Hearing held for Maryville man charged in Walland slaying
By J.J. Kindred | (jj.kindred@thedailytimes.com)
The case of a Maryville man charged in the slaying of a Walland man has been sent to a Blount County grand jury.
A preliminary hearing was held in Blount County General Sessions Court Monday afternoon for Clinton Garrett Walton, 31, Enterprise Way, who is charged with criminal homicide and auto theft. Judge William Brewer presided. Walton was extradited back to Blount County Feb. 18, and was charged the next day with the Feb. 10 homicide of 37-year-old Brian David Fann of Blair Loop Road in Walland.
Officers responded to Fann’s home after dispatchers received a report of an injured person at 1:24 p.m. Feb. 10. Fann was found dead in the home.
Questioned by Blount County Assistant District Attorney Shari Tayloe, Blount County Sheriff’s Office Detective Sgt. Shannon Carswell said when she and other officers responded to the call of the homicide, she saw Fann’s body with a gunshot wound to the head, propped up in a seated position in the master bedroom.
Suspect seen by neighbor
Walton was seen by Fann’s neighbor driving a Toyota RAV 4 SUV that belonged to Walton’s parents, Carswell said, adding his parents gave him permission to drive the vehicle but not out of town.
Carswell testified that officers went to Walton’s parents’ home to look for him, but he was not there. They ended up getting a call from the Canadian border patrol agents through the National Crime Information Center, reporting they had found the vehicle as Walton tried to cross the border into Canada from Detroit. His parents had to report the vehicle missing since Walton was a suspect in the homicide.
Walton was taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Detroit the morning of Feb. 11. He was held in the Wayne County (Mich.) Detention Facility until his extradition back to Blount County.
‘They were friends’
While being cross-examined by Walton’s attorney, James Snyder, Carswell testified that Walton may have killed Fann because he feared for his life, and Fann had threatened to kill him and his family because of money he owed him. Walton had allegedly used a 9-millimeter handgun to shoot Fann.
“(Walton) and the victim knew each other for a long time. They were friends,” Carswell said, adding that Walton would get prescription medication often from Fann, according to their investigation.
Carswell said when Walton was being interviewed, there were many inconsistencies in his story, including claiming that he was going to Fann’s house to pay his debt when he actually did not have the money.
Brewer concluded that after Carswell’s testimony that there was enough evidence for the case to go to the grand jury.
Walton remains in the Blount County Detention Facility in lieu of $1.1 million bond, which will remain the same.
