Gibson blocks TBI investigation of theft by Court Clerk Lewis Coomer, and the drug-related murders of Darlene Eldridge and Tim Neill go unsolved for years. But Gibson and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation bring charges against the unpopular Putnam County tax assessor just four days after the murder of state Senator Tommy Burks. Only the devil would point out that . . .

It's deja vu all over again

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On March 24, 1998, the Putnam County Grand Jury -- led by Democratic Party district attorney general and candidate for re-election, Bill Gibson, decided that Republican Assessor of Property Byron Looper must stand trial for assorted acts of official misconduct. 

While holding public officials accountable is a great but new concept in Putnam County, Tenn., using public office for political and personal purposes is nothing new. 

A veteran Marine Corps staff sergeant claims he rejected as 'just not right' Putnam County Tax Assessor Byron [Low Tax] Looper's entreaties to give a false alibi in his dress blues, but Joe Bond nevertheless coached Looper on guns, silencers and calibers, loaned him money, and offered to hide his car and let him launder his clothing the morning after the killing.
 

'I did it, man. I killed that dude,' buddy testifies Looper told him
Commercial-Appeal

Looper quoted: "I killed that dude" Herald-Citizen
 

Putnam County Assessor of Property Byron Looper appeared Nov. 23 in Cumberland County General Sessions Court in Crossville for a preliminary hearing in the murder of state Sen. Tommy Burks.
Prosecutors convinced the court there is probable cause to believe Looper murdered Burks. The matter  now goes to a grand jury.
But on trial as much as Looper was Thirteenth Judicial District Attorney General William E. Gibson, who has been trying to set up Looper by any means, including lies, according to the sworn affidavit of a confidential informant. The informant apparently was believable enough for Gibson to use in setting up owners of poker machines two years ago and generating fines for his misused Economic Crime Fund, but the informant's comments about Gibson are "lies," Gibson said.