| June 24,
2005 |
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| Two
Killed in Flat Gap Mountain Shoot-Out |
| Gunfight Was Due to Dispute Over Woman,
Detectives Say |
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| Two Burke County men are dead after apparently
shooting each other during a wild gun battle late Thursday afternoon in the
Flat Gap area. |
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| After a 911 call was received by emergency
personnel around 4:30 PM, detectives arrived at the 4446 Chrisco Road, Valdese
residence of Terry and Joy Chrisco. There they found Terry Dean Chrisco, 50,
and Leon Danny Green, 52, dead at the scene. |
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| Chrisco was found shot to death on his back
porch, and Green's body was found on the ground near a vehicle approximately
thirty feet away. |
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| Multiple gunshots were found on both bodies,
according to Burke County Sheriff John T. McDevitt, who was at the
scene. |
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| Detective Lt. Charlie Morris said the motive for
the gunfight appears to be over Chrisco's wife, who reconciled with her husband
earlier this week after ending a relationship with Green. |
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| McDevitt said Joy Chrisco arrived at her home
Thursday and Green followed her into the driveway in another
vehicle. |
| |
| Joy Chrisco called for her husband's assistance,
according to detectives who were on the scene interviewing witnesses. Terry
Chrisco was inside the mobile home with two of their children and a neighbor's
child upon his wife's arrival. |
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| "The incident escalated into Terry Chrisco
stepping out onto his back porch with a rifle, and Leon Green getting behind a
vehicle with a weapon. They began shooting at each other with ultimate fatal
results," McDevitt stated. |
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| Investigators located numerous bullet holes in
the mobile home. Glass was shattered from the home's rear door, as well as
windows from the vehicle Green was found behind. |
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| "There were several elementary school-aged
children inside that home," McDevitt said. "Some of the shots penetrated inside
the residence. It is fortunate that none of the kids were injured." |
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| The neighbor child, age eight, allegedly ran
from the residence when the shooting ceased, and officers became concerned when
he couldn't be located. Detectives eventually found him in the company of
his parents. |
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| Joy Chrisco was uninjured in the incident, but
visibly upset when officers arrived. She and Terry had separated on a few
occasions, but were attempting to put their marriage back together, according
to relatives who live nearby. |
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| McDevitt said that it appears Leon Green came to
the Chrisco residence with full expectations of a violent confrontation. |
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| "We found numerous weapons on Green's body,
along with a large amount of ammunition. He was dressed in camouflage and had
handcuffs, leg irons, and other restraint devices inside a knapsack in his
vehicle. He was 'loaded for bear.'" |
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| Autopsies will be conducted on the bodies of the
two men. Investigators said that at this point, they do not expect charges to
be filed on anyone else involved with the case. |
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| Detectives with the Sheriff's Office and State
Bureau of Investigation continue to investigate. |
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| "After seeing the evidence and speaking with
witnesses, this unfortunate double homicide appears to be pretty much cut and
dried," McDevitt said. "We hope to have the case completed in the next few
days." |
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| ************************************************************** |
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