Oxford Eagle, Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Ole Miss administrator placed on leave
AD: 'No connection' to murder case

By KELLY SHACKLETON
Eagle Staff Writer

An athletic department fundraiser at the University of Mississippi has been placed on administrative leave after being questioned in connection with the recent discovery of human remains on campus.

Justin Canady, a development associate with the Ole Miss Loyalty Foundation, was interviewed Tuesday in connection with the death of Jamie Washington, who was on the Ole Miss football team with Canady before disappearing in April of 2002. Washington's remains were recently unearthed by construction crews working on renovations at Hemingway stadium on campus, and the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department is investigating the case as a homicide.

Friday, Canady was placed on leave until the fall term after meeting with Athletic Director Dave Metherall, who said the timing was "coincidental."

"It would be foolish to make a connection," Metherall said. "Frankly, none of us have much stomach for asking for money with the terrible event that's happened, and we agreed this was appropriate to do."

Elizabeth Jones, Public Information Officer for the Sheriff's Department, said the interview with Canady didn't implicate him in Washington's death in any way.

"There are no official suspects at this point," Jones said. "Anyone who thinks that is getting way ahead of themselves... we interviewed his mother. That doesn't make her a suspect."

Canady was a kicker on the Ole Miss football team and played in the starting lineup in his junior and senior years. After graduating in 2002, Canady briefly played for the Berlin Thunder in NFL Europe. He has worked at the Loyalty Foundation since June of 2003 and helped organize fundraising efforts for the current $20 million stadium renovation project, which includes expansion of the "Rebels Club" seating area on the upper level as well as bowling-in the south end zone to bring seating capacity to more than 60,000.

Metherall stressed Canady's leave has nothing to do with job performance.

"Justin is a tremendous asset to the Foundation team," Metherall said. "He gets along with all our alumni just great and has the kind of Ole Miss spirit everyone appreciates."

Canady could not be reached for comment, but his wife, Beyonce, said he had been contemplating a break, and "the timing was right."

"It just seemed like, out of respect for the Washington family, going around doing fundraising was kind of tacky," she said. "It just seemed like the right thing to do and we wanted to spend some time together as a family anyway. We have a lot of projects around the house."

Jones declined to comment on the status of the investigation, saying only that detectives are continuing to interview Washington's friends, teammates and family. She urged anyone with information about the case to contact the Sheriff's Department.