TN Murders: Fourth Victim Dies
Maggie
seemed at first. I had assumed that Lam killed them all, stealing Wilks's
pickup in the process. Now I'm beginning to wonder if Lam, perhaps, won the
truck in a poker game and that situation angered someone (a wife or girlfriend?
another poker player?) enough to start shooting. The first story is from News
5 in Nashville and the second, from the Tennessean:
4th Shooting Victim Dies
Posted: 3/7/2004 5:49:00 PM
Updated: 3/7/2004 6:00:13 PM
By: Alex Cabrero
Paul Long, one of the victims in the Springfield shootings, died Sunday
afternoon.
With family and friends at his side, Paul Long died Sunday afternoon at
Vanderbilt Medical Center.
He was the 4th person to die after a shooting spree in Springfield Friday.
Long was taken by helicopter to the hospital right after he was shot. Doctors
tried to save his life, but his injuries to his head were too severe.
Family members say Long had twin daughters. One of them needs a heart
transplant, and it was thought his heart could've been used. However,
complications prevented that from happening.
The Long family has already dealt with a lot of suffering. One of his brothers
died a few years back, and a sister died in a house fire three years ago.
Long owned a garage and a small used car dealership in Springfield. Friends and
co-workers say he was the type of man who would help you any way he could.
Lionel Powell remembers Long helping him get a car for his wife when he was out
of work.... then repaired it at no charge.
"Somebody in business doesn't normally do that," said Powell, "If they do that
for everybody, they'll be out of business. That's the the mark of a good
hearted person and a true friend."
Fred Green Jr., who works at Longs' garage, says Long also helped him when he
was down. "Paul never done me any wrong. No way, shape, or fashion. I could say
'Hey Paul, I got a problem.' He'd ask me how much money you need to take care
of it, and he'd give me the money to take care of it. Paul was a good person."
Springfield police are still trying to figure out what happened on Friday.
Besides Long, Steve Head, Donnie Wilks, and Jerry Lam all died after being
shot.
Autopsies were performed on them Saturday. No word yet on what, if anything,
was found.
Head was a co-owner of the Springfield Country Club.
Wilks owned some rental properties and was a pipe layer in town.
Lam owned a small used car dealership in Springfield.
Lams' body was found in Wilks' truck Friday afternoon.
Fourth Springfield shooting victim dies
By CLAUDETTE RILEY
A fourth victim of Friday's shootings in Springfield has died, authorities
said.
Paul Long, 49, was reported to have been shot at his car lot about 10:30 Friday
morning and was taken with a ''very devastating'' head injury to Vanderbilt
University Medical Center, where he died yesterday.
''He was not anticipated to live,'' said John Carney, district attorney general
in Robertson County. ''It was my understanding that he was in very, very, very
critical condition.''
Long and the three other Springfield businessmen who were slain Friday —
Jerry Lam, Steve Head and Donnie Wilks — knew each other at least casually.
They were found shot in different locations across the town within a three-hour
period.
Investigators took yesterday off but planned to meet this morning to comb
through evidence from four separate crime scenes and three completed autopsies.
No information was available last night about whether an autopsy would be
conducted on Long.
Carney would not release any details yesterday about how the first three men
died or what was collected at the site of each shooting.
''There's still a lot of work to be done,'' he said. ''We're not going to be
commenting on any of the evidence that was discovered or recovered until we are
satisfied that everything has been accounted for.''
Speculation continued to swirl yesterday about ties among the four men. Despite
a frustrating lack of answers for the friends and family of the first three
victims, they made plans to say goodbye to their loved ones this week.
The three men who died Friday will all be buried at Robertson County Memorial
Gardens. Funeral services will be held tomorrow for Wilks and Head and
Wednesday for Lam.
''This is just awful. I feel so bad for all the families,'' said Lisa
Henderson, who grew up in the Robertson County town of 14,300 and attended high
school with Lam.
The first sign of trouble came at 10:26 a.m. Friday. Police were called to the
home of former pro golfer Steve Head, whose body was found by a business
acquaintance.
Head, 56, was co-owner of Springfield Golf Club, but his main business was
Tennessee Core & Reclamation, a company that remanufactured engine cores.
Ernie Stark said Head had been one of his closest friends for the past 25
years. Tomorrow, he will help other longtime friends carry Head's casket.
''Steve was a good-hearted person and would do anything for anybody. He let a
lot of people borrow money, and he knew he wouldn't get it all back,'' Stark
said. ''He was as jolly as could be, and you couldn't help but like him.''
One of his biggest joys was a border collie named Beau.
''He's like a son. He's just spoiled rotten,'' said Stark, who kept the dog
until turning him over to the farmer who owns Beau's father. ''He'll be out on
the farm. He likes to roam.''
Four minutes after Head was discovered, Long was reported shot at his business
on Memorial Boulevard.
Some friends were holding out hope this weekend that if Long lost his battle to
live, another life might be helped. One of his daughters reportedly has a
debilitating heart condition.
''I do understand that his daughter needs a heart and that she may get his
heart,'' said Bob Bell, a longtime friend who manages Austin & Bell Funeral
Home in Springfield, where Long's funeral services are expected to take place
later this week.
No word was available last night about whether a transplant was possible. Bell
added that it had been a painful situation for the daughter and other family
members.
''She said she didn't want his heart; she wanted him.''
Nearly an hour after Long was reported shot, pipeline worker and rental
property owner Wilks, 43, was discovered dead in the parking lot of a tobacco
warehouse at 12th Avenue and Cheatham Street.
In August 1997, Gerald McAlister and his wife moved into Wilks' rental house at
1609 Clay St. ''He was a real good landlord. Anything that came up, he was
right on,'' said McAlister, 59. ''He was really a terrific guy. We thought a
lot of him.''
McAlister said that when they moved out of the house a year later, Wilks
refunded their deposit.
''He was very fair. Donnie was really a nice guy. We're real devastated.''
Friday afternoon, auto dealer Lam, 43, was found slumped in a truck with the
personalized tag WILKS at First Avenue and North Oak Street.
Henderson said it was a sad ending for a man who rose from hardscrabble
beginnings to have a family and own his own business.
''Jerry probably grew up kind of rough, but I was happy he was doing so well,''
she said of her former classmate. ''He had done well for himself. He was real
open and friendly.''
She said that if gambling was somehow behind the shootings, as some have
speculated, she hoped it would come out.
''I just hope this wakes people up about the dangers of gambling.''
Claudette Riley can be reached at cri...@tennessean.com or 726-5964.
Maggie
"Objects in your mirror may be closer than they appear." --John Edwards after
the WI primary
Kris Baker
"Maggie" <maggi...@aol.comSPAMBLOC> wrote in message
news:20040308091616...@mb-m22.aol.com...
> A little more info. I wonder if this is a more complicated situation than
it
> seemed at first. I had assumed that Lam killed them all, stealing Wilks's
> pickup in the process. Now I'm beginning to wonder if Lam, perhaps, won
the
> truck in a poker game and that situation angered someone (a wife or
girlfriend?
> another poker player?) enough to start shooting. The first story is from
News
> 5 in Nashville and the second, from the Tennessean:
Or maybe Lam (the used car lot owner) repo'd Wilks' truck, due to
gambling debts, starting off a chain of events?
Kris