posted 05-27-2001 09:18 PM               

After Parole
Eddie Hatcher served five years in prison for the 1988 takeover of The Robesonian. He was release on parole in 1997. Eddie's parole conditions prohibited him from entering Robeson County or contacting the Governor's office.

In 1998, upon completion of parole, Eddie returned to Robeson County (in spite of advice otherwise from friends and foes). He again became very active in local politics, even expressing possible intentions of running for a seat in the state legislature.

The break-in and the assault charge
In April 1999, Eddie's home was burglarized. Virtually everything he owned was stolen, including furniture and money. Eddie suspected that a local teenager named Michael Anthony Locklear ("Little Mike"), who was a known thief, was involved. Several people had seen Locklear selling Eddie's property, and one person saw him going through the window of Eddie's home.

On May 19, 1999 Eddie saw Locklear at a local convenience store. The store owner told him that Locklear was carrying a gun. When Eddie walked out of the store, Locklear approached him and reached for a gun in the front pocket of his pants.  Eddie reached into his truck, pulled out his shotgun, and shot at Locklear's legs. Locklear then ran off into the woods.  Locklear was not seriously injured; he was treated at a hospital and then released. The Robeson County Sheriff's department then issued a warrant for Eddie's arrest, classifying him as "armed and dangerous." This classification meant that law enforcement had the right to shoot-to-kill.

On June 1, 1999, Eddie Hatcher was arrested at an intersection in Hamlet, NC.  He was charged with assault for the shooting of Michael Anthony Locklear, 1st-degree murder in the drive-by shooting of Brian McMillan, and related weapons charges.

The Murder Charge
At approximately 10:15 p.m. on the night of May 31, 1999, there was a drive-by shooting at the Maxton, NC home of Brian McMillan. Nineteen-year-old McMillan was shot once in the shoulder and once in the head, and died soon afterward. Amila Chavis, a friend of McMillan, was also shot in the hip, but was later released from the hospital. Two others in the house at the time of the shooting were not injured.

The next day, Eddie Hatcher was arrested at an intersection in Hamlet, NC. He was charged with 1st-degree murder for the drive-by shooting and other weapons charges.

Ballistics Evidence
The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) says that it has analyzed 5 spent rounds which were found at the crime scene. Their report states that these rounds match an SKS rifle found in the car when Eddie was arrested. However, a detective found other bullets at the crime scene, which did not match the rifle. The state has not turned over the results of these ballistics tests to the defense.

In addition, the bullets that hit Brian McMillan do not match the SKS rifle. The medical examiner's autopsy report states that the two wounds (in McMillan's shoulder and head) occurred separately, but the report does not state how much time elapsed between the infliction of the two wounds.

The "Confession"
In a desperate attempt to pin Eddie with the killing, the state has fabricated a confession that Eddie supposedly made to a police officer on the night of his arrest. A police officer reported that at 6:40 p.m., Eddie casually said that he had shot McMillan. Conveniently, there were no other people in the room when this "confession" occurred. However, only seven minutes earlier, reports state that SBI officials had read Eddie his rights. The report states that Eddie refused to make a statement, but that he asked to see a lawyer. It defies all logic that Eddie would.

A Motive?
The prosecution has no motive connecting Eddie with the murder. In fact, Eddie was a friend of Brian McMillan, and they had never had an argument. "There was no problem between us," Eddie recently said. Brian McMillan's mother has stated that she knows Eddie did not kill her son.

Summary
Eddie Hatcher is the only person that the state has charged in the murder of Brian McMillan. So, according to the state's evidence, Eddie Hatcher drove a 5-speed truck down a dark, country road, and, firing 2 weapons simultaneously at a house that sits 200+ feet away, shot his friend in the head.

Eddie had been shot in November 1998, causing permanent disability to his left arm. He could not possibly have performed this feat. As Eddie says, in order for him to do this, he would have to have better aim than Jesse James.  But if the courts of North Carolina continue as they have, Eddie could receive the death penalty. He has refused his government appointed attorneys and was ordered to represent himself by Judge Frank Floyd. Judge Floyd implied in open court that as long as Eddie had writing paper and a pen, this was all he needed to defend himself on a capital murder charge.

Assault trial concludes:
After a week-long trial in October 2000, Eddie was convicted of misdemeanor assault for shooting "Little Mike" Locklear in the legs.  Eddie was sentenced to 75 days in jail (time served).

This is Robeson County.
This is North Carolina,
the Mississippi of the New Millennium