Wilkes prosecutors want to seek the death penalty against a man arrested in connection with the shooting deaths of two elderly sisters. James Lewis Millsaps, 41, of 152 Mimosa Road, North Wilkesboro, was charged with a second count of murder last Thursday. The charge came hours after a second woman died as a result of a Jan. 14 shooting spree. Rhoda Rousseau, 86, died at N.C. Baptist Hospital from a bullet wound in the chest, according to officials. She had also been shot in the hand, investigators said. Millsaps had been arrested the morning of Jan. 14 after he allegedly shot and killed Lena Lewis, 72. He had initially been charged with assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the Rousseau shooting. District Attorney Tom Horner says his office will ask a judge to rule Millsaps’ case as capital. “Certainly that’s up to a judge,” Horner said Monday. “We will be putting up evidence as far as aggravating factors in order to support that and move for the death penalty.” The shootings occurred at the home of Millsaps’ foster father, Harold Harris, on Camp Joe Harris Road off N.C. 115 in North Wilkesboro. The victims, who lived nearby on the same road, were Harris’ sisters. They had been tending to their elderly brother following his recent release from a nursing home. Witnesses say Lewis was shot first, after she went outside to get garbage bags from her car. Rousseau was shot inside the home. Harris said he heard the blasts then saw his sister fall. “The most apparent aggravating factor we would offer as evidence is on his (Millsaps’) course of conduct,” Horner said. “That would entail that he committed one murder then, within a very short period of time in relation to the first murder, committed a second.”

   Horner said the case would probably go to a grand jury during a February or April term of Wilkes Superior Court. “That’s most likely when we’ll take our evidence to a judge,” he said. Sources close to the family described the sisters as loving and caring toward their sickly brother. They say a dispute apparently arose between the women and Millsaps about how Harris was being cared for. When Lewis went outside on the morning of Jan. 14, Millsaps approached her from behind and said, “Everybody’s going to die,” according to Bishop Cecil Reid, who was Lewis’ minister. Lewis pleaded for her life, Reid said, but she was shot her several times. Moments after Lewis fell to the ground, Millsaps reportedly walked into his foster parents home and shot Rousseau. Harris, who sat in a wheelchair, said Rousseau was standing near him when Millsaps came inside. Harris, during a recent interview, told how he heard the shots and saw his sister crumple to the floor. Harris said Millsaps then pointed the gun at him, but no more shots were fired. “He said, ‘I can’t do it,” Harris said. Reid said there was talk that Millsaps tried to shoot his foster father, but the gun was empty. “It clicked,” Reid said. The sisters were known as devout Christians who were active in their churches, Reid said.

   Lewis was one of the founding members of the Wings of Healing Tabernacle on N.C. 115. There, she was an associate minister, secretary-treasurer, president of the missionary department and a choir member. Rousseau was a member of Rickard’s Chapel AME Zion Church. There she was a class leader, a life member of the Parent Body Missionary Society, a deaconess, senior choir member and was named “Mother of the Year.” Horner says he wants to try Millsaps for both deaths simultaneously. “We’ll certainly make every effort to do that,” he said. Wilkes Sheriff Dane Mastin said whether or not the murder cases are capital is Horner’s “call.” Mastin, however, called the killings “a terrible thing.” He added, “All of it being domestically related, it’s really just a tragic thing for everybody involved.”

   Things seemed a little less hectic for North Wilkesboro Town Clerk Kay Minton Monday. On Friday, Minton had split her time answering phone calls, sorting through boxes and holding doors open for men unloading a flatbed truck. It had all been part of moving Town Hall. North Wilkesboro town government officially opened up shop in its new home at the corner of Main and Ninth streets Monday morning. “We have it up and running,” said Town Manager Gail Harris. “We even have two teller stations open for anyone who wants to come pay their water bill.” Town employees stayed busy at the corner of Main and Ninth streets last week. Loads of furniture, cardboard boxes and office equipment were carried through the front door of the white-columned building. The new location is the former BancAmerica building. The stately 11,800 square-feet, two-story building offers more than 10 times the space of the old Town Hall a block away. North Wilkesboro’s police department, which has occupied the upstairs of the old Town Hall, will spread to both floors. “They really need the space,” Harris said.

   The move is the result of a search for a bigger police department. The recently vacated Wilkes County Library on C Street was considered for the police, Harris said. Drastic renovations would have been required and the location was deemed impractical. Last April, the former bank building went on the market. In November, the town purchased the large downtown landmark for $285,000. “The police department couldn’t use that building because of inadequate parking,” Harris said. “We decided to do it like this. It just kind of worked out for both of us.” With the deal done, Town Hall was destined to move from the gray rock building it had occupied since 1939. Walking through the glass front doors off Main Street, visitors can see the same teller stations used by bank employees. To the left, cubicles separate several offices.

   The vault, once used to store the bank’s money, will also be used. “All our minute books and files will go in there,” Harris said. “Our money will go there too,” she said with a laugh, adding, “We don’t have as much of that as the bank did.” Upstairs, a mezzanine meeting room overlooks the lobby. Harris’ office is at the rear of the building. Boxes of booklets, blue prints and papers sat askew on her desk and surrounding floor. Codes Enforcement Officer David Felts desk was nearby. Felts worked with a filing cabinet in one of the front offices, then quickly moved to another workstation. With one more task done, Felts headed to his office. His brisk walk halted for a moment as if to get his bearings in the new surroundings. “I’m still getting lost in here,” he said.

   A low bid of $1.9 million was $1 million less than what North Wilkesboro town officials had expected to pay for a sewer line expansion project. Town Manager Gail Harris had estimated the work to cost $3 million. “We’re just tickled to death it came in this low,” she said during an interview with The Record last week. The plan includes running five miles of sewer line from town limits, up Old U.S. 421 to the intersection of N.C. 16 in Millers Creek. The low bid was made jointly by C&V Utilities and Ernie Carpenter, both of Jefferson, Harris said. Harris and other officials opened 10 bids last week. Eight of those came in around $2.9 million, she said. Now she and her staff are reviewing the bids to make sure everything is in order.

   With the lower bid, Harris said upgrades, including some larger lines, can be added to the project. Up to $500,000 can be saved even with the upgrades, she added. The bid will likely be awarded on Feb. 8, during the next town commissioners’ meeting. “As soon as the bid is awarded they can go ahead and start ordering materials,” Harris said. The line should be run to the intersection by September, Harris said. From there the town will take the sewer to the nearby site of a proposed Food Lion grocery store and south on N.C. 16 to the proposed West Wilkes Middle School and a planned subdivision.

   Owners of the grocery store and subdivision properties have agreed to voluntarily be annexed into the town. Harris said residents or business owners along the route who want to hook to the service could also be annexed into the town on a “voluntary basis.” The sewer line expansion could bring substantial gains for a town once stymied from growth, Harris said. Developers estimate 500 new homes could be built along the sewer line route in the next few years. Along with annexation comes service including police protection and garbage collection, Harris said. “As soon as the work is done, we can start signing people up for service,” Harris said.

Free help with tax forms for all seniors provided through AARP. Call Wilkes Senior Center at 670-2644 for more information.

CC Wright Fun Times will be February 15 at 6:30 to 7:30 PM in the Media Center. Please bring your child’s birth certificate, Social Security number and shot records. This is for any child who will be five by October 16, 2000.

There will be a Southern Gospel Concert at the Power Outreach Christian Center on the Balls Mill Rd. Sunday, January 30 at 3 p.m. The Anointed Voices, The Griffins and the Missionaries will be the singers. Everyone is invited.

The Millennium Club will have its first meeting on January 29 at 2:30 PM at the Wilkes County Public Library. What do you do in the Millennium Club? 1. Have fun. 2. Make scrapbooks, take pictures, collect "stuff" that will go in a time capsule. Club members will decide when and how often to meet, choose what should be in the capsule and when it will be opened. This club is open to anyone aged 11 to 16. Call the Children's Room at 838-2818 for more information. First 50 club members to sign up on Jan. 29th will receive a Millennium Club book bag.

Astronomy Club forming in Wilkes/ Surry area. No equipment or astronomy background necessary. All ages welcome. An organizational meeting will be held at a yet to be determined date in February. If interested, please contact Mark at 957-2139 for more information.

Wilkes Community College will be offering Nursing Assisting Night and Day classes beginning February 7 through May 25 for evening classes from 5 PM-9 PM. The next day class will begin on February 2 through March 7, Monday through Friday form 8 AM-3 PM. Due to limited enrollment, students will be taken on a first come, first serve basis. For further information call Eleanor Marxen (336) 838-6204 or Abby Combs (336) 838-6203.

Wilkes Community College will be offering Phlebotomy night classes beginning February 22, Tuesday and Thursday from 5 PM-9 PM. Due to limited enrollment, students will be taken on a first come, first serve basis. For further information call Eleanor Marxen (336) 838-6204 or Abby Combs (336) 838-6203.