It's been nearly three months since Greenville County's top lawman said what most people already suspected:

"Amanda Smith is responsible for the death of her son."

With those words, Sheriff Steve Loftis prepared the community for what is sure to be an exceptionally long and drawn-out legal battle. The process begins this week.

Wednesday, Solicitor Bob Ariail and his team of prosecutors will go before Greenville County's top magistrate, Diane Cagle, and lay out the evidence against Amanda Smith. Or, in reality, Ariail will lay out just enough evidence to convince Cagle to bind the case over for trial.

It is, in short, more ceremony than battle. I have watched more preliminary hearings than I can even remember, a majority of them in front of Cagle. Never has there ever been a question whether a case of this magnitude would go to trial. It's just gotta be done.

The reality of this week's proceedings is that the public will get its first taste of Amanda Smith, defendant. We will also get a chance to hear the basic outline of Ariail's case.

I always loved prelims because they were usually short, but chocked full of information. I had been looking forward to this one for two months. Alas, this hearing is happening on a day I'm going to be on the road. I cannot cancel this trip and will have to rely on the good folks at Greenville Online to get my fix.

Ariail, to the best of my knowledge, has yet to announce whether he intends to seek the death penalty against Smith. I would still bet he does not, but Ariail has surprised me before. Regardless, the trial itself is probably still a good year away.

I remain disappointed I can't be in court on Wednesday. If any of you good e-mail buddies hear anything before I do, shoot me a note.

Previous Coverage:

Reading between the lines of Devon Epps' death
Devon Epps, Amanda Smith and the difficulties of reporting crime news
Devon Epps: Scene of the Crime?
Rapid Eye Reality coverage of Epps case makes it to print
Devon Epps: Waiting
Devon Epps: Pictures
The Missing Memorial Page
On Being Devon Epps' Mom
Amanda Smith arrested in death of son Devon Epps

Labels: Amanda Smith, Crime, Devon Epps

Among the greatest topics of speculation since August 12 is how Amanda Smith has spent her time. In the run-up to the arrest, I held back information I had been given for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to how it might affect the investigators' efforts.

Now that Smith awaits a bond hearing on her murder charge, I suppose it's now open season and it's fair to reveal Smith's apparent obsession with maintaining an Internet footprint, most notably on the social networking site MySpace. Smith has bounced all over MySpace, dodging reporters and websleuths while still attempting to keep up with a new cadre of friends and people who were willing to believe her or turn a blind eye to the seemingly inevitable arrest. Since Devon Epps' death, Smith has maintained no fewer than three MySpace pages.

Today, a valued source slipped me some pictures that, should Smith end up in a sentencing phase at trial, will undoubtedly be shown to a jury. In most cases, we have no idea when these pictures were taken. As such, they are presented without comment. However, two of the pictures are dated in mid-October of this year. The grief on Smith's face is obviously well-covered. Save that fact, they too are presented without comment.

Who is Amanda Smith? I'm not really sure anyone knows. As I've said before, there are enough unflattering pictures of me out there that I feel obliged to point out that a picture doesn't always tell the whole of a person's personality.

That said, I think some of these new pictures are telling. In the end, it is not up to me to decide, however.

Unless I get picked for jury duty.

A few notes before we get to the pictures.

First, apart from the date-stamped photos, I have no idea when they were taken. Many of them appear to be self-portraits. Second, I have obscured the faces of the people in the pictures out of respect for their privacy. Beyond that, the pictures appear in their original unedited form--or at least as original as they appeared when given to me.



Previous Coverage:

Reading between the lines of Devon Epps' death
Devon Epps, Amanda Smith and the difficulties of reporting crime news
Devon Epps: Scene of the Crime?
Rapid Eye Reality coverage of Epps case makes it to print
Devon Epps: Waiting
Devon Epps: Pictures
The Missing Memorial Page
On Being Devon Epps' Mom
Amanda Smith arrested in death of son Devon Epps

Labels: Devon Epps

The incident report for the the night of August 12, 2007 reveals little about that night and what light it does shed is fractured by the passing of the past two and half months. When the Greenville County deputies responded to the intersection of Jacobs Road, Amanda Raegan Smith gave them a story that seemed so implausible, it didn't even make it to the print version of the deputy's public incident report. The "Incident Type" field is blandly marked with the words "Death Investigation." The rest of the documents list Smith's address, her grandparents' phone number, and a vague suspect description.

By now, most people who care about the case know what Smith told investigators. She said she'd been sitting at the intersection when a man forced her out of the car, jumped in, and smothered her son with a pillow. Smith told investigators they should be looking for a man in his late 30s or early 40s with a red, graying beard and wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans. He had a knife, she said. Her 2000 black two-door Honda Civic was impounded and handed over to forensics investigators. Smith walked free. The next time a public document came out, it would be her murder warrant. [Read' Devon Epps, Amanda Smith and the difficulties of reporting crime news ]

This morning, a Greenville County Magistrate named James Hudson sat in his small chambers inside the county Law Enforcement Center and signed the warrant. That document is just as vague. The investigating officer offered just enough to get the warrant. Among the few words in the affidavit are these: "Forensic crime scene investigation reveals facts consistent with the defendant's guilt and inconsistent with the defendant's version of events."

That much we knew already. An autopsy revealed that seven-year-old Devon Epps had been not smothered, but strangled. No one could ever find who forum-posters began calling BHS, the Bushy Haired Stranger. Beyond that, though, rumor and innuendo ruled the day. Nearly everyone saw what was coming, but no one knew what would happen. [Read: Reading between the lines of Devon Epps' death]

This afternoon, as news of Smith's arrest surfaced, 13th Circuit Solicitor Bob Ariail put it all in perspective. "The community wants a quick answer," he said, "but the community wants the right answer."

Greenville County Sheriff's Office investigators took two and half months to bring Smith in on murder charges. During that time, they chased 60 tips and leads. All of them led to dead ends. Or, they led back to Smith.

Sheriff Steve Loftis stood, as usual, stoic in front of the assembled media today. Interviews and forensics he said came in "in bits and pieces." Despite what many people in the community thought, there was no case-breaking piece of physical evidence that led to today's arrest. The totality of those bits and pieces led to Smith's arrest.

"It has been determined that Devon Epps death did not occur in the manner in which it was reported by his mother," Loftis said. "Amanda Smith is responsible for the death of her son."

Just like that, all the speculation and rumor turned into an official statement. With the county's chief prosecutor standing behind him, Greenville County's top lawman called Amanda Raegan Smith a murderer.

Inside the magistrate's chambers, Smith looked pudgy, pasty, and emotionless. Her face was broken out and plastered with with makeup. Her hair was tussled. She wore a black graphic t-shirt that was mostly covered by a zip-up black fleece jacket. Her jewelry consisted primarily of a silver set of handcuffs, tight around her wrists, and a stark contrast to her long, manicured fingernails.

***

After so many weeks of waiting, there is now a renewed public urgency for the next step. It will not be fast. If people had a hard time waiting two months for the arrest, waiting for ultimate justice will be a lot more tough. If history is any indication, Smith will remain in the Greenville County Detention Center on no bond until such time as her attorney can get her a bond hearing. That process usually takes a week to a month. In many cases these days, the defendant is not physically present for the hearing. It happens via video conferencing. As to whether she will get bond, it's impossible to say. Most hard core murderers are held without bond until trial. However, every judge is required to consider a reasonable bond. It will be up to the judge to decide how much of a flight risk and danger to the community Smith might be. If bond is forthcoming, it will be very, very high.

After that, many more weeks, if not months, will pass before a preliminary hearing. That will be the public's first opportunity to hear the prosecution's case. Usually, Ariail puts the lead investigator on the stand and walks him or her through the case. Then we will learn at least some of the evidence Ariail plans to use to put Smith away.

Then, the long wait happens. Most big murder cases in this county take at least a year before they go to trial. The timeline will largely be affected by whether Ariail decides to seek the death penalty in the case. One of the many aggravating factors in South Carolina that allow for a death penalty prosecution is the murder of a child under the age of eleven. Ariail has sought the death penalty in most of the high-profile murders in his circuit. He has been successful in almost all of those prosecutions. At the same time, Ariail is a prosecutor that absolutely despises losing and is very reluctant to take a case before a jury if he thinks there is a chance he won't win.

A big part of his decision will be based on things we don't know right now. Consider this: the highest profile murder in Upstate South Carolina in the pasts several decades was committed by a woman named Susan Smith. She admitted to drowning her two sons and then telling investigators she'd been carjacked. The prosecutor's case was ironclad and he tried the case in a part of the country that is very pro-capital punishment The jury gave Susan Smith life in prison with an opportunity for parole after 30 years.

Ariail was predictably reticent today. In all the years I've known him, he has never given away his intentions regarding what kind of penalty he expects to achieve. At this point, I'd have a better chance at flipping a coin for an answer than guessing what he will do.

I can feel confident of this, though. Ariail is sure he's got the goods on Amanda Smith or we wouldn't have heard from him today.

***

Right now, Smith is likely in a jumpsuit and sitting in the women's wing of the GCDC. Many people believe she has spent the last two months working at Zaxby's during the day and partying with friends at night. She will be among the most famous women in jail tonight. A dubious honor, to be sure, but one that may fit her very well.

At Jacobs Road and Frontage, there hung a picture of the old suspect on a tree near the crime scene. One of my more regular e-mail friends I've developed as sources since this case broke sent this message this evening: "I drove to the place where it happened and tore down the poster of the BHS (Bushy Haired Stranger). Wish I had one of Amanda Raegan Smith to replace it with." [Read: Devon Epps: Scene of the Crime?]

On the outside, Devon Epps father is saying out loud what many people have been thinking. Devon Epps is gone forever, but there is still time for justice.

"It's not going to bring him back," Chad Epps told WYFF, "but at least she has to suffer for it now."

Previous Coverage:

Reading between the lines of Devon Epps' death

Devon Epps, Amanda Smith and the difficulties of reporting crime news

Devon Epps: Scene of the Crime?

Rapid Eye Reality coverage of Epps case makes it to print

Devon Epps: Waiting

Devon Epps: Pictures

The Missing Memorial Page

On Being Devon Epps' Mom

*Photo courtesy GreenvilleOnline

Labels: Devon Epps

Word is just now coming out of a break in the Devon Epps case. A live press conference is slated for 4pm.

Somehow, I think I know what's coming. Blogger is having some publishing problems. Not even sure this will get out.

3:52pm--Word just in. Amanda Smith, Devon Epps mother, has been arrested. News conference coming soon.

4:19pm--A quick news conference revealed few new details, but it gave everyone the one they wanted. Amanda Smith has been arrested and charged with murder in her son, Devon Epps, death. Here's a Cliff's Notes version of the newser:

A judge signed the murder warrant against Smith this morning and she was arrested this afternoon. Video showed an emotionless Smith being led into the Law Enforcement Center judicial chambers where she was made aware of the charges against her and told she will be held without bond in the Greenville County Detention Center.

Sheriff Steve Loftis said that the night of the murder, Epps was found with his mother outside the car. He was unspresponsive, take to Greenville Memorial Hospital, and declared dead.

Investigators followed more than 60 tips in the case and never found another viable suspect.

"It has been determined that Devon Epps death did not occur in the manner in which it was reported by his mother," Loftis said "Amanda Smith is responsible for the death of her son."

Loftis said Smith was "cool and calm" upon her arrest. He said that there was no one piece of evidence that cracked the case, but rather a lot of small "bits and pieces" that led them to the arrest.

Amanda Smith is eligible for the death penalty in South Carolina. There are several qualifying factors in this state for death penalty eligibility. The murder of a child under the age of eleven is one of those qualifiers.

The usually reticent 13th Circuit Solicitor Bob Ariail commented on the duration of the investigation by saying, "The community wants a quick answer, but the community wants the right answer."

More to come.

Labels: Devon Epps

The last time Amanda Smith had a birthday party, it was an affair celebrated with three close close friends and a trash can full of booze and fruit. The girls all dressed up, posed for pictures, and acted like silly young women as they drank their "PJ" and celebrated the anniversary of their births. The summer of 2006 was on the wane and, if the pre-party pictures were any indication, life was pretty good.

At the time, as Smith celebrated her 26th birthday, no one said anything about the pictures or said anything about how the lifestyle might have affected her child. Many of us can look back on our lives at that age and recall similar times. In a neighborhood of glass houses, the first order of landscaping is cleaning up the stones. The more forgiving among us believe, as long as Smith provided for her child, she could not be blamed her for the occasional indiscretion.

Even today, one of Smith's close friends (name withheld on request) doesn't see Smith's occasional partying as any indication that Smith was a bad parent. "We had parties on occasion and she drank occasionally on the weekends," the friend told me, "but never in Devon's presence. By no means would I label her as an alcoholic or a drunk."

When a fire nearly killed Epps in May, those friends stood by Smith's side. Her MySpace page was packed with messages of sympathy. Friends from all over offered anything Smith needed to cope with the near-tragedy.

Today, it couldn't be more different.

This week, Amanda Smith celebrated her 27th birthday and the circumstances of the day couldn't be more different. Today, every detail of Smith's life is under scrutiny. Friday night, prosecutor-turned-television-vigilante Nancy Grace piggybacked on the release of an Associated Press article on Epps and dedicated half her show to the death of the seven-year-old boy. Lines like "This story stinks worse than 10-day-old flounder, OK? There's a million things wrong with it" were peppered throughout the half hour.

What was once the subject of local news, crime forums, and this blog had just turned into a national story. If Smith had developed any comfort in the level of coverage, it had to change Thursday night when the AP article hit the wire and Friday night when Grace brought in crime pundits from around the country to ruminate on the story. Smith, now a fresh 27 years old--guilty or innocent--was quickly becoming a national pariah, compared to the infamous Susan Smith.

In this environment, a lot of people would fall back on old friends. Instead, Smith has fallen off just about every familiar radar screen. The last time she surfaced publicly, she was sandwiched into the back of a truck in nearby Spartanburg County. The wreck was cause for even more questions about where Smith had been that night, not to mention what she was supposed to be doing the next day. Not injured badly enough to require hospitalization, Smith faded back into the shadows.

Even a one-time close friend who praised Smith's parenting skills has not shared a phone call with Epps' mother.

"Honestly, I haven't talked to her since she had her wreck, which has been a couple of weeks now," the friend said. "She hasn't contacted me and I haven't contacted her. It's been really hard on [her friends] because of everything that's being said."

Smith's disappearance from her friends' lives (and rumors about what she is doing now) are a strain on many people who know her. The only comments those people can summon with any ease involve Devon Epps himself. Said one friend, "He was the most outgoing, Southern-accented little boy I had ever met. He was kind of mean, but what seven-year-old isn't? He loved sports. He loved his Clemson Tigers. He also loved motorcycles."

But, on the subject of Smith's story--the one that tells of a knife-wielding carjacker in the most unlikely of places and with the most unlikely of motives--even the people to whom the young woman was once the closest can't bring themselves to sign off on it.

When I asked a Smith friend about whether Smith's story was believable, the friend simply responded, "In ways yes. In ways no."

That is as close as Smith's old friends are getting to making a public statement in defense of the now 27-year-old woman.

We have no way of knowing what Smith is doing tonight or if she has a friend by her side. There is no way of knowing whether the mother sat down in front of the TV and cried as she was nationally trashed on Nancy Grace. Until this week, the media had been relatively kind to Amanda Smith. Now, the AP is making connections to Susan Smith and Nancy Grace is on the warpath.

In the face of near-accusations that she killed her son, Amanda Smith is silent.

Tonight, I find myself wanting to tell Smith's story, wanting to know how she's spent the past five weeks, and wanting to know how many friends she has left. No matter how many news stories run and how many pundits talk, Smith's story is the only one that matters tonight.

If only she would tell it.

Previous Coverage:

Reading between the lines of Devon Epps' death

Devon Epps, Amanda Smith and the difficulties of reporting crime news

Devon Epps: Scene of the Crime?

Rapid Eye Reality coverage of Epps case makes it to print

Devon Epps: Waiting

Devon Epps: Pictures

The Missing Memorial Page

Labels: Crime, Devon Epps

I've been out of town for a week. Upon my arrival back in Greenville, I discovered that I haven't missed much in the on-going investigation into the death of Devon Epps. The Greenville News has run a couple of stories, but they're basically saying what we already know.

I've been getting a lot of e-mails from readers regarding this case. Thanks for continuing to check in. One reader sent me something I've been trying to find for the past several weeks.

In the hours after Epps' death, his mother's MySpace page switched from a rundown of the kind of drinks Amanda Smith liked to enjoy to a memorial site for her son. A few days later, the entire site was taken down. Some industrious cyber sleuth was able to track down a cache of the page. A reader e-mailed it to me this evening.

**Cached version of Devon Epps Memorial Page**

It begins (note: any spelling and grammar mistakes were not corrected):

Dedicated to DEVON CHAD EPPS... July 12, 2000 to August 13, 2007. You will never be forgotten Son. You left me here alone... but soon I'll with you. Save me a spot! Rest in eternal peace baby boy and look down on us everyday. Keep us safe in this cold, dark world and give us strength on every pathway. Send us angels when we need them most, And be our light from coast to coast.

It continues:

To My Angel: August 14, 2007 My precious baby boy, we mourn you today. We sit here devastated, no words to say. Such an unthinkable act happened to you. So many unanswered questions are still ringing through. With shattered hearts and broken spirits, we try to maintain. Grieving you so deeply, no words to express this crushing pain. We ask God “why?” and “what is you master plan?” He whispers to us “I have you in the palm of my hand”. And so, we try to make it through another day without you. Waiting to see your sweet face again in heaven beyond the blue. You were our love, our life, our very heart that beat. Your smile was so beautiful, you brought joy to everyone you would meet. Your eyes were the window to the pure excitement you were thinking. Your endless energy fueled your spirit, your heavenly little being. Please watch over us in this day to day life we are left to live. Be by our side and in our heart, and strength we pray you give. We know you are waiting to welcome us to the other side, We long for the day we hold you again, and in your presence always abide. Devon, you are my angel. I love you so much and my world is empty without you. You were the driving force in my life and I can’t imagine going on with my life without you in it. The memories you have left me with are so dear to me and I will cherish everyone. I can’t wait to hold you again. I love you my only son and I miss you so very much.

Previous Coverage:

Reading between the lines of Devon Epps' death

Devon Epps, Amanda Smith and the difficulties of reporting crime news

Devon Epps: Scene of the Crime?

Rapid Eye Reality coverage of Epps case makes it to print

Devon Epps: Waiting

Devon Epps: Pictures

Labels: Crime, Devon Epps

I know, I know. The Mental Massage is supposed to happen on Fridays. I mean, who goes for a mental rubdown on Wednesday? Well, as I mentioned before, this week and the next few are going to be a little odd and more than a little busy for me. At the time I should be mentally massaging on Friday, I'm likely going to be somewhere on I-44. So, just in case I can't make it back to the blogging machine, here's a quickie.

Devon Epps--I really expected to wake up this morning and see a lengthy piece in the Greenville News about Devon Epps. Today marks the one-month mark since the seven-year-old Greenville County boy was asphyxiated. While his mother, Amanda Smith, maintains a knife-wielding maniac sprang from the shadows, forced her from her car, and smothered her son with a pillow, there have been no arrests and no suspects publicly identified. Of course, the one-month mark is rather arbitrary, and in the investigative process means absolutely nothing. However, I think it does serve as a reminder to everybody that this case is still open.

Previous Coverage:

Reading between the lines of Devon Epps' death

Devon Epps, Amanda Smith and the difficulties of reporting crime news

Devon Epps: Scene of the Crime?

Rapid Eye Reality coverage of Epps case makes it to print

Devon Epps: Waiting

Devon Epps: Pictures

September 11th--Also missing, I felt, from this week's news at large was much news coverage of the sixth anniversary. Again, anniversaries are little more than a date. However, every time the date 9/11 comes up, I can't help but think that September 11th should receive some sort of recognition. There is no date in my life that holds greater significance and I think that's even more true for many, many more people. Am I wrong to think there should be some nationally recognized day on 9/11? I hesitate to call it a holiday, because it is not a day of celebration. However, if we're going to take a day off to recognize our Presidents, Columbus, and the day or day declared its independence, we might consider federally marking the day the America changed forever.

Truckin'--I simply don't promote my buddy Pauly's literary 'zine here enough. He's been running this thing for what seems like forever and has been kind enough to ask me to write for him. I should be promoting it every month, and not just the months he publishes something I wrote. But, since he published something I wrote...well, here's this month's Truckin' (my piece is a typo-ridden and comma-splicey rumination on why airports sell condoms in their bathrooms).

1. Monk's Siberian Dream by Paul McGuire
Brain dead. Deep into the sixth day of a foggy bender, I had forgotten the day of the week. Frisatursunday? I’d successfully lost time. The demoralizing result was that my conversational skills had dwindled down to a few muttering sentences... More

2. The Rubber-less Traveler by Brad "Otis" Willis
Breathless, confused, and sick to my stomach, I arrived at the British Airways gate and looked at the departure board. The flight was delayed for an hour. This is how I travel. I run to nowhere to fly to somewhere where I see little, do much, and find myself asking questions like, "Why do they sell condoms in airport bathrooms?" ... More

3. It's Not Like I'm Dishonest; Honest by May B. Yesno
I'm a private investigator. A damn good private investigator. I have a wife, a very expensive wife. She likes the good things in life. We're matched. I like good things too... More

4. Coming Home by B Kemp
Some of my former friends think that she is using me for my money. It doesn't seem right to them that a man my age would "throw it all away," leaving my career for a life of unpredictability and adventure. My old friends are naturally suspicious of younger women wanting to spend their money, rightfully so I suppose... More

5. The Confetti of Life by Sean A. Donahue
I read the love letters that my grandfather sent to his wife. I could see the tears in my grandmother's eyes as she read them, touched them for one last link to him. I shed many a tear today, ones that no one saw, because I left the room before they fell... More

Roadie--Not sure what, if any, excitement the pending road trip will offer. Anything of note, interesting or not, will appear in the Twitter and Buzznet feeds. Oh, and because I've turned into a guy who has to be connected 95% of the time, I have outfitted the gas guzzling family mover into a mobile office. I could conceivably travel 100% of the time and never be away from work.

Now, there, friends, is an idea.

Labels: Devon Epps, Mental Massage, Travel, Writing

While I've never put this little corner of the Internet out as a crime blog, news source, or vigilante-inspiring screed, I do have a background in comprehensiveness...sometimes to a fault.

It occurred to me, though, that one thing has been missing in my ruminations (some would say unhealthy interest) on the death of Devon Epps. While I've gone to great lengths to describe just about anything I know about the case, for whatever reason, I've left out the most important thing.

Most of you don't know what Devon Epps looks like.

I don't think it was a conscious decision at the time, so much as it didn't feel right. Now, it does. So, I spent a little time delving into the recesses of social networking sites and scraped a few pictures of Devon Epps off a MySpace memorial slide show. Despite being messed up by a truly horrible Flash program, the photos give you an idea of what the little boy looked like.





Next week will mark the one-month mark since Devon Epps died. The incoming information has slowed down a bit. The only thing of real importance I've heard in the past week involves the time immediately before and what was supposed to happen the day of Amanda Smith's car wreck. However, as that information comes third hand, it's best I don't start posting rumors.

Here's to a peaceful weekend for those who deserve it.

Previous Coverage:

Reading between the lines of Devon Epps' death

Devon Epps, Amanda Smith and the difficulties of reporting crime news

Devon Epps: Scene of the Crime?

Rapid Eye Reality coverage of Epps case makes it to print

Devon Epps: Waiting

Labels: Crime, Devon Epps

"Taking a different way?" my wife asked as I slipped onto a different back road and drove through an old residential area.

We'd been out for ice cream. On the way home, I pulled over the railroad tracks and past an area where victim Francisco Velazquez had been found dead a few weeks before. It was walking distance from our house and a cut-through we used a couple of years ago. It's a product of the no-zoning South, where rough industrial areas rub up against family neighborhoods like a stranger on the subway. Maybe because I am more conscious of crime than I used to be, I recognize the dividing lines better than when I was a kid. Now, for better or worse, I know which intersection marks the point where the wife and kid should turn around and head back the other way on their a pied trips around the neighborhood.

Though Velazquez had been killed so close to my home, my diversion had nothing to do with his death. Earlier in the day, I'd been doing some routine background checks on Amanda Smith and realized that she, too, lived fairly close to me and within walking distance of a friend's house. This was a week ago and there was a sense among all the people following this case that the case was about to move...to do something--anything--to comfort the countless people who have become obsessed with Devon Epps' death.

Smith's residence (apparently on the same property as her grandparents', though I have no independent verification of that) sits on a cut-through street a few miles outside of town It's a road that barely exists and seems only to function as a place to have built a few houses in the past. As I idled down the road, I caught sight of the tell-tale dark blue car. The Greenville County Sheriff's Office cruiser sat parked in a ditch. No one sat inside it. It became pretty clear that Smith's neighbor was a cop, off-duty and not parked across the street from the Smith residence for any reason other than he lived there.

Up Smith's gravel driveway, a work crew wandered around the half-burned portion of one of the home's on the property, presumably the same portion that at one time house Devon Epps' bedroom--the same place he almost died last Spring during a fire of somewhat suspicious origin. There was no sign of Amanda Smith.

I learned later there was a good reason for Smith to not be there. She'd been in a wreck that morning, having slammed her grandparents' Kia into the back of a truck in a neighboring--but not close--county. She survived. The car didn't. She picked up a couple of traffic charges, was released from the hospital, and again faded back into relative obscurity.

My visit to her house last week coincided with the last public mention of the Devon Epps case in the news. Since then, the Greenville News has published one letter to the editor about the case and nothing else. The local crime beat reporters have been forced to move on to the other big cases of the past couple weeks, chiefly the officer-involved shooting of female ex-con Sabrina Parker.

While the traditional news outlets have moved on, the Internet as not. I started noticing a lot of referrals here from the local paper's discussion forum and discovered a ton of people who were participating in 100-page-long forum discussions about the case. Everybody from friends of the Epps family to amateur sleuths were debating the case and its merits. With no real news coming out, my e-mail box started filling up with questions from readers about the case. Just this morning I got an eight-point e-mail detailing some good questions about the case--all things that we might eventually learn when the investigation is complete. There are people Googling all over the country about this case, despite the fact that no national news outlet has bothered to touch it.

No one has asked for my opinion, but I figure I should make an admission. I figured we would've seen an arrest by now. The evidence, or lack thereof, however, seems to be dictating a more patient approach to the case. As has been stated before, there is only one known witness to Epps' death. At this point, Amanda Smith is the only one who can offer information about what happened. Beyond what she says, investigators must rely on the evidence. There are only a couple of kinds of available evidence that will make this case cut-and-dry and I would assume those brands of evidence are unavailable. Hence, making an arrest in a case that will be largely built on circumstantial evidence is a lot more difficult. While I have no direct knowledge of what's happened up to this point, I would bet there have been more than a few discussions with people in Solicitor Bob Arial's office, if not Ariail himself. I've only once seen Ariail go to trial without the goods, and that case was the high-profile death of a Greenville County Deputy. Ariail doesn't talk much publicly, and when he does, it is for good reason. He's not a prosecutor that steps too far out on a limb without a big net of evidence below him. If the Epps case currently rests on no more than common sense and circumstantial evidence, Ariail almost certainly isn't ready to bite.

I hesitate to say it, but it almost feels like this is a case we might have to wait on for a while. There's a lot that the cops know that few other people do, and until the investigators have enough to convince Ariail they have a winnable case, we won't see an arrest. It's the frustrating thing about crime news. This is not CSI. This is not Law & Order. It could be many more weeks before anything else about this case is mentioned publicly. One thing I've found over the years, though, is that quiet can be a good thing. When the cops and prosecutors don't have to spend their time fording the P.R. river, they have time to get work done.

I hope that's what's happening now.

Previous Coverage:

Reading between the lines of Devon Epps' death

Devon Epps, Amanda Smith and the difficulties of reporting crime news

Devon Epps: Scene of the Crime?

Rapid Eye Reality coverage of Epps case makes it to print

Labels: Crime, Devon Epps

I awoke this morning to find that the local alternative weekly, The Beat, has decided to reprise some of the Devon Epps coverage from the ethereal pages of this blog. The editor of the paper and I actually go back many years and have covered many of the same stories. I get the sense he's as conflicted about this particular case as I am.

If you'd like to take a look at the online version, you can find it here:

SHANNON’S LAW: Yet Another American Tragedy


Previous Coverage:

Reading between the lines of Devon Epps' death

Devon Epps, Amanda Smith and the difficulties of reporting crime news

Devon Epps: Scene of the Crime?

Labels: Crime, Devon Epps

This lonely place is so close to the interstate, it's not even an afterthought of a county planner's pen. It's like that space in your yard you forgot to landscape, shaded and covered in leaves, grassless, and out of the way of your attention. No one ever looks at it and no one would go looking for it. It's a place where nothing would ever happen, and if it did, it would be something bad.

The place where Amanda Smith says she was jumped by a maniacal knife-wielding murderer is an illustration of nowhere. If you're there, it's only because you're lost or going somewhere else. Seconds off Interstate 85, to get there takes a turn at the Whitehorse Road McDonalds and rounding a curve on the unimaginatively named Frontage Road. The intersection with Jacobs Road gives a driver two choices. If you turn left, it looks like it might take you somewhere worth going. If you turn right, it's pretty obvious you're going nowhere. It's a dead end and even the most respectful minds can't help but consider the bad pun.

I decided to go and I'm still not sure why. Going there is not on the way to anywhere for me. Going there serves no purpose. In the past, it would've been my job. Now, I figure most people would label it as sick curiosity. I know that it's neither of the two, but I'm still not sure what it is. A local writer with whom I'm friends e-mailed me while I was out of town and said he, too, felt some sort of compulsion to write about the ongoing case of Devon Epps' death. For me, since I can't get the case out of my head, writing about it is somewhat cathartic. Writing is what I can do when I can't make sense of things. I'd hoped that the two posts I'd written up to this point would do something, anything to make me feel better about this. I've covered and studied some of the most heinous crimes, but for the first time since Tiffany Souers was strangled in her Central, SC apartment, I find myself caring an inordinate amount about a crime in my adopted hometown.

I don't know why I went, but I did.

When I rounded the corner on Frontage Road, my first instinct was to slam on my brakes. A marked Greenville County Sheriff's cruiser sat in the middle of the road about 150 yards from the intersection with Jacobs Road. My wife was riding with me and quietly said, "Mmmm hmmm." I looked to the side at the uniformed deputy as I drove by. He didn't look at me.

Because I had no reason to be there, I almost felt guilty when I pulled up to the intersection. My instinct was to turn left, but when my wife spotted Epps' memorial on the right, I swerved and made the turn. Again, it was something that looked more than a little suspicious. Again, the deputy did nothing.

And, so there we sat, in front of the little memorial. A framed tribute sat among balloons, boxed toys, flowers, and burned candles. It all sat at the dusty roadside on the edge of what could barely be called a grove of trees. Up a worn out path about twenty feet stood a giant tree wrapped in a red ribbon. Tacked to both of them were the composite sketch put together by deputies based on Amanda Epps' reported recollection of the man she says killed her seven-year-old son.

Again, I don't know what I was looking for. This is a place that has been picked over by deputies, mourned over by family and friends, and visited by amateur sleuths from all over the area. It is a nothing place and the saddest of places to find the memorial to a child. Less than 300 yards down the road--a distance that could be run by even a heavy person in less than two minutes--is civilization. A few trees may block the actual building, but at night the Waffle House sign would almost be impossible to miss. The place Amanda Smith says her son died is a shadow. Shadows, I've found, are rarely home to happy times.

There was no reason to stay more than a couple of minutes. I turned around in the parking lot of what looked like a trucking company and headed back out the way I came. As I drove by again, the deputy was on his cell phone and didn't seem to pay me much mind. I didn't bother to wave. His presence there was not surveillance in the traditional sense. If the cops were really staking out the scene, it seems pretty obvious they wouldn't be sitting in plain view in a marked car. The deputy spending his time there is more than likely a signal to the community that the Sheriff's Office is still diligently working on the crime (a fact in which I still have the utmost faith) and a signal to anyone who might wander by the scene that they are being watched. As I was not driving a white town car, small civic, or look like the man Smith says killed her son, I was mercifully ignored. I'm not sure exactly what I would've said if the deputy had actually asked.

I've never really known how to feel about the concept of The First 48. I think a lot of cops--especially the dedicated ones--will tell you that the clock isn't nearly as important as the evidence and even if they don't make their arrest in the first 48 hours, they will still maintain a decent confidence they can nail their criminal. Around these parts, the cases that remain cold for too long tend to remain that way. I have entire files on cases that plagued the local cops for way too long. When the Blue Ridge Bank triple murders happened, I heard a lot of quiet talk among the investigators about who they believed was responsible. When Dale Fetner was stabbed outside his apartment, I heard a lot of the same talk. Both of those cases remain open. The Devon Epps death, though, is not like those cases. Though there is quite a bit of hand wringing about the lack of an arrest, this one doesn't at all feel like a case that will go cold. No, this case feels familiar for an entirely different reason. So familiar, in fact, that it goes without saying.

Tonight, as I try to figure out why I keep writing about this case instead of my normal silliness, I wonder. Did I visit the scene of the crime tonight? Or did I visit the place where the county coroner found him dead? Because there may be a difference and, if there is, the answer will make a lot of difference in how this story ends.

Previously:

Reading between the lines of Devon Epps' death

Devon Epps, Amanda Smith and the difficulties of reporting crime news

Labels: Crime, Devon Epps

The pillow. The cops are testing the pillow.

The Greenville News' Paul Alongi greeted readers this morning with news that the Greenville County Sheriffs Office is testing the pillow that Amanda Smith says a carjacker used to smother her son Devon Epps.

At first blush, especially for the hundreds--if not thousands--of people who are spending their days searching for any new piece of news on the case, Alongi's revelation may elicit a "Well, duh." Of course, the cops are testing the pillow. My guess is there isn't a piece of paper or lint that's not being scrutinized. However, Alongi cannot be criticized for the one little tidbit of information used to lead his story today. Why? Because Alongi is keeping the story alive and that's harder than it may seem.

If you missed the last post here, Reading Between the Lines of Devon Epps' Death, here's a brief rundown of the story: Mother, Amanda Smith (no relation to Susan), tells cops she stopped at an intersection near a Greenville interstate. She says a guy who looked like the Unabomber (or some would say the Geico Caveman or her ex-husband), jumped into her car and smothered her son with a pillow before running off into the woods. Incredulous doesn't begin to describe the community reaction. People are looking for information everywhere, including the cached version of Amanda Smith's web page. Here's some of what they're seeing on her old page. [Edit: Some pictures removed at request of uninvolved parties.]



While it's been ten days since the death, the amount of official information coming out has been pretty sparse. This is the time when uncreative reporters start using the phrase "tight-lipped" and looking elsewhere for news.

How does it work? Well, my perspective comes from a TV newsroom. Every morning (say around 9:00-9:30am), the newsroom gets together to figure out what they are going to cover for the day. After some brief announcements from the bosses, each reporter in the room is given a chance to offer ideas for the daily coverage. Eventually, the crime beat reporter (who, if he or she is doing his or her job, has already been on the phone with no less than four different investigative agencies) gives a rundown of the overnight crimes and follow-ups on on-going investigations. The chances of whether a story shows up on TV that night begin with that reporter. The "pitch" includes what the reporter can do with the story and whether he/she can fill a two-minute hole in the newscast. That means, the reporter will have to find one or two people to interview, not to mention to find b-roll video to cover all his/her voice track. What's more, the story has to be interesting. If the pitch is good, the bosses (producers, assignment editors, and news directors) discuss it in a post-meeting meeting and the reporter then ends up with an assignment. The problem is, at least when it comes to TV news, that the cops don't want to do interviews every day. The reporters have either exhausted their sources or run out of energy chasing new people. Eventually (like, around day 4 or 5), the story starts turning into a 30-second VO (voice-over) or falling out of the newscasts entirely.

The Greenville News' Paul Alongi is doing his best to keep the story alive. He's finding a new lead nearly every day and doing his best to keep the story in the public eye. If he has to lead with the fact the cops are testing a piece of evidence, then so be it. At least he's trying.

I don't envy the reporters' positions. They have precious little to work with. There are few pictures and little video of the scene of the crime. The investigators are being as forthcoming as they can without hurting their case. I can only assume all the reporters have tracked down the family and friends of the the mom and victim (because, to be fair, they're pretty easy people to find) and can't nail down an interview. What's more, Amanda Smith isn't giving them much to work with. Sure, her old MySpace page shows she is a one-time party animal, but that's not news per se. If she had any bad criminal record, that would be news, too. However, records show that she's not committed any felonies in her 26 years in this area. Her worst crime for which she's been arrested is passing a bed check to Wal-Mart a couple of years ago. Beyond that, she's simply a traffic scofflaw.

Amanda Smith's Record

October 1996 --Speeding

May 1999 -- Failure to show proof of insurance
June 1999 -- Speeding (Failed to show for court)
August 1999 -- Failure to wear seatbelt

September 2001 -- Speeding
December 2001 --Failure to yield right of way

February 2002 --Speeding
August 2002 -- Speeding
December 2002 -- Negligent driving

March 2003 -- Speeding
August 2003 -- Speeding

June 2004 -- Speeding

November 2005 --Speeding
November 2005 -- Fraudulent check to WalMart

September 2006 --Operating vehicle on highway without registration and license due to delinquency

January 2007--Use of license plate other than for vehicle which issued
June 2007 -- Speeding (Failed to show for court)

Perhaps the biggest difficulty of all, though, is the presumption of innocence. If we believe in our legal system, we must believe until proven otherwise that Amanda Smith is innocent. As I said before, it is my hope that the hundreds of people calling her a murderer are wrong. I don't want to believe someone can kill their child, and neither do you.

It makes me, wonder, though, where Amanda has been. I'm sure she has a good attorney wisely advising her to keep her mouth shut until things cool off. However, I ask myself what I would do as a parent if my child had been killed by a maniacal and mysterious stranger and nobody could find him. You know what I would do even if you believed I was to blame? I would be on TV every damned day holding the sketch of the man I saw. I would be telling my story to whomever would listen and holding the investigators to task for not searching for the child killer. I would be giving interviews to every news outlet I could find and I would make sure the man who killed my kid was caught.

For now, the mother in this case is not doing that and I have to wonder why. Amanda, e-mail me. Set me straight. Set everybody straight.

For now, I'm going to be content with Paul Alongi's hard work. Paul has been around here for a while and knows this beat pretty well. I don't doubt he'll be on top of this story when it finally breaks.

Until then, I'm going to hug my kid and his beautiful mother and be happy my family is all in one piece.

Some people just aren't as fortunate.

Previously:

Reading between the lines of Devon Epps' death

Other coverage:

Devon Epps: Scene of the crime?

Labels: Crime, Devon Epps

It's late, or at least late enough for a seven-year-old boy to be in bed. You've got a pillow in the car, so maybe you're on the road somewhere. Regardless, it's late and you're on a dark road near a major interstate. You love your son and you know you should be getting him in bed soon, but maybe circumstances don't quite allow it right now. Who knows where you're going, as long as you get there safely.

Your son is sitting in the front seat when you pull up to a traffic light. Maybe you're naive or distracted, but your doors are unlocked. Really, the city you're in isn't one splitting at the seams with crime, so you might be forgiven this indiscretion. Still, you're a young woman by yourself with a young boy who can't defend himself.

You can't even remember which direction you were looking when the passenger door opens and a man with a bushy beard jumps in with a knife. Later, to people reading the story, it must seem all a blur, because before reason can take over, you're outside of the car, the doors are locked, and the man is on top of your son. He's got that pillow over his face and he's smothering him. People reading later will wonder why the injury on your arm doesn't look that bad. Mothers all over the area will speculate about whether the man with the knife could've forced them out of the car and what they would've done if they'd seen the man holding the pillow over their son's face. More often than not, they talk about breaking the window with anything they could find.

By the time the cops arrive, your son is dead. Your car is still there, but your son is dead. The man you say killed him inexplicably ran off into the woods, leaving your car and all your possessions behind. By all appearances, it looks like bushy-bearded killer was on a mission to kill and nothing more.

***

If you're a parent, pet-owner, or even particularly fond of your car, this story just won't fit in your head. If true, it's the most confounding and terrifying story you could conceive. Random man jumps into your car at a traffic light with seemingly no other motive but to asphyxiate your son? On the list of Things That Don't Make Sense, this story sits at the top of the list.

Devon Epps' mother faces a serious burden tonight because that's her story. What you read above is the nuts and bolts of her story. She even went as far as to give the cops a great description of the killer. She sat down with enough information to put together a composite sketch.

I spent a long time looking at the picture, wondering where I had seen the guy before.



Devon Epps' mother has a second burden. It took me two days but I finally figured it out. The man she described to county deputies is Ted Kaczynski, aka The Unabomber. I don't mean to be glib, but Mother Epps has described the man who is sitting in Colorado in one of the highest security lockups in the world. The chances he sprang from the woods and randomly killed a young boy are relative small, not to mention being completely against his MO. Okay, that does sounds a little glib, if completely true.

The final burden is a tough one. A decade ago, in a town less than an hour away, Susan Smith killed her two sons and told local cops she had been carjacked by a man who stole her kids with the vehicle. It was a story that cut a gash in the heart of a nation--a gash stitched up with vengeance when we learned Smith actually killed her own children. It taught us as a country that we have boundless sympathy when a mother is hurting and ruthless vengeance when a mother hurts.

You might wonder why I chose to write about this subject, other than the fact that it's happening in my adopted hometown. The reason is simple. You probably haven't heard about it yet. There is a disconnect here, obviously. I don't care where it happens--if a maniacal killer randomly kills a seven year old boy and then goes on the run, it's going to be national news. The networks would descend on our idyllic little community and set-up UnaSmotherer Watch. That's not happening.

Normally, I would blame the networks' absence on a fairly well-documented regional bias against the South. In this case, though, the networks' decision to not cover this story is justified. As a casual news consumer, you might not see why. However, as a guy who worked in news for a decade and covered the cop shop for more than half of that time, I can tell you why.

There is not a person in the Greenville County Sheriff's Office or any of the local news outlets that believes the mother's story. Speculation has run in just about every direction, but most of the time it circles back around to the mom (left).

If there was even a 40% chance this mother was telling the truth, here's what Greenville, South Carolina would look like right now: The Greenville County Sheriff's Office would have a command post running 24/7. Other agencies from the state and neighboring counties would be helping conduct the manhunt under Sheriff Steve Loftis' direction. Every news outlet would be leading with the story in every newscast. The composite photo would be on the door of every business in the area. Finally, based on the Sheriff's Office's reputation, I'd venture to say the killer would have been caught by now. There are a couple of homicide investigators within the department who I have the utmost respect for (Paul Silvaggio being the best, in my opinion) and, if I were still working the beat, I suspect these guys would be telling me off the record that they think...

Well, what do you figure they think? Indeed, it's pretty clear that if you read between the lines, you'll see that the cops and, by extension, media, believe the mom killed her own kid then made up an elaborate story in a sad effort to cover her madness. Right now, the cops and media are going through the motions of reporting the nuts and bolts of the story and making it appear as though they are giving the mother's story some credit. However, every single step they take makes it clear to the trained eye that they are ready to arrest her today.

I was fortunate in my career. While I covered more child deaths and murders than I would've liked, I never had to see a dead kid's body. Since that time, I've become a parent and the idea of hurting a child turns my stomach. The idea that a parent could actually kill their child is so foreign to me that I can barely conceive of it. So, tonight I'm hoping that my intuition and the gut feeling of every cop and reporter in town are wrong. I am actually hoping a madman killed Devon Epps.

Otherwise, Devon Epps' mother will face an even greater burden than those mentioned above. She will have to face the fact she murdered her child.

Other resources:

Cached version of Devon Epps' mother's MySpace page can be found here.

Revised version of Devon Epp's mother's MySpace page can be found here (since set to private).

Other coverage

Amanda Smith, Devon Epps, and the difficulties of reporting crime news

Devon Epps: Scene of the crime?

Labels: Crime, Devon Epps