Page 6B The Castlegar Sun Wednesday, January 8, 1992 Cheating preacher a would-be killer? everend Walker Railey, 39, was a man who had everything. The popular minister was senior pastor of Dallas” 6,000-member First United Methodist Church and had good reason to believe that he might one day be appointed to the lofty position of bishop. In 1987, the respected man of the cloth, his wife Peggy, their two children, Ryan, 5 and Megan, 2, lived on. fashionable Trail Hill Dr. in a large comfortable home. In the spring of that year, Rev. Railey was the recipient of several threatening typewritten letters. At first he ignored the letters as the work of a crank. He had for some time been an outspoken 0} of racism ang,injustice. Such views attract criticism. However, when the letters continued, Rev. Railey informed police and turned the offending letters over to them. On the night of April 22, Walk- er Railey drove into the driveway of his home. The garage door was open and, there, lying on the floor, was the bruised and battered form of his wife. Her body shook con- vulsively and froth formed at the edges of her mouth. Someone had choked Peggy and left her for dead. The two children were in the house, unharmed. Rev. Railey phoned police. He placed a second call to a colleague at the church, who came over immediately and took the children. Railey accompa- nied his wife in the ambulance to Presbyterian Hospital, where emergency measures were institut- ed in an attempt to save her life. Walker Railey was disconsolate. He took a suite in the hospital to be near his wife. Many members of his church arrived at the hospi- tal to offer condolences and to support their spiritual leader. Detectives investigating the vicious attack took another long hard look at those threatening let- 2eee ee 80682 So called Dear Ann Landers: Three years ago you printed a letter about a woman who thought she had won $5,000 in a charity sweepstakes. She was askéd to “donate” $5 to the Cancer Fund of America. You found out that this so-called charity was not rep- ters. Their investigation indicated that the letters had been written on one of the church’s typewriters. It seemed incomprehensible that a member of the church would harm the minister or his wife. Seven days after the attack, Peggy Railey was still in a deep coma. There was great concern that if she did survive, she would continue to live in a comatose state. Rev. Railey d to attack on his wife. Although he refused to talk to detectives, he spoke freely to the media, claim- ing that he had no idea who had written the threatening letters or who had struck down his wife. The First United Methodist United Church granted their pastor a leave of absence. He checked out of the Presbyterian Hospital and checked into Timberlawn Psychi- I. The church then carry out his work, but remained in his hospital suite to be near his wife. Religious leaders of various faiths expressed their outrage at the attack on the wife of the coura- geous minister. On the last day of April 1987, Rev. Railey retired early, com- plaining of fatigue. Next morning, when he didn’t respond to phone calls or knocks on his door, a secu- rity officer broke into his quarters and found him i Ona dismissed Railey and appointed a new minister to head the congre- gation. Through the media, Rev. Railey pleaded that he had had nothing to do with the attack on his wife. He simply had no motive for such a vile act. Besides, did anyone believe that he would be so stupid as to write threatening letters to himself on one of the church's typewriters? MAX HAINES phoned a Lucy Papillon at 5:58 pm and again and 7:32 pm on the night of the attack. Who was Lucy Papillon? She turned out to be the twice married and divorced daughter of Methodist Bishop Robert E. Goodrich. Blonde, attractive Lucy held a doctorate degree in psychol- Police discovered that on the night which was now coming under such close scrutiny, Railey had visited Lucy. When inter- viewed by police on the: morning after the attack, Railey had neglected to mention the calls or the visit to Lucy. A grand jury was called in an attempt to force the minister to talk. On the advice of his lawyer, he pleaded the Fifth Amendment 43 times, repeatedly stating, “I refuse to answer on the grounds that it may tend to incriminate table close by were empty bottles and a lengthy letter. This was stuff of soap operas. Had the reverend attempted to take his own life because of some great guilt or had the poor man become despondent and decided to end it all? His letter was described by investigating officers as a suicide note. Gradually, Walker Railey recov- ered. He openly admitted to hav- ing attempted suicide, but dismissed any though that he might have had a hand in the attack on his wife. His suicide let- ter told of devils and forces of evil within him which had urged him to take his own life. Meanwhile, Peggy Railey remained in a coma, kept alive with the aid of life sup- port systems. Detectives were anxious to question Rev. Railey, but found to their consternation that the church had retained a lawyer, ostensibly to protect his rights. The lawyer instructed his client not to speak to police. In this way, Railey became the chief suspect in the vicious CR SOHSOESHHREHHSRHHOMRLSESES utable and said so. After reading that column, I Hughey, a direct-mail firm in Alexandria, Va., which handles Tell your friends about the Sun, they'll love you for it! Did he write those threatening letters to himself? eggy Railey was removed from life-suy systems. Tubes attached to her throat allowed her to breathe, while other tubes fed nourishment directly to her stom- ach. Her parents had their uncon- scious daughter transferred to Tyler, Texas in order to look after her on a day-to-day basis. Investigators now digging up every move made by Railey on the night of the attempted murder were able to locate the record of calls made by him from. his car phone. They learned that he their fund-raising. I have since learned that the state of Illinois (and other states) has sued Watson & Hughey. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment protects even fraudulent fund-raisers, however, so the upshot was that this direct- mail firm can continue to keep whatever percent of the money it raises as long as it declares some- where in the solicitations precise- ly how the money is spent. Just today I received a solicita- SCHRRSSHRBZSOHSSSEEHRHBE winner just anot me.” Lucy was also called. She revealed that she had been roman- tically involved with the minister for over a year. As his mistress, she had accompanied him to vari- ous cities throughout the U.S. They had discussed marriage, but had not progressed to the planning stage. She had visited the minister in his suite in the hospital, despite his wife’s condition only a few doors away. Other revelations followed. Rai- ley had told police in his initial statement that he spent the entire evening doing research in a local tion from the Walker Cancer Research Institute, another of these izations. On the back of the letter, buried in the small print, was the information that 0.96 percent of the money raised goes to research. Ann, that’s LESS THAN | PERCENT of the total! The remaining 99 percent goes for “administrative costs, fund-raising and education in conjunction with fund-raising I work for a legitimate organi- ———e WE'RE HELP! you'll find more looking for in THE NEED ARISES, HERE TO From jobs and autos, to housing and merchandise, WY, The Gast s Zi CLASSIFIED SECTION it works! of what you're gar Sun ED «300.8 + Jan. 8 V/ HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sarah, Age 7, Love Mom, Dad & Amy George (Deda) Salikin, LoveThe Whole Family Rhylan Price, Age 2, Love Mommy THIS WEEK'S WINNER IS INDICATED BY LOGO charge. All birthday greetings must be phoned in (965-5266) by Noon Thureday the week before the Regular Double Burger Sale Available at Trail & Castlegar Dairy Queen Price library, We know he spent some portion of that evening with Lucy He also stated initially that he had called home between 10:30 and 10:45 pitt, télling his wife that he would be home much later. He had placed this call to a number which was answered by 4 machine. He knew Peggy never answered this line, which had been installed to accept calls from church members. Telephone records proved that the call had in reality been made at 12:03 am, as he started for home. Despite the strong suspicions and circumstances surrounding the attempted murder, the police had several hurdles to over come before they could bring Rev. Rai- ley to justice. There were no wit- nesses to the crime, no murder weapon, no fingerprints, and no proof that he had written the threatening letters. In short, there was nothing to directly connect Walker Railey to the attempted mourder. What police did have was a motive—Lucy Papillon. Why didn’t the suspected minister seck a divorce rather than attempt to commit murder? The answer to that one is Railey’s ambitious aspi- rations. Divorced ministers don’t Eight months after Peggy Rai- ley was struck down, her parents brought a civil action against their son-in-law for “physical and men- tal pain, disfigurement, anguish and physical impairment” to their Rev. Railey had gone into hid- ‘ing and had avoided being served with official documents to appear in court. In spite of this, the court ruled that he was indeed financial- ly liable for the injuries to his wife fe. It should be noted that criminal responsibility revolves around proof that is “beyond a reasonable zation that has been supporting cancer research in Chicago medi- cal centers for 44 years. Millions of dollars are diverted from chari- ties like ours by Watson & Hughey and their ilk. Here again are the names of, seven organizations that solicit people through“ Watson & Hughey. Please warn your readers to be alert and beware! + American Heart Disease Pre- vention Foundation, Inc., Mont- clair, NJ. * Cancer Fund of America, Inc., Knoxville, Tenn. + Center for Alternative Cancer Research, also known as Project Cure, of Dothan, Ala. + Walker Cancer Research Institute, Inc., Edgewood, Md. + Pacific West Cancer Fund of Seattle, Wash. + National Animal Protection Fund of Tulsa, Okla. « Social Security Protection Bureau, also known as Foxhall Corp., of Washington, D.C. Thank you again, Ann, for all your help. — Sharon Swanson, executive director, Cancer Research Foundation. Dear Sharon: I appreciate the opportunity to warn my readers once again about fund-raising let- ters which cleverly mask the fact that a huge percentage of the money donated does not go for the “cause.” If anyone out there is suspi- cious of a mailing, check with the Better Business Bureau. It will give you the straight story. Dear Ann Landers: About one month later my child started kindergarten, the students were given packets issued by the PTA containing a catalog of gifts and doubt”, while a civil action js ined by “the prep of evidence,” One can be found liable in a civil action and still not be brought to trial in a criminal action due to lack of evidence. There were no witnesses, no murder weapon, no fingerprints and no proof. But there was a motive. separate court proceeding was convened to deter- mine the amount of Walker Railey’s responsi- bility. At this hearing, Lucy Papil- lon told all. She revealed that she and Railey had had intimate rela- tions about three times a week dur- ing the year prior to the attack. They had also been intimate sever- al times since the attack, but she swore she didh’t know who had struck down Peggy Railey. The court ruled that Railey was responsible for. his wife's injuries to the tune of $18 million. It is doubtful if even one dollar will ever be collected. Walker Railey, who has never been charged with any criminal offence, has skipped to California. No longer a minister, he recently preached briefly as a layman at a First United Methodist Church in Santa Ana. His fashionable home is long gone. His children have been adopted by church col- leagues. The 6,000 member First United Methodist Church in Dal- las has a new ‘leader. Peggy Railey lies immobile in Tyler, Texas with tubes attached to her body. Doc- tors say she has a life expectancy of many years. CRESHROESCHSRESHREOHHHOHESHEHEOEBO her loser in sweepstakes scam an order form. Each child was supposed to sell these items to family and friends. Also enclosed in the packet was a list of knick- knacks designed to reward higher sales — the more the child sells, the better the quality of the knick- knack. An element of peer pres- sure also is exerted — the class with the most sales gets a party as a reward. Needless to say, the parents must foist this junk on family and friends. It’s even worse when a parent happens to be the boss as well. The subordinates are subtly forced to buy, or else When I went to school, these sales were unheard of. Now each year the families of these students have to shell out hard-earned money to some greedy organiza- tion. Friends in other states tell me of similar practices in their school districts. Ann, will you please contact the national headquarters of the PTA to ask why this racket is necessary? Maybe it will give an answer that will make us all proud of the PTA. Thanks. — Put-Upon Parent in New York Dear Parent: My office spoke with Tari Marshall, director of communications at the national PTA, who said the PTA is a child advocacy association that pro- vides for the educational needs of children in cooperation with local schools. It does not encourage using children for fund-raising, but any money raised by local chapters goes back into the school or is used for community programs and parent-child educa- tion. No school should hold each student responsible for his or her - class’ performance. This is too much pressure HAIRLINES 1444 Columbia Ave., Castlegar, B.C., 365-6700 Mon. - Set. Wed. & Thurs. "i 8:00 pm Wednesday, January 8, 1992 The Castlegar Sun Dialogue BY TON! REINHOLD COLORFUL RED - Is Red Buttons still alive? If so, how old is he? - S.D., Oshkosh, Wis. Buttons was born Feb. 5, 1919, and, at the age of 72, is still performing. He recently t-ured ‘with comedians Milton Berle and Henny Youngman in a-stage show called “A Night of a Thousand Howls.” Legend has it that Buttorg, whose given name is Aaron Chwatt, took his stage name from a uniform he wore when he.was 16, working as a bell- boy and singer at a tavern in the Bronx, N.Y. Before those days, he stood on street cor- ners in Manhattan performing for pennies. Eventually, he worked. his: way to the bur- lesque circuit and in 1941 made his Broadway debut. Buttons has had a distin- guished film career, winning a Best Supporting Actor Acade- my Award for his perfor- mance in 1957’s “Sayonara.” On television, he hosted “The Red Buttons Show,” a variety series that ran from 1952-55, HOROSCOPES January 12-18 ARIES — March 21/April 20 Some links with the past will be sev- ered, but even if you have a sense of regret, it gives you a chance to make the most of new jities later in the year. This is a particularly good time for making new friends and expanding your interests. TAURUS - April 21/May 21 Family matters are likely to be espe- cially important the next few days. It is not necessary to put up with a career or associations that are no longer rewarding. Get out as much as possible; new friendships and relationships started now will blos- som later. GEMINI — May 22/June 21 Try not to get yourself in a muddle over the things you have to do at work, especially if there are opportu- nities to make extra cash, provided you apply yourself. A sudden idea is definitely worth following up. It could make a big difference in your life. CANCER - June 22/July 22 Watch your diet, especially over the weekend. Keep away from rich and fatty foods. A change of routine is needed so you can fit in some extra jobs. Plans to brighten up your home could include new carpets or cur- tains, but if you're thinking about any major renovations, get a second opinion about your decorating plans. LEO — July 23/Aug 23 You probably don't realize it, but you are acting rather selfishly. Someone is trying very hard to attract your attention — someone that you have badly neglected recently. You could end up the loser if you are not care- ful. There appears to be an upheaval connected with work; neither arro- gance nor dominance will gain you respect in this situation, so think about your actions. VIRGO -— Aug 24/Sept 22 You'll have a busy and, at times, frustrating weekend, especially if traveling. However, new friendships and involvements are about to brighten up and may lead to some- thing more lasting than you would have imagined. Your overall finan- cial picture improves greatly. LIBRA - Sept 23/Oct 23 You are feeling very ambitious, and there is no reason why you shouldn’t fulfill your ambitions if you are self- and played the title role in the 1966 comedy series “The Dou- ble Lifé of Henry Phyfe.” In recent years, Buttons has performed mostly on stage in such locales as Las Vegas, Nev.; Atlantic City, N.J.; and Lake Tahoe, Nev. KIRK AT WORK - How old is Kirk Cameron? What TV shows did he appear in, if any, before “Growing Pains"? - T.H., New Iberia, La. Cameron is 21. Before tak- ing on the role of Mike Seaver in “Growing Pains” in 1985, he wai in the cast of the 1983-84 dramatic series “Two Mar- riages.” Last summer, Camer- on married 26-year-old ac- tress Chelsea Noble, whom he met on the set of “Growing Pains” two years ago when she began her role as Kate on that series. They recently starred in the NBC movie “A Little Piece of Heaven.” DAVID THE GOLIATH - My husband and I can’t agree on how long David Susskind was on TV. I say that it was at least 10 seasons, but he says it wasn't that long. Also, is Suss- kind still alive? - P.L., Ban- gor, Maine “The David Susskind Show” aired in syndication for 29 years, from 1958 until the talk- show host died in 1987 at the age of 66. Susskind was also a famous producer who won Emmy Awards for “The Ages of Man” (1966), “Death of a Salesman” (1967), “Eleanor and Franklin” (1976) and “El- eanor and Franklin: The White House Years” (1977). reliant; what you do for yourself will get very B aeny results. But partner- ships will be of no help — in fact, they could be a liability. SCORPIO — Oct 24/Nov 22 you can make good use of invest- ment profits. Listen attentively at parties; you can make some benefi- cial contacts. SAGITTARIUS - Nov 23/Dec 21 Career-wise you will probably find peat at a crossroads. You may ave to decide between alternative ities to add to your status. New acquaintances will add a spe- cial sparkle to the personal side of your life. However, you mustn't neglect your old buddies. CAPRICORN - Dec 22/Jan 20 Your ideas have not always been well received in the past, but this week could be the start of a success- ful period — be careful not to rush anything. Health will be good when things coether ys Listen attentively to one ind the scenes; adventure and excitement is in the offing. AQUARIUS -— Jan 21/Feb 18 Personal and work matters need a great deal of care and attention to prevent confusion, and you will have to be more patient with plans and projects. Romance and entertain- ment make you happy, but may upset someone close to you. PISCES - Feb 19/March 20 An up and down weekend. You are vulnerable and take refuge behind a cool exterior. Discuss your emotions honestly. You get a fresh perspective on money matters, and contacts made at social functions pay off around mid-week. On Thursday evening there may be tender moments after a frustrating day. YOUR BIRTHDAY THIS WEEK The next 12 months Positive thinking will bring you more luck than you think it will; don’t always expect the worst or you will be forever brooding. Money matters take a tum for the best, and with a few wise investment plans, your bank account will be extremely healthy. Don’t forget about the peo- ple who have always been there for you. Calvin and Hobbes WAY 00 T-WAVE TO GO TO | BED NOW? TL NEVER DO WHAT T WANT! 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