Illegal drug activity is high

on their list as Fayette County Sheriff's detectives follow leads to find

out who murdered two men at a north Fayette residence and why.

"It's a lot of legwork

and you can't have a lot of loose ends," said Lt. Mike Hattaway of

the Fayette County Sheriff's Department. "You just try to put the

pieces of the puzzle together."

Detectives indicated last week

they were focusing on drug activity that occurred at David Mangham's residence

in the Princeton Chase subdivision just off Ga. Highway 314. Mangham and

Francis Michael Fowler of Ellenwood, who Mangham hired occasionally to

perform auto body work, were both found shot to death in the residence,

detectives said.

The bodies of the 48-year-old

men were discovered last Monday and detectives believe the two men had

been dead for approximately 10 days.

Both Mangham and Fowler were

involved in illegal drug activity, according to Lt. Col. Bruce Jordan

of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department, the lead detective on the

case.

Jordan said last Thursday that

the case would not be quickly resolved, particularly since the investigation

will reach into "areas of Atlanta where people don't like to cooperate

with police."

Dr. Ralph M. Cooper, the former

associate pastor to single adults at New Hope Baptist Church, recalls

Mangham as a very "loyal" person and a close friend.

"He would always be there,

'Can I help you with anything?' or 'Is there anything I can do for you?'"

said Cooper, who served at the church from 1983 to 1989. "You could

just count on him."

Cooper said he was puzzled

about who might have wanted to kill Mangham and troubled that neighbors

didn't hear the gunshots that killed him and Fowler.

"It conjures up pictures

of silencers and mob hits," Cooper said.

Mangham attended several mission

trips led by the church, and he often paid the way for others who otherwise

wouldn't have been able to go, Cooper recalled.

"That's the kind of person

he was," Cooper said, adding that he found it hard to believe Mangham

could have been involved in illegal activity.

Mangham was fond of keeping

himself in good physical shape in addition to restoring cars, which he

was very talented at, Cooper said.

"He was very big on physical

fitness and taking care of himself," Cooper said. "He was just

solid muscle."

Mangham also owned a land-clearing

business, and he would often call Cooper at his Riverdale home and offer

him some firewood. Cooper recalled one day they used their chainsaws to

cut some firewood off land that was being cleared. Cooper said his chainsaw

wasn't getting as much done as Mangham's.

"He said, 'I'll tell you

one thing about working with wood: it's all hard,'" Cooper recalled

with a laugh.

Back

to News Home Page |