Hey, Al Gore -- There's terrorism in Cookeville, TN
 

Who tried to kill Mary Jo?

City Council gives police a raise; now [if you don't mind,] solve a crime

[Or is Gibson involved?]
 
 

 By GEOFF DAVIDIAN
Putnam Pit editor

Stop Mary Jo Denton --Wouldn't some paid thug or politician afraid of being discovered as a sleaze ball be happy to neutralize a reporter covering crime in Putnam County? Maybe that's why law-enforcement officials have not put the cuffs on the felon who shot up Herald-Citizen reporter Mary Jo Denton's home Jan. 9, 1994. When cops let criminals shoot at reporters, how good is law enforcement? The investigation is "on going," police say, but Detective James Lane told The Pit that nothing new had been added to the "open" case file in ages. 
    Image how comforted you would be if nearly three years later the police investigation was "on going," and they said they had no suspect. Suppose it was you and your child awakened at 5 a.m. by bullets slicing though what you stupidly thought was your haven from the outside world. We all are only as safe as is Mary Jo.
    What's the message here? Criminals go free? The person who shot at Mary Jo is free, the killer of Darlene Eldridge is free, the killer of Tim Neill is free. Some people get away with murder, some people get away with attempted murder.
    If you know who terrorized Mary Jo Denton, get it off your chest. The Putnam Pit will not reveal your identity. Call our turn-in-a-coward-or-paid-thug hotline at (414) 793-5655.
    We will try as hard as we can to bring this coward to justice. Remember, next time it could be your house, your wife, your child.
    Who tried to kill Mary Jo?
    How afraid are you? There's a $10,000 reward, you know. Imagine the response if you came forward and fingered the punk, then gave the reward to charity.
   Or, imagine how that $10,000 would improve your life style. Or, imagine what you could do for your children with that $10,000.
   We'll even throw in an official Putnam Pit T-Shirt.
   Tell us this: Did the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation screw up the investigation?
   Why won't the city call in the FBI? What has District Attorney Bill Gibson done to investigate terrorism in Putnam County?

        Folks, what we have here is an attempt to keep YOU from knowing what is going on by what seems to be the attempted murder of a newspaper reporter. What would be an intelligent response to this situation? It is one thing to say one wants to solve this crime more than anything; it's another to actually do it. Mary Jo Denton has served the community for years. Isn't it about time she got the payback? What do you say, Benson? Gibson? Abston? Roberts? Do the work, boys. It's almost election time and you don't want this hanging over your head like it has over Mary Jo's for three years.