VICTIM: Willie C. Poole

Age:44

DOB: 9-1-51

DOD: 8-28-96

Do you recall a television show from the 70's called Hogan’s Heroes? There was a character on the show known as Sgt. Shultz who always said, "I see nothing - I know nothing." I’m beginning to think we have a lot of citizens who have the same philosophy. This seems to be the case in the shooting of Willie Poole on the night of Aug. 28,1996. "Shots have been fired," "Pistol shots." "No it was a shotgun firing over here on Deadrick." These were some of the comments made that evening.

Officers began their search at East Deadrick then Stoddert, Lee Street and then Extension. It was there that the officer found the body of a man, later identified as Willie Poole, lying in a pool of blood. At the time Mr. Poole was still breathing later he died on his way to the Med in Memphis.

Recently, I met Rosemary Poole, one of Willie Poole’s sister. She was not in town when her brother was killed, she could only tell me what was passed on to her. Rosemary told me that some of her family was with Willie before he was transported to Memphis. Willie was the oldest son. He had three younger brothers, two older sisters and seven younger sisters. He had started his career up North but moved back to Jackson to help with the younger children. Unfortunately,

he got caught up in his environment. Rosemary has now moved back to Jackson to the town and family she loves but both have changed. Her mother has been diagnosed with cancer so there is an urgency in finding her brother’s killer. Since this story was profiled on NewsTalk, Kix96 and WJAK, someone has made late night visits to Mrs. Poole’s, Willie’s mother’s house banging on the outside walls causing her to lose sleep and frightening her. The family feels that by talking about the case we have stirred the waters. They don’t think this is a bad thing. They will take care of their mother but they need to your help to bring this case to an end by answering questions.

Why was he killed? Was it robbery? Was it a drug deal gone wrong? We know in 1996 there were several shootings in this area, some thought they were gang related. No matter the reason, someone out there does know what happened. Let’s break this habit of "seeing nothing" and "knowing nothing", let’s be the eyes and ears for the law enforcement officers. The information you have might be the one thing needed to solve the case. If you have information please call Crime Stoppers at 424-8477 or the Jackson Police Department at 425-8400. You can also e-mail information at tips@jacksoncrimestoppers.com.