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Murder suspect says he acted in self defense

By Mark Harrison
The Times-Journal

Published July 28, 2010

A man charged in a Dogtown murder said Wednesday he acted in self defense.

Wayne Thomas McMinn made the claim during his initial court appearance. McMinn is accused of shooting Rickey R. McCallie, 52, to death during a dispute last weekend.

McMinn made his initial appearance in DeKalb County Circuit Judge Randall Cole’s courtroom Wednesday afternoon. During that appearance, McMinn asked for a preliminary hearing.

“There’s no evidence to show I wanted to do what I did,” McMinn said. “It was self defense.”

DeKalb County Sheriff Jimmy Harris said McMinn and McCallie had an ongoing dispute over the theft of some chickens.

McMinn, 62, a convicted sex offender, lives on Cherokee County Road 786. Harris said McMinn lives in Cherokee County, but has a Fort Payne address.

McCallie’s body has been sent for autopsy, but initial investigation shows that McCallie was shot multiple times.

On the recommendation of Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Taylor, bond for McMinn was set at $250,000. Taylor said he requested a high bond because of McMinn’s past criminal history and the “serious nature” of the current charges. McMinn requested the court appoint an attorney for him, saying he could not afford one on his own.

Harris said earlier his department received a call Monday about 8 p.m. reporting a body outside McCallie’s home on County Road 188 in the Dogtown community. He said investigators went to the home and discovered the body to be that of McCallie.

Harris said his department began a homicide investigation that pointed to McMinn as a suspect. He said investigators went to McMinn’s Cherokee County home, and McMinn agreed to accompany investigators back to the sheriff’s department in Fort Payne where, after an interview on Tuesday afternoon, McMinn confessed to killing McCallie and was charged with murder.

McMinn has a prior record and is a registered sex offender. Harris said McMinn most recently registered as a sex offender in Cherokee County since he was living in that county, but the conviction stems from the a sodomy charge brought in DeKalb County in 2004. Records show McMinn’s victim was a child under the age of 16.

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