Mother, defendant in dismemberment case, says cartel killed teens

<p>Two Georgia teenagers whose dismembered bodies were found in Tennessee were killed by members of a drug cartel as punishment for stealing, not by the man charged in their deaths, according to the suspect's mother and co-defendant in the case.</p><p>Howard Hawk Willis is charged with killing newlyweds Adam Chrismer, 17, and Samantha Leming, 16, in 2002 and leaving their body parts in a lake and a storage facility in Johnson City. His trial was set to begin April 11 in Jonesborough.</p><p>Willis' 73-year-old mother, Emma Elizabeth Hawk, who has been charged with helping her son get rid of the bodies, says she and Willis are innocent and authorities have acted improperly during the investigation.</p><p>Investigators found no blood, bullet holes or other signs the teens were killed in her home, she told the Johnson City Press.</p><p>District Attorney General Joe Crumley said he could not discuss Hawk's comments because of a gag order imposed by the judge in the case. However, Crumley said Hawk "lives in a fantasy world sometimes" and "will say whatever she wants as long as she's not under oath and subject to cross-examination."</p><p>Willis, 53, of Chickamauga, Ga., also has been linked to the death of Hawk's ex-husband, Sam Thomas, whose head was found in a park. Willis has not been indicted in the case.</p><p>Hawk said Chrismer, Leming and another unidentified person were involved in shooting Thomas, and Chrismer dismembered Thomas to get a gang tattoo. Then the teens were killed.</p><p>The teenagers were drug addicts and the young bride had been involved with gangs "since she was 13 years old," Hawk said.</p><p>Leming lived with Willis and his now former wife Wilda Willis in Georgia for about two years, Hawk said. Leming knew the Willis' daughter, Kelli.</p><p>After the Willises divorced in July 2002, Chrismer began visiting the home.</p><p>"And he'd come, stay a little while and do something and then he'd leave. Nobody ever knew where Adam was or what he was doing. I told (Willis) he needed to get rid of all of them," Hawk said.</p><p>She said Willis told her the teenagers would sit, talk and play games while they were at the house, and sometimes Willis took them to the movies or roller skating. Hawk said she didn't suspect her son was acting improperly with the couple.</p>