SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS METH LAB MURDER CONVICTION

The Georgia Supreme Court issued rulings Friday in two murder cases with
ties to Middle Georgia.

The court upheld the murder conviction of a Putnam County man for the death
of his mother during a house fire that started after the man had been
"cooking" methamphetamine.

Lamar Morgan Moore, 21, was convicted of felony murder, criminal attempt to
manufacture methamphetamine and trafficking in methamphetamine. He is
serving a life sentence at Valdosta State Prison.

While the court upheld the murder conviction, it did vacate Moore's
conviction and sentence for criminal attempt to manufacture methamphetamine
on the grounds that, as the underlying felony on the murder charge, a
separate sentence on the criminal attempt charge was not authorized.
Moore's 15-year sentence on the drug charge was to run concurrently with
the murder sentence, meaning the time was being served together. The ruling
does not alter the life sentence.

"We're just disappointed the Supreme Court did not accept oral arguments in
the case," said Moore's attorney, Robert Ford. He said the court made its
decision from written submissions.

Evidence at trial showed Moore was cooking methamphetamine at the Gray
Highway home of his mother and stepfather during the early morning hours of
Dec. 22, 2000. Authorities believe Moore was trying to pour ether down the
kitchen sink when the pilot light on the stove ignited the fumes, catching
the house on fire.

Moore's mother, 36-year-old Brenda Keagle, was unable to escape. Moore
tried to get back into the house to rescue her but failed. The home's other
occupants - Moore's girlfriend, his sister, his stepfather and his
stepfather's son - all escaped.

In other rulings, the state Supreme Court upheld a trial court decision to
allow into evidence a statement from the defendant in a Brooks County
murder case that was tried in Bibb County.

Paul Williams Wilson, 35, who was sentenced to life without the possibility
of parole in March 2000 for the death of Carol Sue Gibbs, had claimed a
statement he gave to police should have been suppressed.

Trial evidence showed Wilson and Gibbs had dated for a time while Gibbs
went through a divorce. Once her divorce was finalized, Gibbs told friends
she wanted to break off her relationship with Wilson and reconcile with her
ex-husband.

Gibbs was last seen alive Dec. 29, 1995, when she told friends she was
going to see Wilson about the relationship. Her car was recovered Jan. 1,
1996, at a hotel, and her body was found six days later in a green sleeping
bag in a cemetery near Wilson's home.

A search of Wilson's home revealed blood splatters and some of Gibbs'
blood. He was convicted of murder, false imprisonment, theft by taking and
concealing a death.

To contact Debbie Rhyne, call 744-4334.