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Neighbors had few indications

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By Tracie Powell
Staff Writer

Before Arthur Hastings Wise walked into the R.E. Phelon Co. plant Monday afternoon, he told a neighbor that he was leaving the one bedroom North Augusta apartment where he lived for four years.

When asked where he was moving, Mr. Wise changed the subject, said the neighbor, Tommie Amaker.

``Nothing seemed out of the ordinary,'' said Mr. Amaker, who moved into the converted house a month after Mr. Wise. ``I just talked with him just this morning when I took him his mail. He was in a good mood. I did notice that he was evasive when I asked him why he was moving and where he planned to move. But I let him change the subject thinking if he wanted me to know, he'd tell me.''

RON COCKERILLE/STAFF

A few things about his neighbor were a little different, Mr. Amaker recalled Monday.

``He also used profanity this morning. I'd never heard him use profanity. And there are beer bottles on his porch. That's interesting, because he didn't drink,'' said Mr. Amaker, trying to recall if his friend showed signs of being upset earlier that day.

``He was his usual happy-go-lucky self,'' Mr. Amaker said.

Mr. Wise, 43, who kept to himself, was a Christian who went to church Sundays, his neighbors said. Even Sunday mornings, after he had been at his third-shift job, Mr. Wise would return home, shower and leave for church, neighbors said.

But friends and family members rarely visited him.

``The whole time he was here, I think maybe only two people came to visit him,'' Mr. Amaker said. ``He told me he didn't really communicate with his family. He once confided in me that he served 15 years in prison. He didn't tell me why, but he did say he had a problem with controlling his temper.

``He often talked to me,'' Mr. Amaker said. ``I just think to myself, `If something was bugging him, why didn't he come talk to me?' He said his family wouldn't let him live down his prison life. He told me he got some kind of degree while he was in prison. He was trying to go forward with his life.''

Mr. Wise, 43, recently lost his job at Phelon. Then he went on vacation out West, landlord George Barrow said. He had just returned and called to say he would be late with the rent.

``He was an excellent tenant. He paid his rent on time every month,'' said Mr. Barrow, who lives with his wife, Pauline, behind Mr. Wise's apartment. ``You couldn't ask for a better tenant. He was a gentleman always. Very polite. He didn't bother anybody and nobody bothered him. He was a nice fellow. ... I can't hardly believe that something like this would happen.''

Mr. Wise kept his red Saturn spotless and the muscular 6-foot-4, 250-pound man worked out often, neighbors said.

He walked his dog - his best friend - every day. The Pekingese barked in its master's absence Monday evening.

Mr. Wise left the air conditioner running in the small apartment because of the dog, Mr. Barrow surmised.

``He was crazy about that dog,'' Mrs. Barrow said.

``I'm just glad it didn't happen here,'' Mr. Barrow said.

Mr. Wise, who lived alone, was neat and surrounded himself with expensive things.

``He ordered a lot of things and all his clothes were from Atlanta,'' said Mr. Amaker. ``And everything in his apartment is really the best of quality. He always bought the best of everything.''

Mr. Wise's apartment was filled with books. ``I think he read a lot,'' Mr. Barrow said.

Neighbors believe Mr. Wise intended to return home because his dog was indoors and a small bag of trash was left on the porch.

``His laundry is stacked neatly in the laundry room and he said to me that if he was here when I got home from work, he'd talk to me then,'' Mr. Amaker said.