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Monday, August 16, 2004
Oxford Eagle
Film director dead after holding crew
hostage in wilderness compound
By JOE PYE WEED
Staff Writer
A Jackson man was reported dead yesterday in what
the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department has described as a "commune
killing" in the western hills of the county, where it's believed seven
Oxford citizens have been held hostage for the past 100 days.
Police arriving at the scene early Sunday morning
found Corwin Fitz, 28, brutally murdered in
a shower. Fitz and his crew of seven locals were filming a movie at a lodge
on County Road 288, southwest of Oxford almost 3 miles from the Panola
County line.
Police refused to identify the seven cast and crew members, though one is
reportedly being held as a suspect and the others
are being questioned in the death of the film director.
"We're trying to determine the nature of the killing,"
said Sheriff's Public Information Officer Elizabeth Jones. "The
investigation is still in the very early stages. These people were
camped out at a lodge in those hills for more than three months, so
there is
a lot of ground to cover in terms of their stories and the evidence
collected from the lodge."
Sources allege Fitz was holding the seven cast and crew members hostage
while his picture was being finished. Although investigators have
been declined to name the witnesses and possible suspects
in the murder, many Oxonians have been talking about the
disappearance of friends or relatives who were known to be
involved with Fitz and his film.
Among those believed to have been held captive is Macy
Lamar, the Oxford teen who was abducted and held for three months
in 1997 as part of local real estate developer Reed Chambeau's effort
to prevent discovery of his toxic waste dumping scheme. The
attempted cover-up also cost the life
of Macy's father, Sheriff Charles Lamar. Chambeau was convicted on
murder, kidnapping, conspiracy and a host of other charges in 1999
and currently is on death row.
Macy Lamar's mother, Caroline Blanchard, told the Eagle
that she had received several phone messages from her
daughter over the past three months indicating she was still
on the film set and that she was doing fine. "The way her
voice sounded, I tell you, it gave me a fright because she
didn't sound like she was enjoying herself, and she would
never tell me exactly where she was or how I could contact
her," said Blanchard.
Lamar is safe at home now, though she refused to comment
about the incident.
Adele McPhail said she had contacted the Sheriff's Department in
July to report that
she feared for her husband, Johnny McPhail, who was acting
in Fitz's film. Like Blanchard, she had received phone messages from
her husband, who claimed to be at an undisclosed location.
While her husband was being detained following the murder, McPhail told
the Eagle, "He just didn't sound right. It isn't like Johnny to run off
with a bunch of kids and not even let me know where he is. Just these weird messages that don't tell me a thing."
Pending autopsy, funeral arrangements for Corwin Fitz have not been
announced.
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