| Sources |
- [S75] Atchley Funeral Home Records, Volume II, 1955-1973, Larry D. Fox, (Smoky Mountain Historical Society), 20 Jul 1971.
Ralph Sneed obituary
- [S4] Knoxville News-Sentinel (Tennessee).
Sevier man indicted on first-degree murder charge
By Associated Press
December 2, 2004
NEWPORT - A Cocke County grand jury meeting in special session Wednesday indicted a Sevier County man in connection with the slayings of two men whose bodies were recovered from the Pigeon River about 10 days ago.
Shannon Ted Adams, 35, of Sevierville is charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
On Nov. 20, the body of Butch Wayne Phillips, 33, of Sevierville was found in the river by fishermen. He had been reported missing to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department a day earlier.
Investigators say Phillips and his uncle, Sherman Ray Phillips, 40, of Dandridge were seen leaving the Jefferson County home with Adams on Nov. 17. They were reported missing to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department on Nov. 19.
Because Sherman Phillips was also missing when the body of his nephew was found, investigators decided to concentrate their search for him in the river as well. The following day, the body of the older Phillips was found. Assisted by whitewater rafting guides who work on the river, the body was found about five miles downstream from where the first body was located.
Authorities say autopsies on the bodies confirmed that the victims "met with foul play," but they had declined to reveal how the men were killed.
On Wednesday, District Attorney General Al Schmutzer said both victims were shot "with a .45-caliber pistol, more than once."
Investigators believe the men were killed in Cocke County and the bodies thrown off the bridge into the waterway.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 3 Feb 2005.
Prosecutors to seek death penalty in double murder case
Source: The Newport Plain Talk
02-03-2005
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NEWPORT—Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against a Sevierville man charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of two men whose bodies were found in the Pigeon River last fall.
District Attorney General Al Schmutzer announced Tuesday that the state will seek capital punishment or life without the possibility of parole if Shannon Ted Adams, 35, is convicted.
Adams, 35, of 3690 Phillips Road, Sevierville, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the November deaths of Butch Wayne Phillips, 33, of 2408 Green Valley Road, Sevierville, and Phillips’ uncle, Sherman “Hank” Ray Phillips, 40, of 401 Lower Rhinehart Road, Dandridge. Both had been shot several times with a .45-caliber weapon, according to investigators.
Authorities have said Adams was dating Phillips’ sister, but they haven’t discussed a motive for the crimes.
Investigators with the Cocke County Sheriff’s Office found the body of Butch Wayne Phillips in the Pigeon River on Saturday, Nov. 20 and then found Sherman Phillips on Sunday, Nov. 21.
The first body was discovered at 10 a.m. by two men, Andrew Seaton, of Sevierville, and Tim Sullivan, of Dandridge, who had been fishing in the Pigeon River.
The Cocke County Sheriff’s Office, the Newport Rescue Squad, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, along with Seaton and Sullivan, went to the Waterville Bridge and rafted downstream to recover the first body, which was located about one mile from the bridge in a location known as Lost Guide to rafters.
The second body was found the following day about five miles downstream from where the first body was found.
Both Butch and Sherman Phillips had been reported as missing to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 10 Aug 2005.
Defendant's four statements to be admitted in Adams' trial
Thirty-six-year-old Shannon Ted Adams, at left, sits at the defense table with Newport attorney Clyde Dunn-one of two attorneys who are defending him against charges of first-degree capital murder in connection with the deaths of two men last November. Adams and his attorneys were in court on Tuesday asking that statements the defendant made to law enforcement officers be excluded as evidence during his September trial.
By: GILBERT SOESBEE
Source: The Newport Plain Talk
08-10-2005
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NEWPORT-Claiming their client was "programmed" to answer authorities' questions like "a robot," defense attorneys for Shannon Ted Adams argued Tuesday that four different statements he gave to investigators were taken illegally and should not be admitted into evidence during Adams' upcoming capital murder trial. While stopping just short of calling the defense allegations "ludicrous," Circuit Judge Ben W. Hooper II conceded in overruling the motions that "that is the word that comes to mind."
Adams, 36, of 3690 Phillips Road, Sevierville, is scheduled to face the death penalty in a trial in Cocke County criminal court on September 26 on first-degree murder charges in connection with the deaths of two men whose bodies were found in the Pigeon River by local authorities last November.
Judge Hooper granted a defense motion for a psychological evaluation of the defendant before the trial. Although Judge Hooper ordered the evaluation "expedited" in light of the few weeks remaining before the trial, attorneys concede that the trial could be delayed until the evaluations are complete.
"I would be uncomfortable putting this man to trial without having this evaluation done," Judge Hooper said. "So I'm granting the defendant's motion." Adams-who is represented by Sevierville attorney Jerry Galyon and Newport attorney Clyde Dunn-is charged with first-degree murder of Butch Wayne Phillips, 33, of 2408 Green Valley Road, Sevierville, and his uncle, Sherman "Hank" Ray Phillips, 40, of 401 Lower Rhinehart Road, Dandridge.
Their bodies were found during a search of the Pigeon River near the North Carolina state line after the family filed a missing persons report in Jefferson County last November 19.
Both victims had been shot several times with a .45-caliber handgun. The Cocke County Sheriff's Department found the body of Butch Wayne Phillips in the Pigeon River on November 20. Sherman Phillips' body was found the next day. The first body was discovered by two fishermen-Andrew Seaton, of Sevierville, and Tim Sullivan, of Dandridge-authorities said.
Investigators from the sheriff's department, the Newport Rescue Squad, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation went with Seaton and Sullivan to the Waterville bridge and rafted downstream to recover the first body, which was located about a mile downstream from the bridge in an area known to rafters as Lost Guide.
After talking to the first victim's relatives, local authorities learned that the second man had also been reported missing on Friday, November 19, and conducted the second search of the river.
Little of the state's evidence in the case has been released publicly, but it was revealed in Tuesday's hearing that Adams gave investigators four statements on different days, each of which differ in his account of the events leading up to the deaths of the victims in the case.
Chief Cocke County Sheriff's Detective Robert Caldwell and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Agent Derek Newport are the lead investigators in the case. Only Adams and Caldwell testified during the hearing on Tuesday.
Caldwell testified on Tuesday that he first spoke to Adams on November 20 during his initial investigation of the Phillipses' disappearance. At that time, Adams was not a suspect.
"I had spoken with a family member that night who had told me that [the victims] had left with Shannon Adams," making Adams the last person known to have seen the victims. He was not formally advised of his constitutional rights at that time because he was not a suspect in the case, Caldwell said. Adams told Caldwell and other officers on November 20 about "Butch and Hank leaving and getting into a car with two black men," a statement Adams admitted from the witness stand Tuesday was untrue.
Adams said his girlfriend-Barbara Eledge, with whom the defendant was living at the time-"made that statement up and I went along with it."
Both witnesses said the defendant's next statement was given on November 24, when Adams and Eledge came to Newport for Butch Phillips' funeral. Adams came on his own to Detective Caldwell's office, but was arrested that day on an outstanding warrant for parole violation.
Caldwell said the defendant was advised of his constitutional rights, signed a waiver of those rights, and gave a written statement to Caldwell and Agent Newport. That statement contradicted his previous verbal statement on November 21, but its contents were not revealed in court on Tuesday.
Adams testified that he was then placed "in a little cell" at the Cocke County Jail and was not permitted to contact an attorney or his father, despite repeated requests to do so.
But Caldwell said, "At no time did he ask for a lawyer or exercise his right to remain silent."
The third statement was given by Adams to Caldwell and Newport on November 26 when Adams sent word through a jailer that he wanted to talk to Caldwell. "At that time he said he wanted the attorney general to be present and wanted the attorney general to hear what he had to say," Caldwell testified. "I told him that would not be appropriate in an investigation, but the attorney general would be advised of what he had said. And even then, he did not ask for an attorney."
That statement again contradicted his previous statements to authorities, according to Tuesday's testimony. Caldwell said the defendant was again advised of his constitutional rights and signed a waiver of those rights. He was also given a polygraph examination on that day, Caldwell said.
The fourth, and final, statement was given on November 30, and Adams again waived his rights to an attorney and to remain silent.
"I first talked to him through his cell door and he said, 'I want to tell you what happened. The statement I gave you before was not the truth,'" Caldwell testified. "He told us that he'd done it, he'd messed up, and there was no reason to spend a lot of money on an attorney."
Adams-who testified that he suffers from bi-polar disorder; has been diagnosed as a paranoid-schizophrenic; and takes five medications, including lithium and Xanax-told Judge Hooper that he was released the previous August 18 after spending ten years in prison.
In response to questions from defense attorney Galyon, Adams said he believed he could not refuse to answer questions from law enforcement officers because of the conditions of his parole from prison.
He said he continued giving different statements to the officers so he would be given legal representation in the case and so he could contact his father. He also said he was denied his medication in jail and, while being placed on "suicide watch" while in custody, was kept awake for days at a time.
"They kept saying, 'You need to sign this statement, we'll show it to the district attorney, and we'll see that you get a lawyer,'" Adams testified. "They didn't want the truth about nothing."
Concerning the first written statement on November 24, attorney Galyon asked Adams, "Why didn't you object or resist?"
"I have to do what they say; it's my parole stipulation," Adams answered. As for the fourth, and final, statement, Galyon asked, "Why did you sign that one?"
"So I could get an attorney," Adams answered. "It was a formality." In his closing statement to Judge Hooper, Galyon said his client was so institutionalized that he did not realize the gravity of his actions. "He was accustomed to saying, yes sir and no sir," Galyon said. "He was basically a robot and knew that you don't question authority. There's no way this was a free and voluntary statement and should not be admitted at trial." District Attorney General Al Schmutzer said the evidence during Tuesday's hearing was clear that Adams did not ask for an attorney to represent him during questioning and did not exercise his constitutional rights as explained to him by the officers.
"The issue is as clear as can be-it's this officer's word against this convicted felon's word," Schmutzer told Judge Hooper. "And it'd be a sad day in Cocke County when a convicted felon can out-swear Robert Caldwell." After considering the matter, Judge Hooper ruled that all of the statements may be admitted into evidence during Adams' trial. "I was unable to believe your testimony," Judge Hooper told the defendant. "And, quite frankly, I'd be unable to believe it if the state had put on no proof whatsoever today. It's unreasonable. It's improbable."
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 14 Mar 2006.
NEWPORT - A Sevierville man could face the death penalty if a Cocke County jury convicts him of a double homicide.
The trial of Shannon Ted Adams is scheduled to start today at the courthouse in Newport.
Adams was charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Butch Wayne Phillips and Sherman Ray "Hank" Phillips.
The bodies of both men were found in the Pigeon River in Cocke County in November 2004. Authorities said they had both been shot several times with a .45-caliber handgun. A Cocke County grand jury indicted Adams the following month.
Authorities have not revealed a motive in the case, but have said that Adams was dating the sister of Butch Phillips and knew both men.
At the time of his arraignment, Adams was already being held for a parole revocation warrant.
District Attorney General Al Schmutzer Jr. said he is seeking the death penalty in the case.
Jury selection in the trial will begin today and is expected to last most of the day; the trial is expected to take most of the week.
If the jury convicts Adams of first-degree murder, the same panel will hold a second trial to decide whether he should receive the death penalty. Prosecutors will present aggravating factors, and the defense will present "mitigating factors." The jury is charged with imposing the death penalty if aggravating factors outweigh mitigating factors beyond a reasonable doubt.
They would also have the options of sentencing Adams to life without the possibility of parole, or life with the possibility of release after 51 years.
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 15 Mar 2006.
Local man pleads guilty to murder
By: JEFF FARRELL, Staff Writer March 15, 2006
NEWPORT - A Sevierville man decided Monday that the certainty of life in prison beat the prospect of the death penalty if he were convicted of a double homicide.
Shannon Ted Adams pleaded guilty Monday to killing Sherman Ray "Hank" Phillips and Butch Wayne Phillips on the Waterville Bridge in Cocke County in 2004, and throwing their bodies into the Pigeon River. Authorities found their bodies in the river a few days later and charged Adams with their murders a few weeks after that. He was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
The victims' families approved the agreement, District Attorney General Al Schmutzer Jr. said. Adams knew both men and had been dating the sister of Butch Phillips, according to authorities.
"I discussed the plea with members of the victims' families and they were in agreement with this disposition," Schmutzer said. "They were aware that if he did get death it would be 15 to 20 years before he could be executed, if at all, and they wanted closure."
Adams was a candidate for the death penalty if convicted at trial because he had a prior conviction in Sevier County for aggravated kidnapping and armed robbery, Schmutzer said.
If Adams hadn't entered the plea Monday, jury selection for his trial was expected to start that day.
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 16 Mar 2006.
Victims' families feel betrayal
Loved one react to Sevierville man's sentence for murder
By: Gilbert Soesbee March 16, 2006
Shannon Ted Adams, left, pled guilty Monday in circuit court to the 2004 shooting deaths of two men. With him is Newport attorney Clyde Dunn.
The family of two men murdered by Sevierville's Shannon Ted Adams feels betrayed by the man who'll spend the rest of his life in prison for the crime.
In their statements to the court, the Phillips family said Adams faked concern about the men when they were missing, all the while knowing they were dead and he had killed them.
"They had a short life because Shannon decided to take it away, and they died hideous [deaths] for no reason," said Dorothy Phillips, sister-in-law of victim Hank Phillips.
"You came to my house the day you got out of prison and you asked if I was home," she told the defendant. "And you said, 'Tell her I found God while in prison.' Shannon, you did not find my God."
Hank's brother, Jerry Phillips, asked simply if Adams had any remorse for his crimes. His question was not answered.
Opting to save his own life, the 37-year-old Adams pleaded guilty Monday in Cocke County Circuit Court to two counts of first-degree murder and accepted a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Adams, of 3690 Phillips Road, Sevierville, pleaded guilty to the Nov. 17, 2004, shooting deaths of Butch Wayne Phillips, 33, of 2408 Green Valley Road, Sevierville; and his uncle, Sherman "Hank" Ray Phillips, 40, of Dandridge.
The victims' bodies were found during a search of the Pigeon River near the North Carolina state line after the family filed a missing persons report on Nov. 19. Both had been shot with a .45-caliber handgun.
It was an emotional sentencing hearing Monday morning with members of the Phillips family telling the court about the long-term effect of the 2004 killings on their family. Adams did not look at any of the speakers and did not speak himself except to answer "yes" or "no" when Circuit Judge Ben W. Hooper II explained the defendant's constitutional right to a trial by jury and the consequences of entering a guilty plea.
The sentence will be served consecutively with the balance of a 1995 sentence on convictions for robbery, kidnapping and burglary of a vehicle - the offenses for which Adams was on parole at the time of the killings and the "aggravating factor" relied upon by District Attorney General Al Schmutzer to justify the life-without-parole sentence.
"The state would never have entered into this agreement without consultation with the family, and they are in agreement with it," Schmutzer said. Tennessee has executed only one Death Row inmate since 1960, "so the likelihood of his execution seems remote and this agreement gives the family some closure," Schmutzer said.
"I think Shannon should look at my granny and tell her that he's sorry, because he kept calling and asking if they were all right and if they had been found," said Lisa Parker, Hank Phillips' niece and Butch Phillips' cousin. "And all the time he knew that he had taken their lives."
Schmutzer said revenge was the motive in the defendant's mind.
"He believed that some years before, these victims had stood by and watched while his girlfriend, who was Butch Phillips' sister, was sexually abused in some way," the prosecutor said. "And he was going to get back at them for that. The state does not represent that this (belief) was true, but that was the reason for this crime."
Phillips family members said Adams was wrong.
"They would never have watched anything bad happen to another family member," Hank Phillips' sister, Bonnie Suttles, said.
Schmutzer said that on Nov. 17, 2004, Adams went to the Grace Phillips residence in Jefferson City and drove away with the victims in his vehicle directly to the Waterville Bridge, just off Interstate 40 near the North Carolina line. He first shot Hank Phillips twice in the back of the head, Schmutzer said. Then he shot Butch Phillips twice in the chest and the back of the head.
"He then pushed both bodies into the (Pigeon) River," the prosecutor said. "Later, he brought his girlfriend, Barbara Eledge, to the bridge and told her what he had done. And he went back the next day and retrieved three shell casings from on the bridge."
The body of Butch Wayne Phillips was pulled from the Pigeon River on Nov. 20, 2004. Sherman Phillips' body was found the next day.
The first body was discovered by fishermen Andrew Seaton of Sevierville and Tim Sullivan of Dandridge, authorities said.
After talking to the first victim's family, officials learned both men had been reported missing on Nov. 19, and that prompted the second search of the river.
Adams reportedly gave investigators four different statements on different days. The final statement was what the prosecution believes is accurate.
Adams told Detective Caldwell and other officers on Nov. 20 about "Butch and Hank leaving and getting into a car with two black men," a statement which Adams testified during a previous hearing was untrue.
Adams said Eledge, with whom the defendant was living at the time, "made that statement up and I went along with it."
The defendant's next statement was given on Nov. 24 when he came on his own to Caldwell's office, but he was arrested on an outstanding warrant for parole violation.
Adams - who testified during a previous hearing that he suffers from bipolar disorder - has been diagnosed as a paranoid-schizophrenic and takes five medications. He had been released the previous Aug. 18 after spending 10 years in prison.
In approving the plea-bargain, Judge Hooper said he found "abundant evidence" to support the conviction.
(Editor's note: This story was written by a reporter for The Plain Talk newspaper in Newport and provided to The Mountain Press on Tuesday.)
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Abt 1969 - (~ 55 years)