District Attorney Neal Pinkston checks a document while questioning a witness on the 2nd day of the murder trial of Billy Hawk in Judge Don Poole’s courtroom in Hamilton County Criminal Court on Wednesday, June 1, 2016, in Chattanooga. A grand jury indicted Hawk, 62, in September for first-degree murder in the 1981 slaying of Johnny Mack Salyer.Defense lawyers pushed back this morning in the murder trial of Billy Hawk, asking investigators why they didn’t aggressively pursue other leads in the 1981 slaying of Johnny Mack Salyer.
“So,” began attorney Jonathan Turner, one of three men representing Hawk, “you’ve got no evidence that puts the two of them together, you’ve got no evidence that Hawk purchased a barrel, you’ve got no evidence that he purchased a torch to put holes in the barrel.”
As the courtroom watched, Turner continued to cross examine Larry Sneed, a former detective with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.
“You do have evidence that he owed someone thousands of dollars,” Turner said. “You do have evidence that Mr. Salyer is heavily involved in drug trafficking…You also have information that one of the people he owed money to was the West Cartel.”
He asked if Sneed ever spoke to a cartel member whose name popped up during the investigation.