Man accused in murder-for-hire

WIGGINS, Miss. (AP) - A judge has ordered a 21-year-old Biloxi man held without bond in the murder-for-hire slaying in Stone County.

The Sun Herald reports Stone County Justice Court Judge Jeffrey O'Neal issued the order Monday O'Neal also appointed a lawyer to represent Jody Robert Parks, since he doesn't have any income and lived with his mother.

Parks is charged with capital murder in the beating and fatal stabbing of Timothy "Timmy" Garrison Sr. at a business Garrison co-owned.

Also charged in the case Garrison's wife, Evelyn Garrison, and Emmett E. Entrekin of Saucier. Each is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit capital murder. They remain jailed in Stone County on a $1 million bond.

Authorities said during Monday's hearing that Evelyn Garrison discovered her husband's body in the front yard of the business and called 911 for help.

When Stone County sheriff's deputies got to the scene, they found Timmy Garrison so badly beaten that they first thought he'd been shot in the head. The autopsy, however, showed he'd been severely beaten and stabbed. He also had defensive wounds on his arm and hand.

Deputies, with assistance from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, determined someone had tried to make it appear there had been a robbery at the business, but only minor stuff appeared missing. Sheriff Mike Farmer said they never believed a murder occurred there.

Published: Wed, Feb 11, 2015