| Sources |
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 3 May 2010.
Jeff Harlon King, Sr, age 58 of Sevierville, passed away Friday, April 30, 2010.
Survivors: son, Jeff Harlon King, Jr.; grandchildren, T.J. King, Jeremy King, and Teryn Burns; great-grandchild, Wade Burns; mother, Ethel King; brother, Eddie King and wife Barbara; sisters, Donna Parton, Wanda Tun, Barbara Hatcher, Sharon Bogle, and Connie Ownby; nephews, Harlon King, Travis Parton, and Jimmy Brackins; niece, Rebecca King.
Family and friends will gather at noon Wednesday at Metcalf Bottoms in Jeff’s memory.
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 1 May 2010.
Man charged with murder
by JEFF FARRELL
Sevier County sheriff’s deputies have arrested a Sevierville man for allegedly murdering his friend during an altercation.
Anthony Atkins, 25, of Sevierville was charged Friday with first-degree murder in the death of Jeff Harlan King Sr. of 2007 Mountain Spring Way in Sevierville.
Deputies arrested Atkins at a location on Ridge Road, without incident, Sheriff Ron Seals said. He is being held at the Sevier County Jail without bond.
Detectives found King’s body at his home, and their investigation led them to believe Atkins murdered King during an altercation, Seals said.
The sheriff declined Friday to say how the department learned about the murder, or about Atkins’ involvement, saying the case is still under investigation.
His detectives were awaiting results of an autopsy on Friday, so it wasn’t clear when the death happened, he said.
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 11 May 2010.
Cops: Man may have burned body in coverup
By JEFF FARRELL
SEVIERVILLE — Sevier County Sheriff’s investigators believe a local man murdered a man who had claimed to be his father, then burned the body in an attempt to cover up his crime.
Anthony Cotter Atkins, 25, of 2259 Arch Rock Drive, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Jeff Harlan King Sr., 58, of Mountain Spring Way.
Detective Jeff McCarter said they have received information that King at some point told Atkins he was Atkins’s father. “Apparently he’d met him prior to all this and told him he as his father,” McCarter said. “We haven’t confirmed (the relationship),” he added.
Deputies were alerted of the possible murder April 29, after Atkins allegedly told an acquaintance about the murder, and tried to sell the acquaintance items belonging to King.
It’s not clear what led to the altercation, but Atkins told his acquaintance they started arguing at King’s home and he struck King in the head with a wood-splitting tool, killing him, according to the murder complaint filed against Atkins. At one point earlier, he had apparently also said he was going to confront King about an alleged threat to his grandmother, the report stated.
“We really don’t know what the motive is at this point,” McCarter said.
When the man came to the sheriff’s office and told them what Atkins had been saying, detectives first went to check on King, McCarter explained.
“They actually initially did a welfare check,” he said “When they got there, they got some information that substantiated their information and they got a search warrant.”
They found King’s remains in what appeared to be a fire pit, McCarter said.
It appeared that brush had been piled over his body and set on fire. An autopsy on King’s remains indicated he was killed by blunt force trauma to the head.
Atkins is being held at the Sevier County Jail in lieu of $1 million bond.
jfarrell@themountainpress.com
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 22 Jun 2011.
Atkins pleads guilty
by JEFF FARRELL
SEVIERVILLE — Anthony Atkins admitted Tuesday that he killed Jeff Harlan King Sr., a man who had reportedly claimed to be Atkins’s father, then burned King’s remains and buried them in a pit. For that, he will serve from 12 to 18 years in prison.
Atkins had been charged with first-degree murder in King’s death; if convicted he faced a sentence of life without parole. Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to reckless homicide and abuse of a corpse.
Assistant District Attorney Barry Williams told Judge Richard Vance that King’s family, who weren’t in the courtroom, approved the agreement. “I’ve spoken to the victim’s family extensively and they understand what we’re doing and agreed to it,” Williams said.
Atkins may have had a relationship of his own to King; authorities have said King is believed to have claimed he was Atkins’s father in the period leading up to the murder. That alleged relationship was not addressed during Tuesday’s proceedings.
Atkins spoke little during the court appearance, acknowledging that he understood the agreement and waived his right to a trial.
He accepted sentencing as a career offender, which increased the amount of time he will serve before he will be eligible for parole. “His record is very extensive,” Williams said, but Atkins met the threshold for a Range III offender, not a career offender. Atkins’ acceptance as a career offender means he must serve at least 60 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
By pleading guilty, he admitted to killing King in April 2010 during a confrontation outside King’s home on Mountain Spring Way.
Williams outlined the state’s case, which started when Atkins told a friend, Shannon Parton, that King had come at him with a knife while they were outside. Atkins told Parton he grabbed a wood-splitting tool and struck King with it, killing him. He told his uncle, Ted Bohanon, the same story.
Parton called the sheriff’s office, and investigator went to King’s property, where they found his remains had been burned and partially buried. The murder weapon and some other evidence were located; authorities also found some items that Atkins had taken from the scene. They arrested him soon after and he remained in the Sevier County Jail since that time.
Defense attorney Ron Newcomb told Vance that he had planned to argue that Atkins acted in self-defense if the murder charge had gone to trial. That would have required him to take the stand during the trial.
Atkins also told him where some evidence could be located, Newcomb added, waiving his attorney-client privilege so authorities could locate it even though it aided the prosecution as well as his defense.
The charge of abuse of a corpse hadn’t been taken before a grand jury; Atkins agreed to plead guilty to it on information, and to serve the sentence consecutively to the sentence for reckless homicide.
That raised his sentence from 12 to 18 years.
jfarrell@themountainpress.com
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1951 - 2010 (58 years)
, d. 9 Apr 1993, Sevier County, Tennessee