…and a couple of killers…A mass murderer and a drug kingpin.
Shooter Jim Adkisson, 58, charged with first-degree murder after killing two and injuring seven at a Unitarian Church in Knoxville, TN. Police claimed he was motivated by his frustration over being unable to get a job and his “hatred for the liberal movement”and especially for gay people. Neighbors said Adkisson kept to himself and that he was “just a really, really nice guy.”Oh, the only criminal record authorities found shows two instances of DUI”one in California “a number of years ago”and one “more recently”in Tennessee. This is just another case supporting the theme in this month’s “public policy recommendation of the month,”which suggests elevating DUIs as the key for “broken window policing.”It’s also another instance supporting the idea that alcoholics may be “sweet”to some people while they act lethally toward others.
Jamiel Alexander “Jimmy”Chagra, a drug kingpin accused of leading a successful 1979 conspiracy to assassinate federal judge John Wood Jr., who was to preside over his drug trial, dead at 63 of cancer. Ordinarily, such characters wouldn’t be worthy of our attention. However, the cast of alcoholics in Chagra’s circle could easily make the big screen. They included hit man Charles Harrelson, father of actor Woody Harrelson, who was convicted of murder and died in federal prison last year. Chagra’s third wife, Elizabeth, was sentenced to 30 years for delivering $250,000 to Harrelson to kill Wood. She died in prison in 1997 of cancer at age 43. Chagra’s younger brother, Joe, pleaded guilty in 1982 to conspiracy charges relating to the Wood murder. He was a disbarred lawyer and was killed in a car crash in 1996 at age 50. Chagra’s older brother, Lee, was also an attorney and had defended alleged drug dealers in Wood’s courtroom. He was murdered in 1978 at age 41 during a robbery of his law offices. You know the old saw, birds of a feather….