Court records: Accused shooter threatened to kill wife, himselfThe
man who is accused of Sunday's church shooting was described today by a
long-time acquaintance as a loner who hates "blacks, gays and anyone
different from him.'' An accomplished musician, Jim David
Adkisson was carrying a shotgun instead of a guitar in a guitar case
when he went into Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church Sunday
morning and started shooting. Adkisson's ex-wife, Liza Alexander of Powell, was a former long-time member of the church, congregant Barbara Kemper said today. Alexander, a resident of the Powell community inside Anderson County, repeatedly refused comment when contacted today. The
Adkissones' marriage disintegrated eight years ago after Adkisson had
been drinking heavily and then put a gun to Alexander's head, said
Carol Smallwood of Alice, Texas. According to Anderson County Court records, as their marriage went awry, Jim David Adkisson said he had an option. That
choice was to blow his wife's brains out and then do the same to
himself, an order of protection in Anderson County Chancery Court shows. Alexander filed the order of protection against him on March 1, 2000, records show. The
legal action was taken in response to an incident that occurred Feb. 22
of that year, according to the petition for the order. After
that threat of violence, "I told him that I felt a strong need for
seperation (sic) and he yelled, 'Well, then leave!''' Alexander wrote
in the petition. Alexander stated she did depart and spent the
rest of that February night in a hotel. "I am in fear for my life and
what he might do,'' she stated in the petition. Alexander's petition sought possession of the couple's residence or that she be provided alternate housing. Chancellor
William Lantrip granted the order of protection on March 17, 2000, and
awarded Alexander the couple's house on Norris Freeway. Smallwood
said today she has known Adkisson for "25 to 30 years'' and helped
Alexander move Adkisson's possessions out of the house in Powell after
the incident with the gun. "He always had the attitude the
government was trying to get him,'' Smallwood said. "He disliked
blacks, gays, anyone who was a different color or just different from
him. "He's a very intelligent man but he couldn't get in the mainstream and hold a job,'' Smallwood said. "He's not a beast. He needed help a long time ago and never got it. "I
think he's got a heart of gold when he's good, but he has so much anger
inside of him. He didn't go into that church to harm any children
because he loved children.'' Smallwood said after the marriage
to Alexander unraveled, "He got on a motorcycle and went west.'' She
said she got to know Adkisson through her now ex-husband because the
two men rode motorcycles together. She described Adkisson as a "very accomplished guitarist.'' "He
was just the life of the party,'' Smallwood said, "but then those dark
periods would hit and you didn't want to be around him. They would go
on for weeks. Everything was negative. You couldn't talk him out of it." Dolores
"Dee" Adkisson said she and the suspect are cousins, though she is much
older, and Jim David Adkisson called her his aunt. "He was always different,'' Dee Adkisson of Harriman said today. Jim
and Carolyn Adkisson, now deceased, adopted Jim David Adkisson as a
newborn, according to Dee Adkisson. She said she thought a local doctor
arranged that adoption. "He had problems through the years,'' she said. "He just didn't seem to find his niche in life. He was always kind of a loner.'' Dee
Adkisson said as a youth, Jim David Adkisson disliked being forced by
his parents to attend First Christian Church in Harriman. "I know he needed the Lord,'' she said. She said Jim David Adkisson lived in Harriman until he was 20 and entered into his first marriage when he was about 19. "It was a very bad marriage that didn't last a couple of years,'' Dee Adkisson said. When he left Harriman, "he kind of roamed,'' she said. "He lived in Middle Tennessee, he lived in Florida.' "We
love David. I'm just heartsick for everybody that's concerned. My heart
is just breaking for the church members, but it's also breaking for
him.'' More details as they develop online and in Tuesday's News Sentinel.
Scary stuff happening in a city only 40 miles away from Liam! | 
