Oxford Eagle, January 6, 2003

Arrest made in Avent Park Shooting case

By GEORGIA FINCH
Eagle Staff Writer

Prominent local republican politician and Oxford resident James Donahue was arrested Sunday at his mother's home in Oxford by the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department. He was charged with the homicide of Wenzel Hitzig, a 39 year-old computer games designer from Atlanta, Georgia.

Hitzig was shot dead in Avent Park on November 4 last year and his girlfriend Arlene Melton, an Oxonian, was injured. Detectives Ted Armstrong and Sam Murphy arrested James Donahue at 5:15 p.m. yesterday while Donahue was visiting his mother. At the same time, officers from the Sheriff's Department carried out a search of James Donahue's home and offices, and a number of items were removed from both premises, including two revolvers from his home on Madison Avenue.

A full-scale investigation led the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department on a hunt for information that saw them contacting police forces and government agencies across the US and in Europe.

In 1984 James Donahue became one of the youngest members ever elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives. In 2000 he fought for and won a seat in the State Senate. He was seen as a contender for the Mississippi Secretary of State post and sources from the State Senate said his ambition and talent could have taken him further on to the national political scene.

Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department Public Information Officer Elizabeth Jones said the arrest was made after forensic tests on the mask found in Avent Park returned "conclusive evidence" of it being worn by James Donahue.

After James Donahue was taken into custody, Dora Donahue, his mother, suffered what is believed to have been a massive heart attack and was rushed to Baptist Memorial Hospital. She is receiving treatment in the intensive care unit and her condition is described as serious.

Sara Van Outen, Mrs. Donahue's housekeeper and former nanny to James Donahue, was with Mrs. Donahue when she collapsed.

"She took the arrest very badly. She cursed the detectives and told them they would die and that locking James away could not stop him becoming the most powerful man in the world," said Mrs Van Outen. She then added, "I've known Dora Donahue for nearly 50 years, and I just hope she can find the strength to come through this. We will fight to prove James is innocent."