May 10, 2001
Crime Scene
Man Shot Dead in Casket Store
Ferris Drinkard, 68, of Chancey, suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head and was pronounced dead Friday morning at Casket Emporium in Trinity Village Shopping Center.
Harry Gates, 70, of Dukes, who was treated for minor stab wounds, was charged with the murder. He was taken to Pugh County Metro where he was being held pending a bond hearing.
“Drinkard and Gates were business associates at one time,” said Chancey police spokesman Dewey Rotch. “They’ve had disputes over business matters in the past,” Rotch added without elaborating.
Rotch was unable to say whether the two men were still business associates or whether their past association was in the casket business.
“It’s a terrible thing,” Rotch said. “The business of death is tough enough without heaping added strife and discord to the mix.”