Candidate Larry Smith Responded to Allegations

TYLER — Grassroots America We The People held a debate for Smith County Sheriff some months back. The controversy starts when Larry Smith made these comments about a case he claimed we worked back in 1999. “Newton Anderson killed a man and woman in New Harmony several years ago. Raped a lady and killed both of them, burned the house down. He’s in the cemetary now. Those are cases also with ones that I worked on, took great pride in and felt very helpless in doing so.”

Chief Deputy Bobby Garmon, at that time was also in the running for sheriff who disputed Smith’s claim. “One of my opponents said he worked a lot of these cases, a lot of these cases he wasn’t even there for, while ago he said the first 48-hours. He wasn’t there the first 48-hours, the Anderson case. That’s a Smith County case we’re the ones that worked that case.”

Shortly after that, the lead investigator in that case, Troup Chief of Police Pat Hendrix, spoke out against Smith’s and shared that information with Smith Country Sheriff’s Candidate Chris Green. “I’m the one that told Chris Green that Larry Smith wasn’t there. Chris Green uses that at the next debate, at I believe a Grassroots of America debate and then May the 18th I get this nasty letter saying that Mr. Green made false allegations that he was actually there and he investigated it. We’ll I’m here to say as the lead investigator, 20 year veteran of the Sheriff’s office,all the evidence I have, Mr. Smith was not there.”

Larry Smith spoke with KETK Friday and brought several court documents with him. They’re documents from the case that show Larry Smith was a witness in the capital murder trial back in 1999, when smith was an ATF agent.