AP Photo/Bob Jordan
Eddie Hatcher, arrives at the Robeson County Courthouse, in Lumberton, N.C., Monday, April 30, 2001, for opening arguments in his murder trial. Hatcher, 43, is acused of killing a 19-year-old man and wounding a 15-year-old girl in a drive-by shooting.
Eddie Hatcher
Known for taking 19 hostages at a small-town North Carolina newspaper more than two decades ago, dies at 51
Raleigh, N.C. - Eddie Hatcher, who took 19 hostages at a small-town North Carolina newspaper more than two decades ago in a supposed bid to call attention to government corruption, has died. He was 51.
Hatcher died of natural causes at Central Prison in Raleigh, said Department of Correction spokesman Keith Acree.
In 1988, Hatcher and Timothy Jacobs brandished shotguns and took hostages at The Robesonian newspaper in the eastern part of the state.
They said they were trying to call attention to government corruption in Robeson County. After a 10-hour standoff, they surrendered and released their hostages unharmed when the governor agreed to appoint a task force to hear their allegations. No one was ever charged with corruption.
Hatcher was sentenced to 18 years in prison for kidnapping, but paroled five years later.
In 1999, Hatcher was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder for his involvement in a drive-by shooting death. Hatcher was in prison for that crime when he died.
May 1, 2009
