Second defendant on trial for 1999 Chastain murder

By Lisa Majors-Duff

Bob Clark and Monica Leslie, prosecutors with the District Attorney's Office, began presenting their case against Timothy Wiley, 25, of Atlanta, late last week. They claim Wiley, along with Reginald Butler, also of Atlanta, was responsible for the death of Terry Ray Chastain, 43, of Yellow Mountain community.

On the stand Monday was State Bureau of Investigation Mike Garrett, who testified to the weapons found at the scene and the blood patterns discovered.

Chastain's death on March 17, 1999, resulted while the defendants were in the act of committing a felony (larceny), District Attorney Charles Hipps said last year. For that reason, the state decided to seek the death penalty against the two Georgia men.

The killing was "especially cruel, atrocious and heinous," Hipps said. After being shot at least twice, Chastain was able to flee to the downstairs of the house, where he was then beaten with a crowbar, Hipps said. The incident occurred at the home of Chastain's neighbor, Don Wayne Potts.

Butler, who prosecutors say was responsible for the beating, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in April. As a condition of his plea, Butler received a life sentence without chance of parole.

Chastain's gunshot wounds are believed to have been caused by Wiley, who officers say was armed with a .32 caliber pistol when he entered the house.

"The homicide was orchestrated by some of the more powerful drug dealers in the Cashiers and Highlands area," Jackson County Sheriff Jim Cruzan said at the time of the arrests. Also taken into custody then was Lisa TucciCaselli and Timmy Dean Giles, both of Highlands. Charges against Giles were later dropped.

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