The State Bureau of Investigation has yet to complete its review of the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department’s controversial handling of a domestic-violence incident on Oct. 1 of last year. District Attorney Ron Moore asked the SBI to investigate the case — which involved the son of Sheriff Bobby Medford — after Xpress reported puzzling contradictions and unusual coincidences in the official documentation. According to John Bason, spokesperson for the state Attorney General’s office, the investigation is “ongoing.”
Curiously, a full three months after the incident, the SBI has yet to contact witnesses identified by Xpress in the course of our investigation, including the landlady whose firsthand account significantly contradicts Sheriff’s Department reports concerning the case.
In response to questions about the case, Assistant District Attorney Kate Dreher said she couldn’t address specifics until the SBI report is delivered to her office. However, she told Xpress that “it is not unusual for an SBI investigation to take this long, particularly during the holiday when people may be out of town.”
Nisha Sherlin, the alleged victim in the case, faces trial Feb. 2 on matters related to events on the date in question.
Systemic sexism?
Meanwhile, the Asheville Tribune has continued to cover the strange missing-person case of Wayma Lynn Morgan White, her husband, Roger White, who died in a Nov. 25 trailer fire and Wayma’s wedding rings pawned by her husband five weeks after he reported that she was wearing them when last seen. On Jan. 16 the paper reported that when the missing woman’s sister. Joyce Morgan, tried to spur the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department investigation, Deputy Donny Cole returned her call and said, “I want to see those big titties.”
Cole has since apologized, but Morgan wants an apology from Sheriff Medford, and has sought legal counsel concerning the case.
