By Tom Smith
Times Daily

The motive that led to the slaying of a Greenhill man could have been a $70 debt, authorities said Friday.

James Gregory Wright, 42, was found dead Wednesday night inside his manufactured home on Lauderdale 130. Three men accused of killing him were taken into custody shortly before 2 a.m. Friday.

Sheriff Ronnie Willis said a lost cell phone led to the arrest of the three Iron City, Tenn., men, including a father and son.

Greg Leon Nard, 25, 201 Chestnut St., Iron City, and his 47-year-old father, William David Nard, same address, were charged with murder. Their friend, Norman Earnest Widdowson, 42, 220 Oak St., Iron City, also was charged with murder, authorities said.

“They were developed as potential suspects late Thursday evening, and we brought them in for questioning,” Willis said Friday afternoon.

The three men were transferred to the Lauderdale County Detention Center, where they are being held on bond of $150,000 each. The bond was set Friday afternoon by District Judge Deborah Bell Paseur.

Although Wright’s bloody body was found by a neighbor about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Willis said investigators believe he was killed Saturday night during a fight at his residence at 2458 Lauderdale 130.

The residence is about four miles west of U.S. 43 and about a mile south of the Alabama-Tennessee state line.

The sheriff said the critical evidence needed to make an arrest started coming together late Thursday when investigator Clifford Whitten discovered a cell phone near the front porch of Wright’s house.

Investigators said the cell phone apparently was lost during a fight between the victim and the suspects. The fight reportedly occurred on the porch.

“We found the phone and some evidence that

linked the three suspects to Mr. Wright,” Willis said. “We then contacted St. Joseph, Tenn., Police Chief Dennis Daniel, who knew the three men and their whereabouts.”

Willis said investigators went to the men’s Iron City houses, and they all agreed to be taken to Florence for questioning.

Authorities said all three admitted during questioning that they were involved in the case. Willis said they were all charged and arrested after evidence and statements were presented to Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly.

Authorities said the three men went to Wright’s home Saturday night to collect a debt.

“The victim owed Greg Nard $70 for car tires,” Willis said. “He and his daddy and Widdowson had been out, and they stopped by Wright’s house (between 9 p.m. and midnight) to collect the money.”

Investigators said Greg Nard and Wright apparently got into a fight while they were on the front porch discussing the debt.

“Then the others (William Nard and Widdowson) got involved, and the fight escalated back into the house,” the sheriff said.

Wright’s body was found face down on the living room floor. Blood was found in the living room, on the porch and on a gravel driveway leading to the house.

Wright was severely beaten and cut, officials said. They said that a knife was used in the fight, but the knife had not been found as of Friday afternoon.

A preliminary autopsy indicates Wright died from blunt force trauma to the head.

Investigators said William Nard’s hand was cut during the fight. His wound was severe enough that he had to be treated at Crockett Hospital in Lawrenceburg, investigators said.

As William Nard was being escorted to the detention center Friday morning, his left hand was covered with a bandage and brace.

Law enforcement officials said they originally believed an altercation began in the driveway because of the blood.

But Willis said it is now believed that the blood came from William Nard’s hand as he and the others left the residence and got into his truck.

The sheriff said the pickup the three were in that night has been confiscated.

Willis praised his department and agents with the Alabama Bureau of Investigation and the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.

“Everyone involved worked tirelessly, and, because of that, we were able to make these arrests is just over 24 hours after the body was discovered,” Willis said. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Wright family, and, hopefully, this can bring them some closure.”