Just Because A Guy Is Rich Doesnt Mean He Has Class

by Michelle Feuer

Rihanna’s battered face flashed me back to a case I worked on for CBS 48 Hours Mystery.

Twenty-eight-year-old Mary Heather Spencer, simply known as Heather, had that mysterious quality that made all men fall for her, plus she was gorgeous, smart, and kind. The girl voted “Most Beautiful” by her classmates could have gotten any guy she wanted, but she chose horribly wrong. For a year-and a half, Heather dated George Bell III (both pictured left), the third generation of the prominent Jackson, Mississippi family known for their carpet and rug business.

George was thought of as charming and intelligent by many who knew him, but things started going wrong in his life. His business was failing and his frustration led him to cocaine and steroids. In June 2007, he beat Heather so badly that she needed 57 stitches in her head. She refused to press charges against him. “She wanted to see the best in him, because that's the kind of person she is. She sees the best in everyone," said her mother. "She thought with her help, she could make him a better person." He went unpunished, but family members supposedly paid for him to go to rehab. The number of police reports was lengthy.

Just three months later, Heather was murdered by George Bell III. I watched in court as he admitted to kidnapping, sexually assaulting, then beating and strangling his girlfriend to death. He was sentenced to life without parole on the murder charge, and 30 years for the kidnapping. He cried as he read his apology statement to Heather’s mother, Linda Francomb, and Heather’s brother, Xan.

Linda Francomb, for a long time, questioned the involvement of Robbie Bell, George's own mother. In October 2007, Hinds County District Attorney Faye Peterson indicted Robbie Bell as an accessory after the fact, but new DA Robert S. Smith and the attorney general’s office dropped the charges in March 2008 for lack of evidence “after an exhaustive investigation and finally, discussion with the victim’s family,” according to the attorney general’s office.
On June 2, 2008 Linda Francomb filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Robbie and George Bell III.

“During the late evening hours of September 10, 2007, and/or early morning hours of September 11, 2007, while Defendant Robbie Bell, George Bell, III, and Mary Heather Spencer were present, Defendant George Bell, III became enraged, and did violence to the person of Mary Heather Spencer,” the Francomb suit states. “Such violence inflicted severe, but survivable injuries upon the person of Mary Heather Spencer … (who) died as a result of the failure to receive treatment sustained as a result.”Spencer’s family has stated repeatedly that she did not immediately die after the attack, citing a coroner’s report that allegedly states she died six or seven hours after the attack. “Had aid or assistance been furnished to Mary Heather Spencer, Mary Heather Spencer would not have died,” the suit continues. The Bell response, however, states that Francomb has no evidence supporting the allegations that Robbie Bell was in the house when the crime occurred, or that Spencer was alive when Robbie Bell entered her home that evening. The response demands that any evidence to the contrary be produced, or Francomb’s suit should be dismissed. Because Spencer was already dead when Robbie Bell came home, the response says, Robbie Bell is not liable for Spencer’s death.

Today, Heather’s mom is trying to save other women from the same outcome. Please check out Linda Francomb’s new foundation: Heather's TREE (Training, Resources, Education and Empowerment) to combat domestic violence. "If I could help another young woman out of a relationship, make the right choices, give them opportunity to find way out…I want to help them anyway we can.”

Run, Rihanna, run.

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The Murder of Wilma Ward

by Michelle Feuer

I’m reminded this month that sometimes it’s not a bad thing to become obsessed and completely consumed with one’s work or passion. Obsession leads to progress, however uncomfortable it may be. This reminder came because of a coroner whom I met through my adventures with CBS 48 Hours Mystery.

His name is Gary Watts and he is the coroner in Richland County in Columbia, South Carolina. I should mention that he was introduced to me through 60 Minutes über producer Andy Court. You won’t believe the cold case full of twists and turns that Gary Watts and his team cracked open.

On October 17, 1983, Wilma Ward reportedly committed suicide in Cayce, South Carolina, by stabbing herself to death with a letter opener. Yes, you read that correctly, a letter opener! Back in the 1960s and 70s, Wilma, who was an office manager/bookkeeper, was allegedly having an affair with the Capital Sign Company's owner, Lloyd Blackwood—a married man. To conceal their so-called love child, Rachel (formerly Rachel Ward, now Rachel Wadford) was passed off as Wilma's younger sister. Turns out, Wilma was Rachel's mother—not her sister.

All of this would have remained a secret forever had it not been for Rachel's 2007 chance encounter with a former office worker and colleague of Wilma's. He told her about the affair and suggested that Wilma had NOT committed suicide.

Rachel accepted the fact that Wilma had taken her own life, but the circumstances had always troubled her. She never felt that she had all the answers to what really happened. Rachel was confronted with a mystery: Did someone murder her mother, and why?

Rachel called the Richland County Coroner, Gary Watts. Watts (pictured right) was able to recover the original ME's report and quickly doubted the validity of the suicide ruling. How could she have committed suicide by stabbing herself MULTIPLE TIMES? Watts immediately summoned two of Columbia's most experienced investigators, David Bell and Gene Mincey, to form a Cold Case Squad. Mincey was in retirement, but came out to help. With the case files, evidence, and photos all missing, they had to find and re-interview all of the original employees of Capital Sign Company.

In 1983, the original case investigator theorized that 5'3, 100 pound Wilma had attacked her lover (Lloyd) with a metal pipe—and then stabbed herself. Watts and the Cold Case Squad came up with an entirely new theory. Investigators believe Wilma's colleague, Jack Simpson, may have committed the murder. Simpson was a friend and longtime employee of Wilma's alleged lover and boss, Lloyd Blackwood. And the twists kept coming. Mincey and Bell learned there could have been an active IRS investigation into Capital Sign Company where Wilma was the bookkeeper/office manager for Lloyd. One theory is that Wilma was accepting under-the-table payments from Lloyd to stay quiet about their affair (company funds allegedly paid for certain household items of hers). Another theory is that Jack Simpson may have learned about the affair and had been trying to extort money from the company.

On October 20, 2008, Watts led a public Coroner’s Inquest, in front of a sworn-in jury. The jury heard testimony from key witnesses as questioned by Gary Watts. The Inquest lasted a full day, but in under an hour the jury came back with a decision. They concluded that Wilma Ward had NOT committed suicide, but was murdered. They even named the suspect as Jack Simpson who was arrested in November. This 1983 case may now go to the Grand Jury. Confusing to even the most enthusiastic crime buffs? In South Carolina during a Coroner’s Inquest, the jury can actually be asked to name a suspect. Keep in mind there was no defense whatsoever; it was all testimony as called by Gary Watts and his team. Jack Simpson was called to testify, but did not appear.

Something else worth mentioning from the national news lately . . . a couple of weeks ago marked the 20th anniversary of University of Florida student Tiffany Sessions’ disappearance. Let’s never ever forget this extraordinary young woman whose family still searches for answers. Please visit her family’s Web site or their Facebook group, The Tiffany Sessions Project, to learn more.

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WCI Welcomes Two New Contributors

Women in Crime Ink is bringing fresh ink to our page. This week, we are introducing two new regular contributors: true-crime historian Laura James and 48 Hours producer Michelle Feuer.

Online true-crime fans will recognize the name Laura James as the woman behind the acclaimed crime blog CLEWS (the old-fashioned newsie's spelling of "clues"). CLEWS is described as "a literary blog where the chairs rest at the intersection of history, journalism, law, and murder, and the shelves are filled with the finest true-crime literature." As a lawyer, a former reporter, and a life-long crime reader with distinguishing literary taste, Laura fits the bill for a literary blog that caters to the true-crime genre. Her first book, The Love Pirate and the Bandit's Son: Murder, Sin, and Scandal in the Shadow of Jesse James, is scheduled for release in May.

True-crime TV junkies would remember shows produced by our other addition, although Michelle Feuer is a woman who works behind the scenes, rather than on-screen. As a producer for 48 Hours Mystery, she pursues her passion for developing remarkable stories that reach millions of people. Michelle started her broadcast journalism career overseas, covering foreign news while based out of NBC's London bureau. Working for Dateline, she became known for her documentary-style pieces when she embedded with the Bronx Homicide Unit and the Boston Crime Lab. Michelle has been nominated for four Emmy awards and a Gracie, and she won an ABA Silver Gavel award (a distinction shared by WCI's Diane Dimond). At the invitation of WCI contributor Jenna Jackson, Michelle's colleague at 48 Hours, Michelle wrote a guest piece for us in December. We are proud to announce that she will be writing for us regularly.

Please join us in welcoming our newest contributors to Women in Crime Ink. Make sure to read Laura's first piece on Thursday and Michelle's tomorrow. As WCI celebrates our first year online this month, look for another stellar addition to our roster soon!

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YOUR TURN: Why Does Everyone in Betty Neumar's Life Die?

by Michelle Feuer

I am thirty-five years old and I should have babies—not grandmothers—on the brain. As a producer for CBS 48 Hours, I rushed short notice to a story in Virginia for a colleague whose grandparent died, which, oddly, was on the same day that my 90-year-old grandparents were coming in from L.A. to Atlanta for a visit. All these grandmothers made me remember a case that I started in May, but which came to a complete halt. The jarring stop contrasts with the international media coverage and piles of investigative work by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Mitch Weiss, and the endless stream of oddities that I haven’t found answers to.

Bad Luck Grandmother or Black Widow?

The case of 76-year-old grandmother and hairdresser Betty Neumar made headlines last spring. In May, a source in Augusta, Georgia told me Betty had been arrested for soliciting the murder of her former husband, Harold Gentry, way back in 1986. Solicitation of murder, a murder that happened in 1986? Why should we all be so interested? (This is the second Women in Crime Ink story on the case.)

CBS 48 Hours allowed me to dig deeper. Guided by reports from then-AP reporter Mitch Weiss, who was on the ground in Albemarle, North Carolina (where Betty had lived with her husband, Harold Gentry), I learned that Betty Neumar has five dead husbands—and a dead son.

The Body Count Begins

Betty was in Ironton, Ohio when she met her first husband, Clarence Malone, whom she married at age 18. Shocking for the 1950s, Betty filed a public complaint against him claiming abuse. I could never find a divorce record, but family members now say the couple split eighteen years before Clarence Malone was found dead with a gunshot wound to the back of his head at his auto repair shop in 1970. Betty and Malone had son Gary together who was later to be adopted by Betty’s second husband (see below). No one was arrested for Malone’s murder.

Also known as “Bee,” Betty stayed in Ohio and married James Flynn (Husband #2, who adopted her young son, Gary). And the question marks just keep getting bigger when looking into this stage in her life. Betty reportedly told investigators that James Flynn died on a pier somewhere in New York in the 1950s, and that she had no other information.

Decades later, her son, Gary, would die of a "self-inflicted gunshot wound" after his mother took out a life insurance policy on him, according to her grandson Jeff Carstensen.

Before you can understand the death of her son Gary, you have to understand her move to Florida and marriage to Husband #3, Richard Sills.

Did Husband #3 Know Too Much?

Richard Sills was a Navy guy and in July 1965, Sills was found dead in the couple’s home in the Florida Keys. Betty reportedly told investigators that they were arguing when Sills snapped, took out a gun and shot himself.

Again, the investigation didn’t lead anywhere at the time. After Betty’s arrest this spring, NCIS investigator Mark Barstow found military records about the case, but without an autopsy it wasn’t clear how many bullets entered Sills’ body. Recent reports suggest that Sills may have been shot twice, not once, although there is no solid proof for such claims. The records are simply gone or never existed at all.

The way it has been explained to me is that due to the Florida statute of limitations, Sills’ body cannot be exhumed. Does his death scream motive for Betty’s son, Gary Flynn who died in 1985? Gary Flynn was reportedly in the house at the time of Sills’ death. Was he going to blow the whistle?

More Nuptials, More Funerals . . .

Husband #4, Harold Gentry, has been the most publicized death and the one that sparked the big dig into Betty's background. In 1968, the couple married in Georgia. At 36, she was the older woman; he was 29. Didn’t he ask about her past? Yes. According to Harold’s brother, Al Gentry, Betty told Harold that she’d been married before, but that her first husband had died of cancer. She worked as a school bus driver, waitress, and did hair. He was gone a lot, driving trucks.

The marriage lasted for two decades until Harold was found dead in the house with multiple gunshot wounds. Al Gentry and his brother, Richard, said Betty collected at least $20,000 in life insurance, plus other benefits from the military and sold the couple's house and other items. The death remained unsolved.

After Gentry’s death, Betty moved on to Husband #5, John Neumar. They stayed married for fourteen years until he died in October. The cause of death was due to sepsis. Laboratory analysis of the urn and ashes came up with nothing of interest.

Betty’s attorney in North Carolina, Charles Parnell, spoke to CBS 48 Hours on-camera, but sticks strictly to the subject of Betty’s solicitation case. She is currently out on bail, despite suggestions by prosecutors that she may have at least 28 aliases and an overseas bank account. We’d all love to hear Betty’s side of things—especially because there is relatively no paper trail to sort out truth from possible falsehood.

Today, Harold Gentry's brother, Al, still never leaves the house without a gun. He believes that Betty Neumar isn’t done yet. Is he right? Regardless of the answer, the truth should not be buried with Betty Neumar.

Michelle Feuer is a producer with CBS 48 Hours Mystery and lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Her passion is developing shows for CBS which end in remarkable stories being told to millions of people. She refuses to have a boring day and tries to be in the outdoors as much as possible. She is always inspired by her colleague, Jenna Jackson, who got her to blog for Women in Crime Ink.

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