TURTLETOWN, Tenn.
Area man dies in mine
The death of an employee in one of the Imerys USA underground mines in Whitestone last week is under local and federal investigation, authorities said.
William Edward Dutton, 49, died in an industrial accident on Dec. 13, according to a media summary report provided by Pickens County Sheriff Donnie Craig. Dutton lived in Turtletown, according to Coroner Mark Godfrey.
“Officers responded to a medical emergency that resulted from an industrial accident. A short time after deputies arrived, (they) learned that the victim had passed away as an apparent result of the accident. CID (Criminal Investigation Division) and the coroner were both notified, and the scene was turned over to CID upon their arrival,” the sheriff’s report states, noting the accident occurred sometime between 8:57 and 9 a.m.
A spokeswoman with the Georgia office of Occupational Safety & Health Administration said the Mining Safety & Health Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Labor, will be handling the investigation. An initial MSHA fatality report posted on the agency’s website last week states the accident at Whitestone Mine No. 4 was classified as “powered haulage” and that the mined material was “crushed broken marble.”
Stephanie Fraser, manager of the Human Resources Department at Imerys, said Dutton was a utility operator who was “found unresponsive at our White-stone mine. That’s the info we have at this time.”
When asked if she could verify whether Dutton’s death was an accident, Fraser replied, “We don’t know anything more than that. We’re in the process of performing an investigation, as well as federal investigators from MSHA. They’ve been on site this week performing an investigation, and we do not have the results yet.”
Godfrey said he did not have much to report since the death is still under investigation. The cause and manner of death are still “open” pending the results of the MSHA investigation.
FRANKLIN
Rape sends man to jail
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A man who forced his way into a Macon County woman’s residence, assaulting and raping her, has been sentenced to the maximum possible prison sentence under state law, District Attorney Ashley Welch said.
A Macon County jury found Joseph Ball, 42, of Etowah, Tenn., guilty of second-degree forcible rape, first-degree burglary, interfere with emergency communications, kidnapping and assault on a female. Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Bill Coward sentenced Ball to serve consecutive prison sentences on five criminal counts:
- Rape: a minimum of 96 to a maximum of 176 months.
- Burglary: a minimum of 84 to a maximum of 113 months.
- Interfere with emergency communications: 75 days.
- Second-degree kidnapping: a minimum of 33 to a maximum of 52 months.
- Misdemeanor assault on a female: 75 days.
On May 12, 2019, Ball knocked on the then 65-year-old woman’s door, claiming he had wrecked his truck nearby. The two were former co-workers.
The woman told Ball, because he was intoxicated, that he could stay the night in another structure on the property. Later, he again knocked on her door. This time, he forced his way into her home.
Ball attempted to use his intoxication as a defense. The jury didn’t buy the argument.
“This area in Macon County is not somewhere you wind up by accident. It takes quite an amount of effort to get there,” assistant district attorney John Hindsman told Coward during the sentencing portion of the trial.
“We truly do believe that this was a very intentional act by Mr. Ball. Being in a remote area, late at night, the victim’s age, as well as the nature in which the act that occurred, speaks volumes about the severity of his
actions.”
Macon County sheriff’s detectives handled the
investigation.
From staff reports.