DRUG PROBLEMS NOT NEW, RESIDENTS SAY

Drugs Might Be Linked To Slayings, County Officials Say

When Campbells Creek residents heard investigators on the sniper
killings case announce that their area had a drug problem, it came as
no surprise.

"Saying there's drugs on the creek is about like saying it gets hot in
August," one man said as he sipped a few cold beers with his buddies
at a neighborhood bar. "There's been drugs up here since doomsday and
I figure there always will be."

Kanawha County Sheriff's Department investigators think drugs might be
a factor in the three killings, largely because two of the three
slayings took place at nearby convenience stores and the area has a
reputation for being a home to the drug trade.

Locals say that they have been complaining to deputies for years about
rampant drug use and trafficking on Campbells Creek, especially
methamphetamine, also called "crank."

The Speedway store where 31-year-old Jeanie Patton was killed Thursday
was identified by residents as a drug hangout, as were several other
spots along the creek. People who didn't look like they were part of
the drug scene listed a number of abandoned buildings, fields and
homes where drug deals went down at night.

Several said that the parking lot of the Fas Chek grocery store was a
hotbed of drug activity after the store closed.

"It's all kids -- 19- and 20-year-olds with no sense and no respect
for anything," said one local business owner who asked not to be
identified for fear of retribution. "You name it, these kids have got
it. There so much cocaine up here you'd think it was Colombia. It's
killing my business."

Older residents say they don't have any trouble keeping out of the
drug problem. Aside from a few sporadic burglaries and some vandalism,
locals said that they have been able to keep themselves isolated from
the widening drug trade.

"I don't bother them and if they bother me -- well, do you know what a
.41-caliber pistol is? That's what's waiting on the other side of the
door," said a retiree who lives in a well-kept trailer park on the
creek. He asked that his name not be used, because he was afraid that
drug dealers might try to test his high-caliber security system.

"As long as they aren't doing anything to me, nobody's going to have a
problem."

Troy Kinison has lived on the creek for all of his 32 years, and knows
that drugs have a strong hold on the community. But he thinks that
investigators who link the killings to drugs might be jumping to
conclusions.

"If it were drugs, I don't think they'd be doing it like this. We've
had some problems up here before, but this isn't the kind of thing
you'd expect," Kinison said. "If it was drug dealers I don't think
they'd be doing sniper shootings.

"There's something else going on here -- there's something else
connecting all this."