Mother-In-Law Indicted for Murder in Vasquez Case
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FOCAL POINT Local butcher shop prepares for Thanksgiving rush, See page 2A ESTABLISHED 1879 | COLUMBUS, MISSISSIPPI CDISPATCH.COM 75 ¢ NEWSSTAND | 40 ¢ HOME DELIVERY FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 22, 2019 Mother-in-law indicted for murder in Vasquez case fact in 2015 after dictment says Lydia Martinez and abet or actually had to have New charge a result of further evidence she told author- “did unlawfully, willfully, and been the person who killed ities and media feloniously, with the deliber- Manuel.” presented before grand jury outlets that her ate design to effect his death, Lowndes County authorities BY ISABELLE ALTMAN Lydia Martinez, 60, of Col- daughter and did kill and murder Manuel discovered Vasquez’s burned Vasquez’s wife, Vasquez ...” remains on the property of his [email protected] orado, faces a new charge of Christina Marti- District Attorney Scott Co- Windchase Drive home in July first-degree murder in the The mother-in-law of a New nez, forced her lom said new evidence in the 2015, weeks after Christina Martinez Hope man killed more than June 24, 2015 death of Manuel to help dispose of case suggests Lydia Martinez Martinez reported him missing four years ago has been indict- Vasquez, according to Lown- Vasquez’s body by threatening was a more “active participant” to Lowndes County Sheriff’s ed for murder, months after her des County Circuit Court doc- Manuel and Christina’s three before the murder occurred Office. Both Lydia and Christi- daughter pleaded guilty in the uments. Martinez was first in- children. and that the first-degree charge na Martinez were arrested for same case. dicted for accessory after the However, the most recent in- means “she had to either aid See MARTINEZ, 3A CLW to join ANNUNCIATION EXPANSION DEDICATED ‘Home Uplift’ program for housing upgrades Program will allow up to 6 houses per year to become more energy efficient BY ISABELLE ALTMAN [email protected] Up to six Colum- bus homes will re- ceive upgrades to make them more energy efficient through a partner- ship between the Jennifer Mosbrucker/Dispatch Staff Annunciation Catholic School students bow their heads to pray before the ribbon cutting for the school’s recent expansion Tennessee Valley Au- Gale on Thursday. Prior to the ribbon cutting, students sang the mission statement and gave presentations. Guests spoke to thority and Colum- students, teachers and parents, and Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz blessed the school with holy water. Staff and students are bus Light and Water. already using the offices and science lab in the new building. The CLW board voted unani- mously during its regular meet- ing Thursday to join TVA’s Home Uplift program, in which TVA will upgrade a handful of homes to help reduce utility bills, improve indoor air quality and lower home mainte- SOCSD starts fall clothing drive nance costs. “We would be able to do five to six homes each year,” CLW Manag- er Todd Gale said. “Not many, but for district-wide clothes closets every little bit counts.” Gale said the project is similar to a TVA pilot program CLW joined What started as a small emergency two years ago, when TVA paid for effort has grown to include several upgrades for about 160 homes in the Columbus area. community partners “We were selected out of ... five TVA distributors — us, 4-County BY Tess VRbin and three others through the val- [email protected] ley,” Gale told The Dispatch after the meeting. “That was just a grant STARKVILLE — The clothes closets in the program, a pilot program. Now Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District they’re rolling it out to all the dis- started as a quick and easy solution for students to tributors.” get clean clothes in case of emergency and return to The main difference is that TVA class quickly. paid for about 90 percent of the The effort at a few individual schools consolidated costs — $100,000, Gale said — to into a district-wide program that grows every year, upgrade the 160 homes two years said Marchelle Brain, a member of the SOCSD Par- ago. This time CLW will be respon- ent Teacher Organization since 2013. Brain has been sible for 50 percent of the costs, or Courtesy photo an active coordinator of the clothes closets and said $26,143. A group of volunteers from the Salvation Army donated clothes, the program has been “an organic thing that arose” personal hygiene products and school supplies to the Starkville-Oktib- after people regularly donated their outgrown uni- To participate in the program, beha Consolidated School District’s Clothes Closets at the beginning residents have to own their own of the school year. The program started at individual schools and forms. home and make a maximum in- consolidated with the help of community service groups and churches, The clothes closets are a resource for school so- See CLW, 7A organizer Marchelle Brain said. See CLOTHING DRIVE, 7A WEATHER FIVE QUESTIONS CALENDAR LOCAL FOLKS PUBLIC 1 What does LL Cool J stand for? MEETINGS Today Dec. 2: 2 Who was the first U.S. president to ■ MUW Jazz Band: The Mississippi University have been divorced? Lowndes County for Women Jazz Band presents a free concert at 3 What term describes words that Supervisors, 9 7:30 p.m. in Poindexter Hall on campus. For more sound like the action or object they a.m., County information, call 662-241-6399. refer to, such as choo-choo or crunch? Courthouse 4 What body part includes the mal- Dec. 3: Eliza Jessop leus, incus and stapes, the smallest bones in the human body? Saturday Columbus City Fourth grade, Heritage 5 What meat is in a traditional shep- ■ Holiday Market: Get festive at this expanded Council regular herd’s pie? farmers market from 9 a.m.-noon, featuring holi- meeting, 5 High Low day gifts, arts and crafts, homemade goodies and p.m., Municipal 68 57 Answers, 8B local produce at the Hitching Lot Farmers Market Rain at times Complex at the corner of Second Avenue and Second Full forecast on Courtroom Street North, Columbus. For more information, page 3A. Dec. 9: contact Main Street Columbus, 662-328-6305. Columbus Municipal INSIDE Monday Brandon Logan is from Caledo- School Board of Classifieds7B Obituaries 4A ■ Songs from the Theatre: The W Department nia. He would like to pursue ani- Trustees regular Comics 5B Opinions 6A of Music presents an evening of “Songs of the mal care taking as a career. When meeting, 6 p.m., Crossword 8B Religion 6B Theatre” at 7:30 p.m. in Poindexter Hall on cam- he’s not working, he loves to hang Brandon Central 140TH YEAR, NO. 218 Dear Abby 5B pus. Free to the public. out with friends. Services DISPATCH CUSTOMER SERVICE 328-2424 | NEWSROOM 328-2471 2A FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2019 THE DISPATCH • www.cdispatch.com A butcher shop preps for the Thanksgiving rush ABOVE: Daun Mason A weekly photo exploration of life counts customer James FOCAL POINT inside the Golden Triangle Burgess’ change after he purchased two smoked By Jennifer Mosbrucker/Dispatch Staff turkeys on Thursday at the The Butcher Shop. Burgess purchased the ach order at The Butcher Shop is turkeys for a Thanksgiv- ing celebration at New touched by a member of the Mason Hope Elementary School, family. In the week leading up to where his grandson is E an assistant teacher in a Thanksgiving, the family is preparing for first grade class. RIGHT: the shop’s busiest time of year. Next week Orders for Thanksgiving week hang on a mirror alone, over 300 turkeys will go out the door. in The Butcher Shop. Each one will smoke for 4-7 hours, and a row Owner Bill Mason and his daughter Daun Mason of fryers will line the shop the day before anticipate they will sell Thanksgiving. over 300 turkeys for Thanksgiving. ABOVE: Bill Mason stirs a 60-gallon vat of Brunswick Stew. It takes Ma- son three days to prepare the ingredients, cook the stew and package it into quart size containers for sale. BELOW: Turkeys cook in a smoker on Thursday at The Butcher Shop. Bill Mason opened The Butcher Shop in June of 1994 after working for the grocery store that was previously in the same location. At first, Mason sold his cuts of meat out of the store’s back room. In 2015, the shop caught fire just three days before Christmas. The Mason family reopened the shop in 2016. ABOVE: Bill Mason and his daughter Daun Mason run The Butcher Shop at 108 13th St. N. “I work for her, but I reserve the right to call the shots,” Bill Mason said. “We have formed a relationship that is just a bond — its unbreakable. We both respect each other. I respect her and she does me, and when either one of us make a decision we talk it over.” THE DISPATCH • www.cdispatch.com FridaY, NOVEMBER 22, 2019 3A Lawsuit: Church pressured Bus driver gets 30 victims into unfair settlements years for sexually Men say they were sexually assaulted by Joshua’s younger brother, Raphael, abusing second-grader were first reported by The Associ- THE AssOCiateD PRess Franciscan missionaries while enrolled in a ated Press in August. West, who voluntarily left the PASCAGOULA — A former Mississippi school Catholic grade school in Greenwood, Mississippi Franciscan order and lives in Apple- bus driver has been sentenced to 30 years in prison ton, Wisconsin, did not return a call for repeatedly sexually abusing an 8-year-old pas- BY MICHAEL REZENDES sexual abuse within the church. seeking comment. The Rev. James The Associated Press senger.