Search our archives for past articles by name, keyword or subject
HomeWeatherLate newsGovernmentJusticeBusinessCommerceOpinionLinks/IndexEnvironmentArchivesAbout The Putnam Pit
Putnam County's watchdog press
The way the constitution envisioned journalism

The Putnam Pit: 'The only good sacred cow is medium rare with fries' -- Dog X

'Going where no dog has gone before -- and without a leash!'


Public sentiment: Gibson is incapable of fairly prosecuting Former Putnam County Tax Assessor Byron Looper
Rush to judgment: Gibson slaps a first degree murder charge on the unpopular Byron Looper (10/23/98)
Harris Column: The irrefutable fact: Byron Looper is not guilty (11/28/98)
Justice system needs to be scrutinized as the Looper case proceeds By SAMUEL J. HARRIS
Hallelujah

DA Bill Gibson and the TBI allegedly solve Burks murder!!

It's an Upper Cumberland miracle!
Eat your heart out,  Lourdes

Gibson blocks TBI investigation of theft by Court Clerk Lewis Coomer, and the drug-related murders of Darlene Eldridge and Tim Neill go unsolved for years. But Gibson and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation bring charges against the unpopular Putnam County tax assessor just four days after the murder of state Senator Tommy Burks. Only the devil would point out that . . .
Gibson wanted to 'set up' Byron Looper last year, informant swears


Click thumbnails for documents



It's deja vu all over again
Letter to the editor from March 1998:
On March 24, 1998, the Putnam County Grand Jury -- led by Democratic Party district attorney general and candidate for re-election, Bill Gibson, decided that Republican Assessor of Property Byron Looper must stand trial for assorted acts of official misconduct. 

While holding public officials accountable is a great but new concept in Putnam County, Tenn., using public office for political and personal purposes is nothing new. 

Letter to the editor revisited

 


 
Looper on trial
Man who testified he was in on Looper's plan to kill Tommy Burks said prosecutors assured him he won't be prosecuted if he tells 'the truth'

A veteran Marine Corps staff sergeant claims he rejected as 'just not right' Putnam County Tax Assessor Byron [Low Tax] Looper's entreaties to give a false alibi in his dress blues, but Joe Bond nevertheless coached Looper on guns, silencers and calibers, loaned him money, and offered to hide his car and let him launder his clothing the morning after the killing.
 

Staff Sgt. Joe Bond 
Witness: Looper admitted to killing Burks
The Tennessean

'I did it, man. I killed that dude,' buddy testifies Looper told him
Commercial-Appeal

Looper quoted: "I killed that dude" Herald-Citizen
 

 

Gibson on trial
Putnam County Assessor of Property Byron Looper appeared Nov. 23 in Cumberland County General Sessions Court in Crossville for a preliminary hearing in the murder of state Sen. Tommy Burks.
Prosecutors convinced the court there is probable cause to believe Looper murdered Burks. The matter  now goes to a grand jury.
But on trial as much as Looper was Thirteenth Judicial District Attorney General William E. Gibson, who has been trying to set up Looper by any means, including lies, according to the sworn affidavit of a confidential informant. The informant apparently was believable enough for Gibson to use in setting up owners of poker machines two years ago and generating fines for his misused Economic Crime Fund, but the informant's comments about Gibson are "lies," Gibson said.
DA Bill Gibson goes on national TV; says Putnam County's tax assessor is charged with murder although he's not a suspect in State Sen. Tommy Burks' killing

 
 Byron Looper
Always 'glaringly absent' from work
Is the stage set for another great miscarriage of justice in the Thirteenth Judicial District?

 
 
 
 

Escati Free Counter
You are Visitor No: