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| Calvin McCall Haynes |
A second Birmingham man has been arrested in the murder of Talladega lawyer Blake Lazenby. We seem, however, to be no closer to learning why someone wanted to kill Lazenby, who was in the midst of a contentious divorce at the time of his death last July.
Calvin McCall Haynes, 30, has been arrested and charged with one count each of solicitation of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Ocie Lee Lynch, also 30 and from Birmingham, was arrested in connection with the Lazenby case on January 10.
Talladega County District Attorney Steve Giddens is not saying much about the investigation. Reports the Talladega Daily Home:
Giddens would not go into any further detail Friday afternoon regarding Haynes’ involvement in the case.
Interim Sylacauga Police Chief Chris Carden said “the investigation remains ongoing and is far from finished.”
Another Birmingham resident, Ocie Lee Lynch, 30, was charged earlier this month with Lazenby’s murder. Lynch is currently in the Talladega County Metro Jail, where he is being held without bond on a capital murder charge.
The fact that Lynch allegedly broke into Lazenby’s home provides the aggravating circumstance making it a capital case.
Lazenby was found dead in his home on Stonehill Road in Sylacauga on July 27. He appears to have died from multiple gunshot wounds.
As we have reported in a series of posts, substantial evidence suggests that motivation for murder might have come from a divorce case involving Blake Lazenby and his wife, Geanne Elder Lazenby.
Public documents indicate several complications had caused the Lazenby v. Lazenby divorce case to turn nasty:
* Multiple lawyers for Geanne Lazenby had tried unsuccessfully to get District Judge Jeb Fannin to recuse himself on the grounds that Blake Lazenby and members of his firm had repeatedly practiced before judges in the county. The case almost certainly presented valid grounds for recusal, but Fannin refused to step aside.
* Lawyers from a Birmingham firm arrived late in the case and engaged in what appear to be hardball tactics, seeking medical records on Ms. Lazenby from two locations and documents on a criminal complaint she had filed against a Coosa County man named Earnest James Files. How those documents were relevant to issues in the divorce case remains unclear.
* Lawyers appeared to be trying to strong arm Ms. Lazenby into a settlement agreement against her will.
Our research indicates that Lazenby v. Lazenby was not being handled in a lawful fashion, and Geanne Lazenby and those close to her probably had reason to feel she was being railroaded. Others connected to the case perhaps felt threatened. It appears, unfortunately, that someone reacted by turning to violence.
Blake Lazenby is dead, and two men have been arrested in connection with his murder. Will we learn what drove an apparent conspiracy to kill a prominent Alabama lawyer? That remains to be seen.
I read in a comment somewhere today that Ocie Lynch is related to Ernest Files. This case is getting stranger by the minute. The wife had filed charges against Files. Files lives in Kellyton, AL which borders, Alex City, AL. On the day of the murder, Lazenby had just returned home, according to the news, from driving "friends back home to Alex City." Now wondering just who those "friends" were.
ReplyDeleteAnon:
ReplyDeleteAre you thinking that Mr. Lazenby had arranged for someone to harass Ms. Lazenby--and someone connected to the hired harassing gun wound up turning on Mr. Lazenby? Perhaps a dispute regarding compensation? We are speculating here, of course, but that seems to be one possible conclusion to the events that you have heard described.
* Multiple lawyers for Geanne Lazenby
ReplyDelete* Lawyers from a Birmingham firm
* Lawyers appeared to be trying to strong arm
Mr. Schnauzer:
Judges-prosecutors-defense attorneys are all lawyers so what precentage would you suppose are out of control psychopaths that need to be taken off street for "the protection of society?
Profound question, Jeff? I would say that lawyers and such are far more dangerous to most Americans than the so-called street criminal we fear will mug us. I'm sure it's a terrible experience to be mugged or assaulted on the street, but at least it's a relatively isolated event--and there's a chance the system will do something about it. Lawyers and their brethren chip away at our very democracy, and they almost always get away with their crimes. I remember that I used to fall for the GOP's "tough on street crime" rhetoric. I should have been more concerned about crimes committed by lawyers and other white-collar types.
ReplyDelete1) Ocie Lynch NOT related to Files, but there ARE CONNECTIONS.
ReplyDelete2) Files & Mrs. Lazenby are "friends" for over 4 years
3) Files lives in Goodwater Alabama
4) Blake was in court that day in Alexander City. He had dropped his clients off at the airport in Alexander City before returning to Sylacauga. Last time he was seen alive (OTHER THAN THE KILLER) was at a gas station on Hwy. 231 close to his home, filling up with gas.
Ernest Files is the supposed boyfriend of Ms. Lazenby. Ms. Lazenby filed the charges on Mr. Files to make him look bad and to make herself look good.Needless to say nothing ever happened. Also Mr. Files is Ocie Lynchs uncle.
ReplyDeleteLegal Schnauzer: "Are you thinking that MR. Lazenby had arranged for someone to harass MS. Lazenby..."
ReplyDeleteThink this will end up being just the opposite. MOO (My Opinion Only).
need to check on will to see if wife was left out , who was in charge and what does she get.
ReplyDeleteDr David Kenneth Cochrane Registered Sex Offender Six Counts of rape including minors, three counts of indecent assault all involving patients dating back to the early millennium. Psychiatrist 6 months in Jail, 2 years probation, including 6 month license suspension. North Bay Canada Ontario and now re-employed for the regional health centre.
ReplyDeleteTWO more arrests in the savage murder of Blake:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailyhome.com/view/full_story/17609466/article-2-more-arrests-in-Lazenby-murder?instance=home_lead_story
Please read the comments below the article. EVERYONE here in Sylacauga knows who was behind this. SHE is the person the public is wanting to see in handcuffs & orange jumpsuit.
Agreed with the last comment....I have lived in Sylacauga all my life. Everyone here knows she had him killed. It's as plain as day. Just waiting for Justice now.
ReplyDeleteMr. Legal "Mutt", where did you get your law degree? Was Dollar Tree running a special and you decided to get one? Well, your legal opinion and opinion are worth about the $1.00 that you spent. I grew up with Ms. Geannie Lazenby. She was known as a sleaze in high school and well beyond. As long as I have known her and her family I have never once heard one good thing about her or her family. It is believed that a line of insanity runs through that family. Check out the family tree, Mutt. I also have had the privilege of knowing Blake Lazenby. He is one of the finest people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Now, on the subject of lawyers. Is it possible that your hatred of lawyers comes from maybe you went to law school and couldn't pass the bar? Or is it possible you once practiced as a lawyer and perhaps were disbarred? I am not a lawyer but I have worked in the legal community for around 30 years and have seen some sleazy lawyers, but the majority of the lawyers in this state are some of the nicest people I have ever met, Blake Lazenby being one of those. I'll bet, Mutt, if you talked to some of Ms. Lazenby's former attorneys they will tell you what a nut she was and how unreasonable she was. I just cannot wait until you are proven wrong about this case and she's paraded in front of everyone in her orange jumpsuit and probably an orange bow in her hair.
ReplyDeleteAnon on 2/28:
ReplyDeleteNot sure where you are coming from. I've never claimed to be a lawyer, I never went to law school, never took the bar, and never had any desire to do any of those things. As for me being "proven wrong' about the Lazenby case, I have no clue what you are talking about. There is nothing for me to be proven wrong about; I haven't said what I think happened because I don't know. I have said that the court record shows the trial judge should have recused himself under the law and that Mr. Lazenby's lawyers were filing some curious subpoenas that appeared to have little to do with issues related to a divorce. Those are matters of fact, not opinion. As for the murder, I've never taken a stance one way or another on what happened. If you think the majority of Alabama lawyers are super-duper people, your experience has been very different from mine. Perhaps they are nice to you because you are part of the legal tribe. My issue with lawyers isn't whether they are nice or not; it's whether they have ethics or not. And most of the ones I've met are sorely lacking in the ethics area.
you should provide so called "facts" without knowing what you are talking about. do you know what the file in coos county contained??do you know that the bitch tried ti get the charges she filed against her boy friend dismissed when that file was subpoenaed?? do you know she was at the hearing when her 5th atty was trying to keep the file from being produced?? do you know if that file contained evidence she had been sleeping with the yard man while married to blake??do you think that evidence might be RELEVANT in a divorce proceeding?? you have no clue what you are spec;sting about beyyer be careful what you say you will need a lawyer --YOU are one to judge the ethics of anyone is a JOKE--get a life
ReplyDeleteTo an on 10:52
ReplyDeleteYou have a serious problem with anger it is obvious that you are the person leaving all the negative crap about geanne on all the other blogs...get a life..you think that you are so smart and have all of the answers. Are you in love with mr lazenby or what! Were you the one having the affair with him! I smell something fishy with you..you are one scary person
To Anon 4/18/12 10:24PM
ReplyDeleteThere you go again trying to slander Blake's name. Let's see, haven't heard anyone say one word concerning Blake living an alternative lifestyle beside Geanne. And certainly not the fine lady that Blake was dating at the time of his death.
Geanne Elder Lazenby and her boyfriend Ernest Files are the ones with anger issues. And talk about "one scary person"? Have you seen a picture of Geanne's boyfriend Ernest Files?
ANGER ISSUES + SCARY PEOPLE = Geanne Elder Lazenby and Ernest Files.
Have you and Geanne visited her boyfriend Ernest Files in jail? Oh, wait Geanne is through with him. She got EXACTLY what she wanted out of him from the very beginning. Hide and watch, he will singing like a canary before all this is over.