Person Page - 3801

     His Social Security Number was 232-50-2025.⁴ Leon Neal Pettry married Emily S. "Emma" McCurter. Leon Neal Pettry was born on May 7, 1937 at Arnett, Raleigh Co., West Virginia.^4,1 He died on November 8, 1972 at Little Rock, Pulaski Co., Arkansas, at age 35; Shot by police as he emerged from a Little Rock drugstore while armed wit a weapon.^4,5,3 He LITTLE ROCK - An armed man was shot and killed Wednesday night after he robbed the Economy Drug Store near downtown Little Rock, police said. The man was identified as Leon Pettry, 35, of Wentzville, Mo. Police said the man exchanged shots in the store with the druggist, with neither being hit, after the man had demanded and gotten money and drugs. Nearby police heard the shots and confronted the man outside the store, where he was shot, polics said. on November 9, 1972.² He LITTLE ROCK - The Pulaski County Grand Jury reported Monday that it believes "there was a breakdown of civilian authority over the police department" in 1972, when Gale Weeks was police chief. The jury report was based on an investigation of activities of a police intelligence unit in connection with the deaths of two men. The unit was abolished this fall after Walter "Sonny" Simpson succeeded Weeks as chief. Weeks was chief during the period of the activities which were investigated by the jury. Simpson was chosen chief after Weeks resigned. The resignation came alter Simpson had won a civil rights lawsuit he had flied against Weeks after Simpson, a lieutenant, had been demoted to night jailer. "The chief of pollee (Weeks) was not effectively accountable to civlian authority," the jury report said as it enumerated other opinions of the jurors. "The police intelligence unit was not properly accountable to any authority," the report said. The members of the unit were Forrest Parkman, James D. Vandiver Jr., Fred Hensley, Loyd Maughn, and Timothy P. Daley. The report said the five-man unit engaged in "abuses related to the use of informants, the apparent disregard of personal civil rights and a disregard for the safely of citizens within the community." The jury said the value of the intelligence unit, which was formed to gather information about organized crime, should be seriously reviewed before similar units are formed. The jury heard 17 witnesses during nine days in session, but returned no indictment, although it was reported at one point that the foreman, Frank White of Little Rock, had said the jury was considering the possibility of a murder indictment. There is no statute of limitations on murder. The jury heard witnesses who testified about events surrounding the deaths of William Ray Emery and Leon Nell Pettry in 1972. A grand jury in 1973 investigated some aspects of the controversy surrounding the deaths of these two men, who were described in Monday's report as known felons. Testimony taken during the hearlngs this fall was contradictory and confusing. Members of the jury believe some witnesses did not tell "the full truth," Ute report said. Pettry and Emery were suspected in connection with the robbery of a jewelry store in St. Louis, Mo., before they met their deaths in Arkansas. The report said members of the intelligence unit allegedly knew that Pettry had a plan to murder Emery, but falled in an alleged attempt to prevent such a crime. Instead, they found Emery shot to death, and left the body where they found it. The grand jury also said Ute intelligence unit knew of a Pettry plan to commit a robbery and that officers arranged through an informant to have a Little Rock drugstore suggested as the holdup target. Officers also entered Pettry's hotel room prior to the robbery in an attempt to make hls pistol inoperable. They bent the firing pin, the report aald, but it said the pin was bent in such a way that a state pollee firearms expert said the weapon could have been fired, but with some difficulty. When Pettry came out of the drugstore after the alleged robbery on Nov. 8, 1972, at Dawson Drug Store in Little Rock members of the intelligence unit and other officers were on the scene. Pettry allegedly raised his pistol to a firing position and was shot to death by police. The report said some tesllmony heard by the grand jury "suggests that instances similar to the Dawson Drugstore matter involving the Little Rock Police Department...may have occurred." In the case of the Dawson Drugstore matter, "the protection of private citizens appeared to be secondary to the protection of the informant," the report said. The grand jury named the unit's informant as Manfred Barron, known as "Big Man." The city authorltles at Little Rock should take steps to see that such events are not repeated "and to change the system that made these abuses possible," the report said. The report said that the members of the intelligence unit filed a false report at the time of that shooting and stated under oath at that time to then Pros. Atty. Jim Guy Tucker that it was true. The jury said that in its sessions the last couple of weeks, the intelllgence unit officers have admitted this report was false. The report dld not call this perjury, which is the offense of lying under oath. The statute of limitations has expired on such an offence. The report was issued to Circuit Court Judge Richard Adkisson with a request that Adklsson make it public. The jury said the report should be made public in the Interest of Justlce. Adkisson filed it with the clerk's office Monday afternoon, making it a public document. on December 13, 1977.³

     Claie Alspach married Evelyn Mary Gamber in 1984.¹ Claie Alspach died in 1985.¹

     Valentine Nichols was buried at Jacksonville Burial Ground, Rt. 8, 0.25 miles south of Floyd, Floyd Co., Virginia.² He died on February 14, 1927 at Floyd Co., Virginia.² He was born on February 14, 1927 at Floyd Co., Virginia.²

     Lavene Marie Basham was buried at Sherwood Burial Park, 1045 Lynchburg Turnpike, Salem, Roanoke Co., Virginia.² She was born on August 12, 1929 at Floyd Co., Virginia.⁴ As of July 2, 1955,her married name was Nichols.¹ She married Wilburn Hoover Nichols, son of Rufus Samuel Nichols and Mamie Catherine "Mae/May" Collins, on July 2, 1955 at Floyd Co., Virginia.¹ Lavene Marie Basham and Wilburn Hoover Nichols were divorced on May 20, 1994 at Salem, Roanoke Co., Virginia.⁵ Lavene Marie Basham died on January 21, 2018 at Virginia at age 88.² She Lavene B. Nichols, 88, of Salem, went home to be with her Lord on Sunday, January 21, 2018. She was born in Floyd County, a daughter of the late Ernest G. and Ada Dobbins Basham and had been a Salem area resident since 1961. She was employed at Blue Ridge Overalls Company from 1945 thru 1961, and was later employed in the cafeteria at Andrew Lewis Middle School. She was a devoted and active member of Riverside Evangelical Methodist Church in Salem. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a brother, Vern Basham. She is survived by a son, Glenn Nichols; daughter, Glenna Nichols (Steve); grandchildren, Rachel Lucado (Andy), Kate Nichols, Logan Toney, Kenny Hicks, Jessica Hicks, Danielle Francisco, Cameron Dearing and Huntyr Dearing; great-grandchildren, Waylon Lucado and Saige Nichols; brothers, Edsel Basham (Mary), and James Basham (Rose); a sister, Dorothy Palmer (Bill), a sister-in-law, Marie Basham, and numerous nieces and nephews. The family would like to extend their sincere appreciation to Heartland Hospice Care and to the nursing staff at Richfield 4 East, and especially to Sheryl, for the love and care they provided. Burial will follow at Sherwood Memorial Park. on January 23, 2018.²