Woman ruled fit for trial as accessory in newlywed slayings

JOHNSON CITY, TENNESSEE - An elderly woman charged as an accessory in the gruesome slayings of a newlywed couple from Georgia is mentally competent, according to a psychological evaluation. <br> <br> A court-ordered report shows two psychologists concluded that 71-year-old Emma Elizabeth Hawk of Johnson City, Tennessee, also known as Betty Willis, is competent to face two counts of abuse of a corpse, accessory after the fact to first-degree murder and solicitation to tamper with evidence. <br> <br> Hawk is the mother of 51-year-old Howard Hawk Willis of Chickamauga, Georgia, who was indicted last month on charges of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in the October deaths of 17-year-old Adam Chrismer and 16-year-old Samantha Leming, both of Walker County, Georgia. <br> <br> Chrismer&#39;s head and hands were found in a lake at Johnson City. His other remains and those of his wife of two months were recovered in a storage warehouse. <br> <br> Washington County Sheriff Fred Phillips has said Willis was involved in a cocaine-for-sex relationship with the couple. <br> <br> General Sessions Court Judge John Kiener ordered the mental evaluation of Hawk&#39;s mother after her attorney said at an October 28 hearing that he was having trouble communicating with her. <br> <br> A hearing is scheduled Monday for Emma Hawk and her sister, 74-year-old Marie Holmes, who is charged with solicitation to tamper with evidence.