PERRY DOCTOR TURNS HIMSELF IN

PERRY - A Perry doctor indicted two weeks ago for murder in the deaths of
six people turned himself in Monday to Houston County authorities.

Dr. Spurgeon Green was indicted July 13 by a Houston County grand jury on
the murder charges, including the death of a Jesup man. He also faces a
murder charge in Wayne County for that death, but the case may be
consolidated with Houston County's.

Green has been free on a $250,000 bond since charges against him were filed
last year in Wayne County in the death of Wayne Barbari, 40, of Jesup.

A bond hearing on the Houston County charges is scheduled for Thursday in
Houston County Superior Court in Perry.

Green, a certified pain specialist, is accused of prescribing various pain
medications to the six people without a legitimate medical purpose,
resulting in their deaths.

Houston County District Attorney Kelly Burke said Monday he will oppose
bond, which he said is the normal practice for anyone charged with murder.
He declined to elaborate on the grounds the state will seek to have bond
denied.

Green was originally expected to turn himself in last week, but the state
worked with Green's attorneys and agreed to allow Green to turn himself in
Monday, said Burke.

"I understand that he (the district attorney) will oppose the bond, and we
certainly will seek to establish that Dr. Green is worthy of bond," said O.
Hale Almand Jr., a Macon attorney representing Green.

Almand declined to specify the grounds on which the bond will be sought,
whether he will call witnesses on Green's behalf or to elaborate on the
case. Althea L. Buafo, a Macon attorney also representing Green, could not
be reached for comment Monday afternoon.

Almand previously told The Telegraph that "Dr. Green's treatment of his
patients is consistent with acceptable medical practices as will be clearly
demonstrated at his trial on the indictment."

Warner Robins City Councilman Grady Clemonts said Monday he is willing, if
asked, to take the stand on Green's behalf at the bond hearing. Clemonts
testified at Green's bond hearing in Jesup last year.

"I don't believe Dr. Green would do anything to harm anybody," said
Clemonts, who had been a patient of Green's since 1991. Before he lost his
license, Green had prescribed blood pressure medicine for him, said Clemonts.

"What I know about him is he's a caring doctor," Clemonts said. "If he's
not sure of your condition, he'd send you for a second opinion."

The Rev. Jeffery Walker of Warner Robins also is a supporter of Green.

"We still support Dr. Green, and we still believe that when all the facts
and all the evidence are tried, he will be exonerated," Walker said Monday.

The death of Barbari in April 2003 led to the first murder indictment,
issued in Wayne County. Green also is accused of killing Elmer Lee Teal
Jr., 46, of Warner Robins; Belinda Kay Maya, 46, of Houston County; Melissa
Marl Allen, 29, of Savannah; James Eugene Carr, 49, of Macon; and Thomas
Edward Bacigalupo, 44, of Warner Robins.

Burke also said he has not reached a decision yet on whether he will seek
the death penalty.