Maggie
2004-03-03 12:36:57 UTC
Read the last few paragraphs--it seems Earnest Lee was not quite the paragon of
virtue that many of his friends claim him to be. It amazes me how low people
can go before friends and neighbors will say a bad word about him. Perhaps
it's a southern thing. From the Jackson Clarion-Ledger:
March 3, 2004
Stepfather struggles to believe suspect capable of murder
By Peggy Matthews
***@clarionledger.com
Jack Glancy of Taylorsville has watched in disbelief at the unfolding enigma
that is Earnest Lee Hargon, his stepson who is accused of killing a Yazoo
County family.
"I would have bet my life he wouldn't have done that," said the soft-spoken
Glancy.
Glancy, 72, was married to Hargon's mother, Eva, who died last year of cancer.
Although he grieves for his wife, he's glad she did not live to see her son
arrested on capital murder charges Monday.
"She's better off not being here. That's a harsh thing to say, but true,"
Glancy said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
The stepson he thought he knew was a decent man, congenial, given to practical
jokes, he said.
They had worked together at the Leaf River Veterinary Clinic on Friday, the
same day Hargon, 43, was arrested in the deaths of Michael, Rebecca and
4-year-old James Patrick Hargon.
The Hargons disappeared from their home in Vaughan on Feb. 14. Their bodies
were found Monday near Taylorsville in Covington County.
The last time Glancy saw his stepson at the animal clinic owned by Earnest Lee
Hargon's wife, Lisa Ainsworth, life seemed good.
Earnest Lee Hargon was relaxed, working on his Corvette, the car authorities
say he may have used to take the family from their home. "He was joking and
carrying on like normal. That's the part I can't deal with, Glancy said. "For
two weeks he was the normal person that I know."
Glancy said he's not sure if he will visit his stepson in jail, but he prays
for him.
"I'm just kind of in shock ... I feel more sorrow than I do anger. It's
totally baffling," Glancy said.
Glancy said he couldn't imagine a motive for such a crime, but thinks drugs
might have played a role. Authorities in Smith County charged Earnest Lee
Hargon on Sunday with possession of methamphetamine while in possession of a
firearm.
"He drove a truck two or three years ago and had to take pills to stay awake
... He got hooked," Glancy said.
Earnest Lee Hargon's father, Charles Hargon, cut him out of his will shortly
before he died in January, leaving a 50-acre farm near Canton to Michael
Hargon, his great-nephew.
"Earnest Lee could not have cared less ... he didn't care anything about that
property," Glancy said.
Earnest Lee Hargon and his father had not spoken to each for two years before
Charles Hargon died, according to Glancy.
"It was some silly little thing about working cattle, the way they were
driving them. He did not go to his funeral," Glancy said.
He did not want to talk about Ainsworth, whom he works for, but said she and
Earnest Lee Hargon had a good relationship and "seemed to be in love."
The couple had gone out to dinner Feb. 15, and Glancy was feeding animals at
the clinic when investigators first showed up to question Earnest Lee Hargon,
he said.
In 1994, the Glancys obtained custody of Earnest Lee Hargon's son, James
Phillip Hargon, now 15. He calls Glancy, who has raised him since he was 7
months old, "paw."
He is a great kid and a good student, Glancy said. With his voice breaking,
Glancy said, "I'm concerned about J.P. He lost his mother, lost his grandfather
and now he's lost his dad, all in less than a year."
During the custody fight in Leake County Chancery Court, Earnest Lee Hargon
was described as an unfit parent, who abandoned his child.
At one point during the hearing, Earnest Lee Hargon stood up in court and
called the judge a "self-centered son of a bitch," records show. He was found
in contempt and thrown in jail for one day.
The judge, Ray Montgomery of Canton, remembered the incident. "That was the
only time I can recall that happening. I told him it was not an affront to me,
but it was an affront to the court," Montgomery said.
Maggie
"Objects in your mirror may be closer than they appear." --John Edwards after
the WI primary
virtue that many of his friends claim him to be. It amazes me how low people
can go before friends and neighbors will say a bad word about him. Perhaps
it's a southern thing. From the Jackson Clarion-Ledger:
March 3, 2004
Stepfather struggles to believe suspect capable of murder
By Peggy Matthews
***@clarionledger.com
Jack Glancy of Taylorsville has watched in disbelief at the unfolding enigma
that is Earnest Lee Hargon, his stepson who is accused of killing a Yazoo
County family.
"I would have bet my life he wouldn't have done that," said the soft-spoken
Glancy.
Glancy, 72, was married to Hargon's mother, Eva, who died last year of cancer.
Although he grieves for his wife, he's glad she did not live to see her son
arrested on capital murder charges Monday.
"She's better off not being here. That's a harsh thing to say, but true,"
Glancy said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
The stepson he thought he knew was a decent man, congenial, given to practical
jokes, he said.
They had worked together at the Leaf River Veterinary Clinic on Friday, the
same day Hargon, 43, was arrested in the deaths of Michael, Rebecca and
4-year-old James Patrick Hargon.
The Hargons disappeared from their home in Vaughan on Feb. 14. Their bodies
were found Monday near Taylorsville in Covington County.
The last time Glancy saw his stepson at the animal clinic owned by Earnest Lee
Hargon's wife, Lisa Ainsworth, life seemed good.
Earnest Lee Hargon was relaxed, working on his Corvette, the car authorities
say he may have used to take the family from their home. "He was joking and
carrying on like normal. That's the part I can't deal with, Glancy said. "For
two weeks he was the normal person that I know."
Glancy said he's not sure if he will visit his stepson in jail, but he prays
for him.
"I'm just kind of in shock ... I feel more sorrow than I do anger. It's
totally baffling," Glancy said.
Glancy said he couldn't imagine a motive for such a crime, but thinks drugs
might have played a role. Authorities in Smith County charged Earnest Lee
Hargon on Sunday with possession of methamphetamine while in possession of a
firearm.
"He drove a truck two or three years ago and had to take pills to stay awake
... He got hooked," Glancy said.
Earnest Lee Hargon's father, Charles Hargon, cut him out of his will shortly
before he died in January, leaving a 50-acre farm near Canton to Michael
Hargon, his great-nephew.
"Earnest Lee could not have cared less ... he didn't care anything about that
property," Glancy said.
Earnest Lee Hargon and his father had not spoken to each for two years before
Charles Hargon died, according to Glancy.
"It was some silly little thing about working cattle, the way they were
driving them. He did not go to his funeral," Glancy said.
He did not want to talk about Ainsworth, whom he works for, but said she and
Earnest Lee Hargon had a good relationship and "seemed to be in love."
The couple had gone out to dinner Feb. 15, and Glancy was feeding animals at
the clinic when investigators first showed up to question Earnest Lee Hargon,
he said.
In 1994, the Glancys obtained custody of Earnest Lee Hargon's son, James
Phillip Hargon, now 15. He calls Glancy, who has raised him since he was 7
months old, "paw."
He is a great kid and a good student, Glancy said. With his voice breaking,
Glancy said, "I'm concerned about J.P. He lost his mother, lost his grandfather
and now he's lost his dad, all in less than a year."
During the custody fight in Leake County Chancery Court, Earnest Lee Hargon
was described as an unfit parent, who abandoned his child.
At one point during the hearing, Earnest Lee Hargon stood up in court and
called the judge a "self-centered son of a bitch," records show. He was found
in contempt and thrown in jail for one day.
The judge, Ray Montgomery of Canton, remembered the incident. "That was the
only time I can recall that happening. I told him it was not an affront to me,
but it was an affront to the court," Montgomery said.
Maggie
"Objects in your mirror may be closer than they appear." --John Edwards after
the WI primary