Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 31, 1993 TAG: 9310310063
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
First Classman Phillip Watson on Saturday disputed a state police report that he told authorities the letters were a hoax and that he never intended for the investigation to go very far.
"I told them that maybe it was a joke that got out of hand," Watson said from his home in Greenwood, S.C. The joke, he said, may have been one that someone intended for him or for others, but not one that he initiated.
Until now, Watson's name has been concealed. Saturday, he agreed to allow the Roanoke Times & World-News to identify him.
"I just really think it came down to the fact that the state police couldn't point the finger at any specific person," Watson said.
Watson's father, Bernard Watson, said he was troubled by a state police news release issued Friday that, as written, appeared to lay blame on his son.
The release contained the following statement:
"Following an extensive interview with State Police special agents, the complainant stated the notes were a hoax and that he never intended for the investigation to go this far."
Said Bernard Watson, "They could not find hard proof, so what they did was blame the innocent party indirectly to make it seem like he was doing it.
"If they have physical evidence, put it on the table. If they don't, then retract their statement that made it seem like [Phillip] is the one behind the whole thing."
Watson said state police took Phillip from the VMI campus in Lexington to the Salem headquarters Thursday evening for questioning about the letters. Watson said Phillip was not given an opportunity to contact family or legal counsel.
Watson said his son was given a polygraph test but was not told the results. He said his son told him he was coaxed, after five to six hours of questioning, into saying that the incident was a hoax and that it was not racially motivated, although he had expressed some doubt to special agents.
State police spokesman Charles Vaughan declined to comment on accounts the Watsons gave to a reporter.
"I can't talk about the investigation," Vaughan said. "The investigation has concluded."
Bernard Watson said VMI officials contacted the family in South Carolina Friday night and read them the state police news release. Phillip Watson had gone home earlier Friday to attend a VMI football game Saturday in Greenville, 40 minutes away from his home in Greenwood, Bernard Watson said.
VMI officials told the family they might want to make a statement to the media, Bernard Watson said. Phillip proceeded to call several newspapers late Friday, including the Roanoke Times & World-News.
Phillip Watson, 22, is attending VMI on a full track scholarship. He is captain of the school's track team.
"Why would the state police handle the whole matter like this with a 22-year-old kid who was already under a lot of pressure?" Bernard Watson asked. "I think what's happened is that after state police couldn't come up with someone, someone told them to close this case out. And now things are being turned around to question [Phillip's] character."
Watson said Phillip initially came to him about receiving three threatening notes in the barracks. The third note, attached to his door, contained racial epithets and was more explicit than the others.
Watson said his son had not wanted an investigation.
"But because of the threatening letters he was getting, I called the school and showed my grave concern for the matter," Watson said. "I wanted assurances that Phillip would be protected."
VMI asked the FBI on Oct. 6 to help investigate what appeared to be racially motivated death threats against a black cadet by another member of the Corps of Cadets. Maj. Gen. John Knapp, VMI's superintendent, said then that the senior cadet had received three short notes in the barracks beginning in late September.
The notes prompted Knapp to issue a statement to VMI's 1,200 cadets. "With your help and with the moral certainty that we are right, we will root out this cancer," Knapp said.
In a statement released Saturday, Knapp said that, given the investigation's outcome, there was no basis for the earlier allegation of a racially motivated threat against the cadet.
"However, we are not certain of the person or persons responsible for this incident," he said. "Therefore, we cannot comment on possible disciplinary action at this time."
Col. Michael Bissell, commandant of cadets, said it would be unfair to anyone to react solely on the basis of information provided in the state police news release.
"We've got to get more information," Bissell said. "All we have is what they released to us."
VMI officials have said race relations at the school have been good since it integrated 25 years ago. Currently, 7.5 percent of the cadets are black, and 5.5 percent are members of other minority races.
One cadet contacted Friday, who asked that his name not be used, characterized Phillip Watson as someone who might want to draw attention to racial problems at VMI.
But Bernard Watson said that if his son has got something to say, "he's going to say it."
"He wouldn't do something like that just to call attention," he said.
by CNB