Man suspected in dismemberment cases 200 miles apart

Posted 7:04AM on Friday 18th October 2002 ( 22 years ago )

JOHNSON CITY, TENNESSEE - Officials in north Georgia found a headless body Thursday night and authorities said the suspect is the same man under investigation for the dismemberment of a newlywed teenage couple here 200 miles away. The body parts believed to be the couple were found Thursday in 2-feet-by-4-feet boxes in a storage unit just a few hours before the headless body was found in Walker County, Ga., just south of Chattanooga. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents found what they suspect are the remains of Adam Ray Christmer, 17, and his wife, Samantha Foster Leming, 16, both of Walker County, District Attorney Joe Crumley said. A head and hands apparently belonging to the couple were found last weekend in Boone Lake. The missing teens were last seen with Howard Hawk Willis, of Chickamauga, Ga., in Johnson City and Walker County. He is in federal custody in Johnson City on charges in an unrelated drug case in New York. Washington County Sheriff Fred Phillips said Thursday Willis is the lead suspect in the teens' deaths. He is also a suspect in the disappearance of two other people as well. One of those, Samuel Thomas, 73, of Cleveland, Tenn., his stepfather, is believed to be the body found Thursday night in Georgia. Willis has not been charged in either case. A special grand jury will meet next Wednesday to consider returning murder indictments in the Tennessee deaths. Willis' mother, Emma Elizabeth Hawk, 70, of Johnson City rented the storage unit, Crumley said. She was arrested early Thursday and charged with two counts of abuse of a corpse, accessory after the fact to first-degree murder and attempt to tamper with evidence. Willis' aunt, Marie Hawk Holmes, 74, was charged with attempt to tamper with evidence. The head found over the weekend has been tentatively identified as that of Christmer, and the hands as those of Leming. The other remains in Tennessee were found in two plastic containers sealed and bound by a cord in the 8-by-10 storage unit. They were taken to the medical examiner for autopsies. Authorities also found a hatchet, a pair of large scissors, ball peen hammer and large containers of gasoline and diesel fuel in the storage unit, Crumley said. Phillips and Johnson City Police Chief Ron Street called the case one of the grisliest they had investigated. ``I've been doing this for 23 years ... and I would certainly concur,'' Crumley said. Police in Georgia have said Christmer and Leming were married in August and left willingly with Willis on Oct. 4 from Rossville, Ga., just over the Tennessee border from Chattanooga. Willis has been in custody since last week, when he was arrested in Johnson City at the residence of his aunt and uncle. A $200,000 bond was revoked for Willis, who was awaiting sentencing on federal drug charges, after New York prosecutors said he was using credit cards belonging to Thomas. Thomas has been missing since Oct. 5, and blood was discovered at his residence in Bradley County. The body found Thursday night in Georgia had been shot and was missing the arms from the elbow down as well as the head. Willis is also at the center of an investigation into the disappearance of his wife, Deborah Willis, from Catoosa County, Ga., more than a decade ago. Court records in New York indicate Willis had been talking to two people about acquiring false identification so he could leave the United States. He was facing sentencing after pleading guilty earlier this year to transporting 2,600 pounds of cocaine to a warehouse in Brooklyn, N.Y.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/10/188759