strongernow
06-03-2004, 08:12 PM
4 charged in '90 murder
Authorities say they've solved 14-year-old mystery in killing of Paul McKeen Jr.
BY HARRY FRANKLIN
State Editor
HAMILTON, Ga. - Authorities say they have put enough pieces together to solve a 14-year-old murder mystery.
They have charged four men with felony murder and kidnapping with bodily injury in the death of a Troup County man who was left for dead on Feb. 27, 1990, near Dowdell's Knob off Georgia Highway 190 in Meriwether County.
Paul McKeen Jr., 21, who was living off U.S. 27, was discovered by a passerby on Feb. 28 along Georgia 190. He was taken to The Medical Center in Columbus, and died two days later after being taken off life support, Harris County Sheriff Mike Jolley said Wednesday at a news conference. He died of a single blunt-force blow to the head, but authorities would not say who they believe inflicted the fatal blow.
Warrants were issued Friday for four men. They include:
• Charles Aldon Bulloch, 56, Port Wentworth, Ga., who was arrested Tuesday in Effingham County and returned to Harris County Tuesday night, where he is being held in jail. A hearing has not been scheduled.
• Johnny Vernon Phillips, 49, 4262 Windergate Drive, Jacksonville, Fla., who was picked up and held by Florida authorities on Georgia warrants when he reported to his probation officer. Authorities will seek his extradition to Georgia if he doesn't waive extradition.
• Guy Walter Hardaway, 35, who is serving a sentence at the Walton Work Camp in the Florida prison system. Harris County authorities also will seek his extradition.
• James Randall Reagan, 45, of 21 First St., Daleville, Ala., who is believed to be working a construction project out West and has not been arrested. Jolley said his identity was released because authorities "don't believe he is going to run." Jolley said his arrest is expected soon.
There was no single big break in the case that enabled authorities to move forward, according to Jolley, Meriwether County Sheriff Steve Whitlock and representatives of district attorneys' offices in the Chattahoochee and Coweta Judicial circuits. It is a result of a continued investigation that intensified in the last five months. Immediately after McKeen was found, authorities thought he was the victim of a traffic-related accident. But close examination revealed his injuries were not consistent with an accident.
The two judicial circuits will collaborate in the prosecution of the case, but the men will be tried in Harris County Superior Court. The case could go to a Harris grand jury in September, District Attorney Gray Conger said. The decision whether to seek the death penalty has not been made.
Jolley said McKeen was assaulted at the Pines Pub & Restaurant in Pine Mountain the evening of Feb. 27, 1990, forced from the parking lot, then driven to the top of Pine Mountain along Georgia 190 and thrown from the vehicle. He was spotted about 7 a.m. the next day and rushed to the Columbus hospital.
Clay Bryant, criminal investigator for the Coweta Judicial Circuit district attorney's office, said the defendants have been suspects in the case from the onset, but authorities could not get enough evidence for warrants to be issued until recently. He said the killing is believed to be connected to illegal drugs.
The four men all have criminal records, either in Georgia, Florida or both states. Phillips was sentenced to four years probation on Jan. 24, 2002, and has been paroled in that case, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Corrections said Wednesday. He was sentenced on Sept. 9, 1988, in Bay County to four years probation for battery on a law enforcement officer, but violated probation and was sentenced to prison on Aug. 31, 1990. He was released Jan. 18, 1991, and is still on probation.
Hardaway is serving a three-year prison sentence in Florida after being convicted of the sale, manufacture or delivery of GHB, a controlled substance, and for injecting or inhaling a controlled substance. He was sentenced Sept. 5, 2003, in Bay County and his earliest release date would have been March 24, 2006.
Reagan served a probation-only sentence from Harris County starting Oct. 1, 1990, for violating the Georgia Controlled Substance Act.
Phillips served two years on probation starting February 1982 for theft by taking in Meriwether County; served a prison sentence from Meriwether County for theft by taking from Dec. 20, 1982 to May 31, 1983; and served a prison sentence from Meriwether County for burglary beginning April 22, 1996, being paroled on March 1, 2001. He is on active parole.
Hardaway received probation for two separate sentencings, both out of Meriwether County. He was sentenced in August 1988 for a misdemeanor which the Georgia Department of Corrections was unable to identify Wednesday, completing probation a year later, and for violating the Georgia Controlled Substance Abuse Act. He was on probation from Sept. 25, 1996, to Sept. 25, 2001, and never served time in the Georgia prison system.
Bulloch served probation for criminal trespass in Meriwether County from May 1990 to February 1992. He also served time at Ware State Prison for a possession of cocaine conviction in Chatham County from April 1995 to his parole on Nov. 30, 1998.
Authorities say they've solved 14-year-old mystery in killing of Paul McKeen Jr.
BY HARRY FRANKLIN
State Editor
HAMILTON, Ga. - Authorities say they have put enough pieces together to solve a 14-year-old murder mystery.
They have charged four men with felony murder and kidnapping with bodily injury in the death of a Troup County man who was left for dead on Feb. 27, 1990, near Dowdell's Knob off Georgia Highway 190 in Meriwether County.
Paul McKeen Jr., 21, who was living off U.S. 27, was discovered by a passerby on Feb. 28 along Georgia 190. He was taken to The Medical Center in Columbus, and died two days later after being taken off life support, Harris County Sheriff Mike Jolley said Wednesday at a news conference. He died of a single blunt-force blow to the head, but authorities would not say who they believe inflicted the fatal blow.
Warrants were issued Friday for four men. They include:
• Charles Aldon Bulloch, 56, Port Wentworth, Ga., who was arrested Tuesday in Effingham County and returned to Harris County Tuesday night, where he is being held in jail. A hearing has not been scheduled.
• Johnny Vernon Phillips, 49, 4262 Windergate Drive, Jacksonville, Fla., who was picked up and held by Florida authorities on Georgia warrants when he reported to his probation officer. Authorities will seek his extradition to Georgia if he doesn't waive extradition.
• Guy Walter Hardaway, 35, who is serving a sentence at the Walton Work Camp in the Florida prison system. Harris County authorities also will seek his extradition.
• James Randall Reagan, 45, of 21 First St., Daleville, Ala., who is believed to be working a construction project out West and has not been arrested. Jolley said his identity was released because authorities "don't believe he is going to run." Jolley said his arrest is expected soon.
There was no single big break in the case that enabled authorities to move forward, according to Jolley, Meriwether County Sheriff Steve Whitlock and representatives of district attorneys' offices in the Chattahoochee and Coweta Judicial circuits. It is a result of a continued investigation that intensified in the last five months. Immediately after McKeen was found, authorities thought he was the victim of a traffic-related accident. But close examination revealed his injuries were not consistent with an accident.
The two judicial circuits will collaborate in the prosecution of the case, but the men will be tried in Harris County Superior Court. The case could go to a Harris grand jury in September, District Attorney Gray Conger said. The decision whether to seek the death penalty has not been made.
Jolley said McKeen was assaulted at the Pines Pub & Restaurant in Pine Mountain the evening of Feb. 27, 1990, forced from the parking lot, then driven to the top of Pine Mountain along Georgia 190 and thrown from the vehicle. He was spotted about 7 a.m. the next day and rushed to the Columbus hospital.
Clay Bryant, criminal investigator for the Coweta Judicial Circuit district attorney's office, said the defendants have been suspects in the case from the onset, but authorities could not get enough evidence for warrants to be issued until recently. He said the killing is believed to be connected to illegal drugs.
The four men all have criminal records, either in Georgia, Florida or both states. Phillips was sentenced to four years probation on Jan. 24, 2002, and has been paroled in that case, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Corrections said Wednesday. He was sentenced on Sept. 9, 1988, in Bay County to four years probation for battery on a law enforcement officer, but violated probation and was sentenced to prison on Aug. 31, 1990. He was released Jan. 18, 1991, and is still on probation.
Hardaway is serving a three-year prison sentence in Florida after being convicted of the sale, manufacture or delivery of GHB, a controlled substance, and for injecting or inhaling a controlled substance. He was sentenced Sept. 5, 2003, in Bay County and his earliest release date would have been March 24, 2006.
Reagan served a probation-only sentence from Harris County starting Oct. 1, 1990, for violating the Georgia Controlled Substance Act.
Phillips served two years on probation starting February 1982 for theft by taking in Meriwether County; served a prison sentence from Meriwether County for theft by taking from Dec. 20, 1982 to May 31, 1983; and served a prison sentence from Meriwether County for burglary beginning April 22, 1996, being paroled on March 1, 2001. He is on active parole.
Hardaway received probation for two separate sentencings, both out of Meriwether County. He was sentenced in August 1988 for a misdemeanor which the Georgia Department of Corrections was unable to identify Wednesday, completing probation a year later, and for violating the Georgia Controlled Substance Abuse Act. He was on probation from Sept. 25, 1996, to Sept. 25, 2001, and never served time in the Georgia prison system.
Bulloch served probation for criminal trespass in Meriwether County from May 1990 to February 1992. He also served time at Ware State Prison for a possession of cocaine conviction in Chatham County from April 1995 to his parole on Nov. 30, 1998.