FAMILY BLAMES DEALER VESTAL DIED WHILE OPPOSING DRUGS

SMITHFIELD -- Richard Vestal Jr., a 36-year-old carpet layer shot in the
face six years ago by intruders hiding in his bedroom, was targeted because
of his efforts to rid his mobile home park of drugs, family members said
Wednesday. "The police were able to bust some people because of our
brother's information," said Linda Vestal of Hickory, Vestal's younger
sister. "But that put him in harm's way."

For six years, Vestal's death had been a mystery in Clayton. Police chipped
away at the case, and about two months ago, they discovered DNA on a mask
left in Vestal's home the night of the homicide. Police said the
breakthrough allowed them to charge Jonathan Jenkins, a 32-year-old born
again Christian from Clayton, with first-degree murder.

Clayton police have said someone paid Jenkins $1,000 to kill Vestal, but
they have refused to say who they think hired Jenkins and haven't tipped
their hand about motive.

In 1998, drugs such as marijuana and crack cocaine pervaded Clayton Estates
Mobile Home Park, off N.C. 42 in Clayton, family members said. Vestal lived
in the park with his two teenage sons and worried about their exposure to
drugs, his sisters said.

Family members said they think a neighborhood dealer orchestrated Vestal's
death.

Police said they worked a number of drug cases in Clayton Estates about
that time but refused to comment further.

Frustration with case

Vestal's four sisters, along with his children, traveled to Smithfield on
Wednesday morning to voice their frustration to District Attorney Tom Lock
about how Jenkins' case is being handled.

Earlier this month, Lock said he would not pursue the death penalty against
Jenkins, a decision that angered Vestal's family. Jenkins is in the
Johnston County jail in lieu of $750,000 bail, and Vestal's family members
said they fear that Jenkins will post bail and come after them.

"Richard's son is sleeping with the lights on again and double-checking the
locks on his door each night," Linda Vestal said, referring to Chris
Vestal, now 21, who was asleep in the trailer the night of the killing.

Members of Remnant on the Rock, a fundamentalist Christian church in
Clayton that Jenkins helps lead, and Jenkins' family have been raising
money to set him free. Jenkins, a former Western Carolina University
football star and one-time NFL hopeful, has a wife and three young daughters.

If released, Jenkins would be under house arrest, unable to leave home for
work or play, Lock said.

Lock said he chose not to pursue the death penalty because he couldn't
prove the killing was a contract slaying. Lock assured family members
Wednesday that he would reconsider if more evidence to support the
allegation surfaces.

Lock "answered a lot of our questions, and we were satisfied," Linda Vestal
said.

Overshadowed

Vestal's family members said they fear that his memory has been
overshadowed by media attention to Jenkins.

"We have decided to speak, not to point fingers, but to shed a little light
on the other side of the equation," Linda Vestal said in a prepared
statement to reporters.

Holidays have been dimmer for the Vestal family since Richard Vestal died.
He has not been around to cut up at the dinner table, race his car at a
Wake County speedway or spoil his four grandchildren with toys they don't need.

His mother, Carol Gill, lost the will to live and died of a heart attack a
few years after her son was shot, family members said.

At the time of his death, Vestal had recently split with his wife of nearly
20 years. He reared his two boys in Clayton and shared custody of one of
his daughters. He had recently reconnected with an older daughter from a
previous relationship, and he had just returned from visiting her in Garner
the night of his death.

Vestal worked long hours as a carpet layer. On weekends, he would venture
to the speedway to try his luck with No. 34, a blue and red race car.

A middle child in a household of four girls and two boys, Vestal was the
clown, his siblings said. His sisters clutched family albums Wednesday
afternoon as they stood in the atrium of the Johnston County Courthouse.

"[Jenkins] didn't give my brother a chance to raise his children," Linda
Vesta said. "At least [Jenkins] gets to see his children every Sunday when
they visit the jail."