ROCKINGHAM A book signing scheduled for Monday at a Rockingham library, featuring a book of poetry written by author Joanna Catherine Scott, in collaboration with a convicted murderer, stirred up an emotional outcry from the community last week.

Her co-author killed two Richmond County men 20 years ago.

Complaints from the community to the Leath Memorial Library, which had agreed to host Scott, letters to the editor of the Daily Journal and outraged reader comments on the newspaper's website seemed to unite many in the county with the same thought - Scott is not welcome to promote her book here.

In the end, the library postponed the author's visit.

She was set to promote her new book "An Innocent in the House of the Dead," a collaboration with former death-row inmate John Lee Conaway.

Conaway was charged in 1991 with first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, robbery with a dangerous weapon and larceny.

The jury returned verdicts finding Conaway guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the shooting deaths of Paul DeWitt Callahan and Thomas Amos Weatherford, according to court records.

"My son was just 21 years old, and left behind a baby when his life was taken," said Gabriel Helms, Weatherford's mother. "All (Scott) is trying to do is sell a book, and she has no right to do that here."

According to court records, on the evening of Aug. 22, 1991, Weatherford and Callahan were in the Pantry store in Hamlet. Weatherford was working as the night-shift clerk. Callahan, his roommate, had driven Weatherford to work at 11 p.m. and stayed at the store with him for several hours that night.

Records show Conaway was in Richmond County in violation of his Maryland parole, and that he was in possession of a handgun stolen from his grandmother's purse.

It was reported that sometime between 1:30 a.m. and 1:45 a.m. on Aug. 23, 1991, Conaway entered the Pantry, stole $78 from the cash register and kidnapped Weatherford and Callahan at gunpoint.

After Conaway passed the former Coca-Cola plant east of Hamlet, he stopped the car on the side of the road in an isolated area and ordered the pair to get out.

He ordered the victims to get on their knees, and he shot each of them one time at point-blank range in the back of the head, records show.

When Conaway returned to the car, he told the other three passengers that he had made the two men get on their knees and shot them both in the back of the head. He also told the other men that after he shot the first man, the second victim begged for his life before he killed him, records show.

The passengers, Kelly Harrington, Michael McKinnon and Kevin "Keith" Scott, testified to those events during trial, according to court records.

On Aug. 25, 1991, Conaway was arrested in Cambridge, Md., in possession of a .25 caliber handgun, which he later admitted was stolen from his grandmother.

Conaway spent 16 years on death row, before a federal court granted him a writ of habeas corpus, and he is seeking a new lawyer who will help him "prove his innocence," according to Scott, who lives in Chapel Hill.

Scott claims to have befriended, and legally adopted the inmate, after visiting him in prison. On her website, she states that "(Conaway's) story has opened my eyes to the plight of the poor black man entangled on our so-called justice system."

In a previous interview with the Daily Journal, Scott described Conaway as "lovely," and stated that "John was brought up as a sad, beaten and abandoned child."

"I don't care about (Conaway's) life story," said Helms. "(Scott) can go to prison to visit him, but the closest I can get to my son is getting on my knees at the cemetery."

Upon learning of the author's intentions to promote her book in Rockingham, family, friends and community members joined to halt the event. Some claimed to be seeking permits to demonstrate, while others made calls to the Daily Journal and Leath Memorial Library voicing concerns.

The library issued a statement on Thursday that the book signing had been postponed because, "While the author did disclose the topic of her poetry was a man on death row, the author did not say that the victims of the subject of her poetry were from Richmond County. We want to be respectful of the interest of all Richmond County citizens."

Scott could not be reached for comment, but posted this statement on her website, all in red capital letters:

"THIS READING WAS CANCELLED. RICHMOND COUNTY SHUT ME DOWN. THE LOCAL PAPER PRINTED HATE MAIL AND I GOT THE FIRST HATE MAIL I HAVE EVER HAD. THE BLACK COMMUNITY IS UPSET TO SAY THE LEAST. I'VE NEVER CAUSED A RIOT BEFORE, ESPECIALLY ABOUT POETRY. SO MUCH FOR FREE SPEECH IN DOWN HOME USA."