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Ewell Hunt will likely go down in Franklin County history as the most boneheaded lawman ever to reign over the hills of Ferrum and the hollows of Snow and Shooting creeks.

The ex-sheriff made some grievous errors in the 2011 case of one of his deputies who went out of control and (allegedly) shot and killed his ex-wife outside a convenience store in front of one of their daughters. And then Jonathan Agee allegedly shot a state trooper, too.

That Hunt tried to keep that rampage on the down-low before those shootings is accepted as a matter of fact. But is a crime? I don’t think so. So why is he on trial, under the theory that his misconduct in office is a misdemeanor violation of common (but not written) law? For more on this, read today’s story by my colleague Neil Harvey.

Hunt was the epitome of incompetence. He allowed his teenage daughter, the infamously nicknamed “Hurricane Ashley,” to play armed cop and issue orders and generally run roughshod over his department. The verdict was returned by Franklin County voters almost a year ago in an election in which Hunt, the incumbent, barely managed to pull 20 percent in a three-way contest.

That was the most important trial. This one seems like piling on. Let it go. Hunt’s and the sheriff’s department’s insurance company has already settled with the estate of Jennifer Agee. This trial simply seems like piling on.

As always, your thoughts are welcome in the comments.

A historical shot of some moonshiners under arrest hanging on the wall at the Franklin County Historical Society in Rocky Mount. | Shot by Dan

Head south down U.S. 220 to Rocky Mount, and soon you’ll probably find yourself crossing the W.N. Angle Memorial Bridge near the center of town.

It rises high over the railroad tracks, above a stretch of factory buildings and warehouses that make up Ply Gem, a window-manufacturing outfit that’s one of the town’s biggest employers.

A stone’s throw down the same block you’ll find the oddly shaped art gallery The Grainery, a building that has not a single right angle.

These are pretty much all that remain of Franklin Grocery & Grain, a once-thriving former wholesale operation that for decades supplied foodstuffs and other items to stores all over Franklin County and beyond.

The business played another key role in Franklin County commerce. It bought sugar by the train and truckload, hundreds of tons annually in the late 1940s and 1950s and beyond.

Most of that wound up in stills deep in surrounding wooded hollows, in places like Snow Creek, Ferrum and Endicott. The result was the product the county remains most famous for: untaxed corn whiskey, which fueled Franklin’s self-appointed reputation as “Moonshine Capital of the World.” Read more »

Ex-Franklin County Sheriff Ewell Hunt

Read the story by Amy Matzke-Fawcett here.

Here’s the statement from Virginia State Police:

“The investigation stemmed from an August 2011 request by Special Prosecutor Michael R. Doucette of Lynchburg, to examine the actions of then Sheriff Hunt on or about May 30, 2011,” according to a news release from the Virginia State Police. “Specifically, whether Hunt’s actions or inaction, related to a series of crimes committed by Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy Jonathan Agee, constitute a violation of law.”

Recall, Hunt told his dispatchers not to issue a be-on-the-lookout for Agee after he’d heard that Agee had threatened to kill his wife and took off in his county vehicle.

Instead, Hunt tried to call Agee himself and left a voicemail message for Salem Police to call him back.

By the time they did, Agee was in Roanoke, allegedly shooting and killing his ex-wife, Jennifer Agee, outside a convenience store in front of their young daughter. This

Did Hunt’s actions (or inactions) in case constitute a crime? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

Related: Hunt’s and the Franklin County Sheriff’s insurance companies pay $900,000 to Jennifer Agee’s estate.

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Well, apparently former Franklin County sheriff Ewell Hunt’s insurers weren’t quite so confident that he bears no responsibility in the outrageous slaying of Jennifer Agee by her ex-husband, who was a sheriff’s deputy.

Because those insurers,  for both Hunt and the Sheriff’s Office, have agreed to pay $900,000 to Agee’s estate. The money will go to her two surviving children.

My colleague Matt Chittum has the story here. And here is a column I wrote on the former sheriff’s unfathomable inaction preceding Agee’s slaying last year.

The settlement is just about the limit of coverage from two liability policies for the department and the sheriff. The pity is that it doesn’t seem to be costing the disgraced ex-sheriff a dime.

Kudos to Matt Broughton of Gentry, Locke, Rakes & Moore (who also represented injured worker Mike Gentry). He’s a great advocate for the little guy. (Del. Greg Habeeb worked on this case, too).

Put your reaction in the comments below.

UPDATE: Here’s news of a $1.25 million settlement in a traffic death.

Grafic by Dan

Note from Dan: This was submitted by Dave Gresham, who lives on the Franklin County side of the Smith Mountain Lake. He has recently waged a campaign to persuade the Franklin County Board of Supervisors from opening their public meetings with denominational prayer.

By Dave Gresham

For the past couple of months I have been working to stop Franklin County’s policy of opening their meetings with Christian prayers. (First privately, then publicly when that failed.)

Last Friday, one of the Board members told me that they have decided to go back to non-denominational prayers only. (At least until a higher court rules on the ACLU’s lawsuit against neighboring Pittsylvania County, who had been opening their meetings with Christian prayers, until an injunction stopped them.)

Why don’t these so-called leaders read the Constitution and Bill of Rights?

Church and State are to be kept separate. For the protection of both!

These actions of mine have resulted in total strangers calling me, most of them with hostile insults. I have also received a number of similar emails. And every one of them is a righteous Christian, of course.

The letter that follows is one of the few responses I bothered to write to any of these detractors, since he was at least polite.

I share it in hopes of getting more people to think about what they believe, versus what they know, which are not the same concepts. Read more »

Becky Mushko, at her family cemetry in Union Hall. Monday, she ordered a new tombstone for herself to replace the one she bought in 2005 but was later stolen. | Shot by Dan

It’s not every day that a reader invites you to go tombstone shopping. So when Becky Mushko did — to replace one that was stolen five years ago — how could I resist?

That’s how I found myself at Add a Touch Monuments, just west of Rocky Mount on Monday morning, surveying Georgia granite display models.

“Have you ever seen anyone so excited about buying a tombstone?” asked Shirley Winingham, owner of Add a Touch.

The answer was certainly no.

Mushko, 66, is a freelance writer, retired Roanoke teacher and former English instructor at Ferrum College and author of the blog Peevish Pen.

She bought the tombstone seven years ago as a Christmas present for herself, she said.

Why does someone buy her own tombstone?

“I’m an only child, with no children, and my husband does not have very good taste,” Mushko explained. There was no telling what kind of ugly grave marker he would choose for her, so “I figured I’d better take care of it.”

Besides, Add a Touch Monuments was running a “5 percent off” sale back then and Mushko is a sucker for a bargain.
The stone she chose in 2005 was two feet wide and two feet tall, light gray with a polished front and back. Read more »

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Note from Dan: This column originally ran June 2, 2011. The following November, former Franklin County Sheriff Ewell Hunt finished third of three candidates in his re-election bid.

A couple of years ago, the campy foibles of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office were funny in a tawdry, “Dukes of Hazzard” kind of way.

Back then, according to a grand jury’s report, it was a corn pone soap opera: Sheriff Ewell Hunt’s tantrum-prone teenage daughter, a part-time clerk on the sheriff’s payroll nicknamed “Hurricane Ashley,” bossed around full-time deputies and played dress-up cop.

She yelled at her dad in front of his staff, turned in highly questionable time sheets and defiantly carried on an eye-rolling relationship with an older married officer, Deputy Jonathan Agee.

Now, events have turned tragic. Agee’s ex-wife, Jennifer Agee, is dead, allegedly slain by the enraged deputy Monday outside a Roanoke convenience store — in front of one of their daughters. Then, Agee allegedly shot a state trooper during his getaway.

Negligent and indefensible actions by Sheriff Hunt preceded these crimes. That’s why he should resign his office now. Read more »

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Note from Dan: While I’m on vacation I’m treating you to some previously published columns. This one ran June 12, 2011. Sheriff Hunt lost his bid for re-election Nov. 8, when he took less than 20 percent of the vote in a three-way race. He’s now defending himself against a $20 million lawsuit brought by the estate of Jennifer Agee.

If you live within 60 miles of Rocky Mount, you can smell that charcoal grill odor in the air.

The coals were lighted May 30, when police say an enraged Franklin County sheriff’s deputy, Jonathan Agee, shot and killed his ex-wife, Jennifer Agee, outside a Roanoke convenience store, then shot a state trooper during his getaway.

And now they’re red and gray-hot. Above the embers is a goose clamped to a spit. It is Franklin County Sheriff Ewell Hunt.

As the spit turns, Hunt’s actions and words in the wake of the deadly tragedy are being evaluated. And, like fat dripping onto a hot fire, there’s another flare-up with each new detail. Read more »

Nummer Vier | Wikimedia Commons

Note from Dan: The headline above is Ritchie Duffy’s, not mine. Having owned one of the watches he’s talking about, years ago, I can understand the mistake he made. Should he have to pay for that?

By Ritchie Duffy

Today I realized that I did not pay my real estate tax and personal property taxes by the 12/5/11 due date.  My wrist watch has a calendar which told me today is the 5th — the due date, so I wrote a check and proceeded to the treasurer’s office to do my civic duty.

On the way I stopped and checked my cell phone, for assurance of the date — today is the 6th — a day late.  How did this happen?

My watch displays a calendar, unfortunately based on a 31 day month.  November has 30 days and I had failed to re-set the calendar on 12/1 – my bad – my calendar is off by one day.  I called the treasurer’s office and was told — too bad — you have incurred a 10% penalty. Read more »