Times Story on Exhumation

On 20 April 2009 the Transylvania Times published an article on my brother Edgar's exhumation. They stated in the story that my brother Gerald refused to comment. I wrote the following letter to the Editor, John Lanier. We will see if the paper will publish my letter.

Your paper published an article on 20 April, 2010 regarding the exhumation of my brother Edgar. In the article, you mentioned that my brother Gerald was contacted and refused to comment. I called my brother Gerald and asked him why he refused to comment.
He stated that the Transylvania Times prints every word that Sheriff Mahoney says but fails to print the family's side of the story.

The things that the family feels should be printed are as follows:

1. Edgar was found dead on a cold November morning in a small shallow creek that he had lived alongside for 67 years. He knew every inch of the creek . He had told his sister, Thelma, the previous night that he had no intention of going outside and was settled in for the night. The creek is three to five feet wide and 5 to 6 inches deep. You could sit or lay in the middle of the creek and reach either bank with your arms. If you fell in, you would only have to raise your head 5 or 6 inches to get above the water.

2. Many things about the way he was found should have triggered an in-depth investigation:
* His pants pockets were turned inside out and his wallet and checkbook was missing.
* His arms were stretched out in front of him which is an indication that he entered the water after rigor mortis had set in.
* His keys were stuffed in his shirt pocket. He always kept his keys in his right front pants pocket.
* The family attempted many times to contact the Medical Examiner, Dr. Lefler and he refused to meet or talk with family members. In fact, Edgar's sisters went to Dr. Lefler's office and offered to pay for an appointment to find out how the ME determined that my brother Edgar had "accidently drowned". They were refused a paid appointment. An unexplained and unwitnessed death is supposed to automatically trigger a Medical Examiner Investigation and an autopsy. Dr. Lefler did neither. He did not even visit the scene.The only thing he did was draw a vial of blood from Edgar's carotid artery and request a toxicology report, but instead of requesting the full toxicology screen, he only requested blood alcohol content. He stated that his sole source of information on the finding of "accidental drowning" came from the Sheriff's investigator, Bill Craig who assumed that that was the cause of Edgar's death. So the family did not receive two independent investigations, legal and medical.They did not even get a legal investigation because the "investigation" consisted of a visit to the scene and a guess period.
* Edgar had severe head injuries that were not annotated on Dr. Lefler's Medical Examiner Report. The family has photographs showing the injuries along with injuries to his arms and body that were not shown on the Medical Examiner Report.
* The Sheriff's Office did not conduct an "eye test" to determine if Edgar died on land. The eye test consists of looking at the eyes and if a line appears across the middle of the eyes, the victim died on land. This information was put out in FBI Law Enforcement Bulletins and both the Sheriff and the DA stated they had never heard of it. Anytime someone is found dead in water this crucial test should be run immediately at the scene to determine a land or water death.
* The Sheriff's Office did not interview family members or neighbors. Neighbors contacted the Sheriff's office and attempted to tell about Edgar's dog barking outside their home from 2:30 a.m. on the morning of his death until 6 or 7 a.m. in the morning. They were turned away and no statement taken. When the sheriff was asked about this, he stated he did not know Edgar had neighbors.
* The Sheriff keeps bragging about conducting a thorough investigation. The family contends that there was never an investigation conducted except for a visit to the scene. We call it a "drive by investigation" If there has been an investigation we are not aware of it. The Sheriff would not agree to let family members look at their "so called investigation" file.
* The Sheriff's theory of Edgar's death was published in the Transylvania Times as: Edgar died while attemping to dislodge his stuck vehicle, fell in the small creek and drowned. Anyone who has visited the scene can clearly see that this scenario is a physical impossiblilty. Also it takes more than one person to dislodge a stuck vehicle. Who does the Sheriff think the other person or person(s) were? In fact when confronted with the absurdity of this theory, the Sheriff denied the quotes attributed to him in the Transylvania Times and stated that he did not know where the Times got the information and quotes printed. So basically, he is calling the Transylvania Times a liar. Most often when someone is mis-quoted they contact the paper and ask for a correction; he did not. So, if he is denying his original theory then what is his replacement theory? Over 500 petition signatures have been sent to Governor Perdue's office from concerned citizens who don't believe the Sheriff has ever opened an investigation. The petion asks the Governor to assign an SBI Investigator to conduct a fair and thorough investigation.Some 200 more signatures are ready to send to the Governor.
* The District Attorney responded to family concerns that stated we would go over his head as threats to him. He could have easily saved the family much anguish and costs by having a judge sign an exhumation order. He refused to do so because he blindly supports the Sheriff's Office. He paid no attention to the above mentioned red flags.
* The Medical Examiner, The Sheriff, and the DA showed no compassion to the family. They have displayed arrogance throughout this ordeal. That is why Edgar's family is voting for Hubert Brown for Sheriff. He has over 15 years "hands on investigative experience" and stands ready to make the Sheriff's office a responsive office that serves the citizens of Transylvania County equally.
* The sheriff has stated that Gerald and Harold Owen, and Annette Hudson (Edgar's neice) helped with the investigation. Each of these people state the Sheriff is lying.
* Dozens of phone calls by family members to the assigned Sheriff's investigator , Bill Craig, were not returned. They left messages on his answering machine with contact numbers and names. The Sheriff explains this away as his office experiencing "phone problems"

So the family is disgusted with the handling of this case by current elected officials. Had Edgar been related to either the Sheriff or the District Attorney he would have received a full and thorough investigation with the SBI called in to help. To get ahead in life, you have to know people. To get a fair shake in death, people have to know you. Especially those whose job it is to serve the public. The family has evidence to back up their claims and will show it to anyone. Hundreds of phone calls and emails are documented. The Sheriff is keeping the so called "investigative file" out of reach. Eventually, when the file is released, it will show that there never was an investigation.

My brother Gerald feels that the Transylvania Times only prints information favorable to the Sheriff and District Attorney and Edgar's family's story has not been told in the Transylvania Times. I told him that the paper should print both sides of a controversy. Gerald cautioned me against sending this letter because he feels you will not print it either. Will you?

Carl Owen, brother of Edgar Allen Owen