The Shadow
Covington Attorney Bill Wilson, who served as a delegate to the Virginia House of Delegates from 1974-1989, founded the Jackson River Preservation Association in 2011.
Wilson recalled, “When I first started out as a practicing lawyer, I did everything, traffic cases and all kinds of criminal law.”
He joined Hale Collins’ Law Firm in Covington where he remained for eight years before Hale died in 1971. A year after Hale’s death, Michael Collins, Hale’s son, joined Wilson in his law practice.
One of the memorable murder cases for which Wilson served as the defense attorney was held in Highland County shortly after he arrived in Covington and joined Collins’ Law Firm.
He remained with Collins for eight years before Collins died in 1971. A year after Hale’s death, Hale’s son, Michael Collins, an attorney, joined Wilson in his law practice.
Wilson remembered, “A friend of mine in Highland County called me and asked me to consider defending an elderly man who was in jail for shooting the husband of his niece, in the back of the head, with a high-powered rifle.”
After interviewing the man who confirmed that he shot the man to death but claimed that he did so in self-defense, Wilson agreed to defend him.
Wilson learned that 50 years prior to the shooting that his client had been convicted of making moonshine, and he asked the judge to bar that information from being presented during the trial. The judge agreed.
The prosecuting attorney in the case neglected to divulge to the sheriff that he was not to mention the defendant’s past conviction for making moonshine.
During the trial, the sheriff was testifying about the way the victim, who was drunk, had entered the defendant’s yard and was allegedly yelling that he was going to “beat up” the defendant. The sheriff testified that the defendant had been convicted of making moonshine 50 years earlier.
Wilson quickly made the motion for a mistrial, and Judge Byrd, who had buried his head in his arms at the moment the sheriff divulged the moon-shining conviction, ruled in Wilson’s favor.
Wilson noted that the sheriff had explained to the jury that the way the victim was shot in the back of his head indicated that at the moment the defendant fired, the victim had turned his head, causing the bullet to strike him behind the ear, resulting in bone fragments being scattered into the victim’s hand.
That information combined with the established fact that the drunk victim was a large man over six foot tall who weighed more than 200 lbs., in addition to the fact that he had ignored the defendant’s warning not to come closer and continued threatening to “beat up” the defendant, weighed heavily in favor of the defendant.
While waiting for another trial date to be set, Dr. Raymond Clatterbaugh, a well-respected medical doctor in Clifton Forge, who Wilson had recruited as a medical expert and who would have reported that the size of the victim represented a deadly threat to the defendant, reported to Wilson that since the mistrial that Wilson’s client had been diagnosed with cancer.
The second trial never took place due to the defendant’s death, and Wilson sat beside the sheriff at the defendant’s funeral where the sheriff leaned over and whispered to Wilson that he had talked to the jurors who would have acquitted the defendant.
Wilson continued to accept a variety of cases, but by the early 1980s, he began specializing in personal injury cases.
During the time that he served in the Virginia House of Delegates, his district included Alleghany Co., Botetourt Co. and a portion of Craig Co.
Another high-profile case that Wilson litigated concerned the building of the Gathright Dam. An environmental group based in Norfolk filed suit in an effort to prevent the dam from being built.
Wilson represented the Alleghany Chamber of Commerce and the James River Basin Assoc. and pleaded their case for building Gathright Dam. For 10 days he argued the case in federal court in Roanoke, and Wilson prevailed over the plaintiffs.
He remembered, “The opponents of building the dam thought that the environmental impact statement was inadequate, but we won.”
Today, Wilson is active as an environmentalist who advocates for clean water, the protection of wildlife and aquatic creatures living in the Jackson River, as well as for responsible recreational use of the Jackson River and Lake Moomaw.
Currently, he is collecting donations for Senior Law Day (SLD) which is set for 10:00 a.m. on Sat. Aug. 10, at Mountain Gateway Community College where seniors and caregivers will be treated to a free lunch.
Wilson, who is in his mid-80s, continues to enjoy good health that enables him to play golf, hike and pursue his altruistic endeavors.
He and Langhorne Wilson, his wife, are grandparents. They received an award from Appalfolks of America Assoc. for their philanthropy.
Bill grew up in Crewe, Va. which is located between Farmville and Blackstone. He graduated from Crewe High School in 1956.
Bill worked on a railroad crew that repaired railroad tracks during the summer before he and one of his college friends set out to hitchhike from Crewe to Mont.
Bill recalled, “A friend of mine and I decided to hitchhike to Mont. where my friend had landed a foreman’s job.”
He added, “I had been hired to work for the U.S. Forest Service in the Lolo National Forest.”
By the time they reached Chicago, Bill’s friend decided to take the train the rest of the way because he was afraid he would not arrive in time to claim his job.
Bill quipped, “I hitchhiked the rest of the way, and we both arrived at the same time to get our jobs.”
After finishing the summer job, Bill entered Hampden Sydney College where he received a bachelor’s of arts degree in history in 1960.
Bill concluded, “I entered UVA Law School in 1960 and graduated with a juris doctor’s degree in 1963.”
Currently, Bill is collecting donations for the Alleghany-Bath-Highlands Bar Assoc.’s Senior Law Day, and checks made payable to ABHB can be mailed to William T. Wilson, 228 N. Maple Ave., Covington 24426.
