|
|
Last Chastain murder defendant pleads guilty to armed robberyBy Lisa Majors-Duff |
|
A Highlands woman who had been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a Cashiers man has pleaded guilty to armed robbery.
Lisa Tucci-Casselli, the last of three defendants accused in the March 1999 death of Terry Ray Chastain, pleaded guilty to the reduced charge Monday in Clay County. Judge James Downs accepted the guilty plea to armed robbery with a dangerous weapon and sentenced Tucci-Casselli to 72-96 months in prison. Atlanta-area residents Reginal Lewis Butler and Timothy Wiley Jr., who prosecutors say were requested by Tucci-Casselli to rob another Cashiers man, Don Wayne Potts, were sentenced to life prison terms after Butler pleaded guilty and Wiley was found guilty of murdering Chastain last year. Chastain came to the aid of his neighbor after Butler and Wiley broke into Potts' home in Cashiers' Yellow Mountain community. After being shot at least twice by Wiley, Chastain was able to flee to the downstairs of the house, where he was beaten with a crowbar by Butler, prosecutors said. Law enforcement at the time of the murder said the "homicide was orchestrated by some of the more powerful drug dealers in the Cashiers and Highlands areas." |
Back to Archive: 02/15/01. |