Investigators still looking for `whys' in Phelon shooting

Web posted October 4, 1997

By John Boyette
South Carolina Editor

AIKEN - Arthur Hastings Wise, accused of killing four R.E. Phelon Co. workers on Sept. 15, is still under lock and key at Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville.

But it's still a mystery as to what kind of substance Mr. Wise ingested that afternoon when he went on the deadly shooting spree.

``It's still kind of a question mark,'' said Lt. Michael Frank, spokesman for the Aiken County Sheriff's Office.

Aiken Regional Medical Centers would not release information on Mr. Wise or what he swallowed. The accused gunman was captured in an upstairs quality assurance office at the Phelon plant where police found him at about 5:20 p.m., more than two hours after a 911 call alerted authorities at 3:07 p.m.

Mr. Wise was taken to Aiken Regional Medical Centers after swallowing an unknown substance, police said.

He was served with 15 arrest warrants charging him with four counts of murder, three counts of assault and battery with intent to kill, seven counts of possession of a pistol while committing a violent crime, and second-degree burglary for unlawful entry, Lt. Frank said.

Mr. Wise is being kept as a ``safe-keeper'' in Bishopville until he goes to trial, said John Barkley, spokesman for the S.C. Department of Corrections. That means the accused gunman is kept away from the general prison population and is locked in his cell for 23 hours each day, only getting some fresh air for one hour in a restricted area, Mr. Barkley said.

The Aiken County Clerk of Court's Office said Public Defender Regina Poteat has been named Mr. Wise's attorney, according to documents filed Sept. 18. But an official in the clerk's office said they expect a letter of conflict from the public defender, which may mean Mr. Wise will have another attorney appointed to him.

Ms. Poteat was out of her office Friday.

Meanwhile, Phelon officials are expected to announce Monday how much money has been raised for a memorial fund for victims' families.

A nonprofit organization will manage and distribute the money collected to support the families of the four employees killed. The victims were Sheryl Wood, 27, David Moore, 30, Leonard Filyaw, 30, and Charles Griffeth, 56.

Checks should be made payable to the Phelon Victims' Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 1254, Aiken, S.C. 29802.