Anniston attorney faces additional murder for hire charge while in jail

Matthew Merrill

An Anniston attorney charged in an alleged murder-for-hire plot is now facing an additional charge in which prosecutors say that while in jail, he asked  a fellow inmate to commit murder.
32 year old Matthew Merrill,  was arrested July 25 while already in custody on other charges. Merrill is charged with soliciting a fellow inmate in the Calhoun County Jail between May 5 and July 24 to kill Patrick Thomas McCarroll and Lindsey Ghee.
Merrill was indicted by a Calhoun County grand jury May 9, charged with soliciting another man, Gerald Anton Griffin, to kill McCarroll, court records show..
Merrill was arrested May 5 by Anniston police on charges including possession of a controlled substance, illegal possession of prescription drugs and public drunkenness. During that stop, police found a notebook with details about his alleged murder-for-hire plot.
Court records show that previous conditions of Merrill’s release included having no contact with Patrick McCarroll, Lindsey Ghee or her immediate family. Ghee is a daughter of Anniston attorney and former state Sen. Doug Ghee.
Calhoun County District Attorney Brian McVeigh said he could not comment on the details of the recent charge, but said that Merrill has been transferred from the Calhoun County Jail to the Etowah County Jail.
State prosecutes on July 25 asked the court to keep Merrill in jail with no bond, and in solitary confinement with no contact with other inmates, court records show. Calhoun County Circuit Judge Brian Howell on June 25 set Merrill’s bond at $1 million.
At a bond reduction hearing June 24 an Anniston police investigator told the court that more than one inmate informed police that Merrill had discussed the murder-for-hire plot with them, and had allegedly offered one inmate $50,000 to kill a man. Merrill also allegedly offered a separate inmate $20,000 to kill two men Merrill believed could testify to his drug use.
Merrill is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 14 for a preliminary hearing on his latest murder solicitation charge

Rainbow City woman killed in interstate crash

State troopers are investigating an interstate accident that killed a woman from Rainbow City.
Officials say 56 year old Melissa Hill,  was killed when the SUV she was riding in went off the road and overturned.
It happened around 11 p.m. Wednesday night on I-59 about two miles south of Argo. The driver of the SUV was injured and taken to UAB Hospital.
No other vehicles were involved in the crash.

Grand Jury to hear murder case against Anniston man

Lonnie Spinks

A Calhoun County grand jury is scheduled to hear a case against an Anniston man charged with shooting another man to death in June.
32 year old Lonnie Spinks,  is charged with capital murder in connection with the June 25 death of 55 year old Marlin Monroe Jones,  of Hutto Hill Road.
Calhoun County District Judge Chris McIntyre in a preliminary hearing Thursday ordered that the case to the  grand jury, to be heard in August.
Spinks remains in the Calhoun County Jail under a $100,000 bond.
Anniston police say there was an argument between Jones and others at a residence on West 14th Street, an area known as Central City.
Jones and three others were driving away from that residence when Spinks shot into the vehicle, hitting Jones in the lower left portion of his back.
Jones pleaded guilty to murder in 2008 in connection with the deadly stabbing of an 18-year-old man in 2004. Jones was sentenced to 20 years, serving four of those years in prison. He was to remain on probation for the remainder of that sentence.

Man injured in Tuesday hit and run dies, suspect arrested

Authorities in Albertville say a man struck by a van died Wednesday in a Huntsville Hospital.   Detectives with the Albertville police department arrested the driver who allegedly hit him and left the scene Wednesday.
23  year old  Bradley Aaron Benefield, of  Southerland Drive in Horton, was struck by a vehicle at 11:05 p.m. Tuesday while crossing Baltimore Avenue (Alabama Highway 205) near Willow Creek Apartments. Benefield died Wednesday afternoon at Huntsville Hospital.
38 year old Juan Gomez Jorge, of South Hambrick Street, Albertville, was arrested Wednesday on a felony charge of leaving the scene of an accident. Jorge told detectives he is an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, and that is why he fled.
A witness told police Benefield was hit by a white vehicle, and detectives were able to use vehicle parts left at the scene to narrow down a make and model.
One of the detectives spotted the van at a local body shop and was able to track down the driver.
Officials say  the district attorney’s office, or possibly a grand jury, could consider additional charges against Jorge because Benefield died as a result of his injuries.

RMC to discontinue acceptance of Blue Cross insurance in September

A dispute over money between Regional Medical Center and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama may result in blue cross  customers being without coverage at the Anniston-based hospital network in September.
RMC officials say Blue Cross should pay more for the hospital’s services to match what the insurer pays other area hospitals — allowing it to stay competitive. Meanwhile, Blue Cross says it won't increase its reimbursements to RMC, arguing that to do so would raise customers' premiums too much.
In a Thursday press release, Blue Cross stated that RMC is terminating its contract with the company, effective Sept. 12. As a result, most services offered at RMC will not be covered by Blue Cross insurance after that date.  Blue Cross will still be required to cover any emergency treatments performed in RMC's emergency rooms.
After Sept. 12, the nonprofit RMC will become the only hospital in Alabama not included in Blue Cross' statewide network.  Blue Cross has been informing its customers and the medical community about the situation in recent days and pointing them to other hospitals to use instead of RMC.
Blue Cross controls about 90 percent of the market in Alabama.
With more than 1,500 employees, RMC is one of the region’s largest employers. It operates two hospitals in Calhoun County, and has facilities in Roanoke, Talladega and Piedmont. Approximately one-third of its annual revenue comes from Blue Cross reimbursements.
According to RMC, over the past 10 years, Blue Cross has paid RMC up to 30 percent less for providing the same services as nearby hospitals, specifically Stringfellow Memorial Hospital and two hospitals in Gadsden, all operated by Tennessee-based Community Health Systems. David McCormack, CEO of RMC, said that the reimbursement rate has meant that RMC's competitors have received millions of dollars more from Blue Cross in recent years for providing the same services.

Gadsden medal of honor winner honored on stamp

Col. Ola Lee Mize

Post Office officials in Gadsden say they have ordered extra stock of stamps honoring Korean War Medal of Honor recipients because the package includes a photo of Col. Ola Lee Mize of Gadsden.  The stamp folio was released this week and pays tribute to 145 American veterans who received the nation’s highest military honor for service during the Korean War.  Mize, who died on March 12, was one of 13 Medal of Honor recipients from the Korea War who were alive when the folio was being designed and is pictured on the cover. Mize and three other Korean Medal of Honor recipients died before the stamps were issued.