Authorities: College Board member target of murder plot
Three men accused in a conspiracy to murder a Marion County businessman and current member of the state College Board were denied bond in Lamar County Justice Court on Monday, officials said.
Howard Cameron, 47, Glenn Evans, 46, and Victor Mitchell, 42, were arrested early Saturday morning at a convenience store off the Evelyn Gandy Parkway in Forrest County by officials with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, the Hattiesburg Police Department and the Marion and Lamar County sheriff's departments, according to MBI spokesman Warren Strain.
All three men have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
The name of the target was not released in court, Lamar County Sheriff Danny Rigel said, but WDAM's Ryan Moore identified the victim as Tommy Duff.
Duff, of Hattiesburg, was appointed to the state College Board by Gov. Phil Bryant in 2015. He owns Duff Capital Investors along with brother Jim Duff.
"The Duffs were unaware of this person, attempt, and know very few details," said a spokesperson for the Duff family. "Tommy and Jim say they are very pleased with how this is being handled by the authorities."
The assistant district attorney who presented the case called Mitchell, who is a double amputee, "a special danger to others in the community."
The Duff brothers have been supportive of the University of Southern Mississippi, spurring the university to rename its athletic facility the Jim and Thomas Duff Athletic Center a few years ago in recognition of their $2 million donation to the Southern Miss athletic department. College Board documents list that donation as the second-largest in history to USM.
According to a 2015 Hattiesburg American article, the Duffs operate Duff Capital Investors, which owns nine companies including T.L. Wallace Construction, truck-tire dealer Southern Tire Mart and wood chip hauler Forest Products Transports, all based in Columbia. The Duffs also own Pine Belt Ford and Pine Belt Chevrolet of Purvis, T.K. Stanley Oilfield Services of Waynesboro, Jackson-based refrigerated trucking firm KLLM Transport Services, Southern Insurance Group and Texas-based Frozen Food Express.
Contact Therese Apel at tapel@gannett.com. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.