The saga of former Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford continues to unfold. We’ve got about a month to go before trial and there’s likely more news coming.
In today’s Mountain Xpress, I attempt to shed a bit more light on Medford’s side of the story, a side that remains largely untold.
Here’s a snippet of the story, largely told through the one person who perhaps knew Medford best – his longtime girlfriend, Judi Bell:
Since that day, Bell, 60, said she’s lived in fear, dreading another knock at her door that would signal her arrest in connection with the federal government’s corruption-and-bribery case against Medford, who’s now 62. Yet she maintains that she knows nothing about any of those alleged dealings.
In a recent interview, Bell talked for three hours about her 20-year relationship with Medford, describing a hard-working, pack-and-a-half smoker who loved animals. She talked about a “street cop” who continued to go out on calls even as sheriff. She told of time off with Medford, including trips to gamble at casinos in Nevada. And she described a man who, after his arrest, felt stripped of the thing that meant the most to him—his reputation, his name.
“If Bobby was guilty, he’d tell you,” Bell said. “He’d own up to what he did.”
When you read the story, you’ll also see a copy of a letter Medford wrote to Bell while he was jailed in Caldwell County. And you’ll see a second story about a number of Medford supporters, who maintain his innocence.