MHS

The Tennessee minister found beaten and burned to death on his mountain retirement land had been trying to help the stranger charged with killing him, investigators said Wednesday.

Investigators believe Rev. William B. Petty Jr., 56, was driving through Chattanooga, Tenn., on Saturday when he saw Nathan Hass hitchhiking and offered him a ride.

At some point, Hass clubbed the minister with a piece of wood, then set his body on fire on Petty's property near the North Carolina border and fled in the cleric's car, investigators said Wednesday.

Hass, 30, and his wife, Denise, 29, were arrested Wednesday at a Missouri campground near St. Louis. Hass was charged with felony murder and car theft. His wife was charged with accessory to arson.

Investigators said Hass picked up his wife after the killing and the two fled westward. Petty's car was found burned Monday near Andrews, N.C., where the Hasses lived.

Petty, who lived in Ooltewah, was a lawyer in Chattanooga for 30 years, then left his practice to become a United Methodist minister. He led five small congregations in southeastern Tennessee.

By Rachel Zoll
Associated Press Writer
Monday, Sept. 20, 1999; 7:55 p.m. EDT

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. –– A lawyer who left his practice to become a United Methodist minister was fatally beaten and burned in a remote area where he and his wife had planned to retire, police said Monday.

The Rev. William B. Petty Jr., 56, of Ooltewah, was working on the land in Monroe County on Saturday when someone clubbed him with a piece of wood and set him on fire, Detective Kenny Hope said.

"He was so loving and caring. He was always trying to help people," said the Rev. Mary Virginia Taylor, who oversees the district where Petty preached.

"He might have picked somebody up out there to work," she said. "He might have come across somebody. He was not afraid of people."

Petty's body was discovered late Saturday night after people saw smoke coming from the vicinity of his property, which sits at the foot of Star Mountain, about 60 miles northeast of Chattanooga. His wife Betty also had reported him missing.

Petty was wearing his class ring from Emory University's Candler School of Theology when he was found. His car was discovered Monday in Andrews, N.C., about 30 miles away.

No motive has been determined.

A graduate of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville School of Law, Petty opened a Chattanooga office and ran a real estate title practice. But he yearned for a different profession.

In 1995, Petty decided to pursue his dream of joining the clergy, enrolling at Emory in Atlanta and earning his master's degree. On a ministerial profile he submitted to the denomination's leaders he explained his decision:

"I love preaching. I love being with the people. ... I have no doubt that a call I ran from for 30 years is real and that I am where I'm supposed to be."

Petty became an ordained pastor in June 1998 and was responsible for five small, struggling congregations in the Meigs County area north of Chattanooga.

"He was very dedicated to it and very dedicated to the people," Petty's niece, Rose Taylor Womac, said.

About three months ago, Petty purchased the property where he and his wife, Betty Douglas Petty, an avid hiker and outdoorswoman, planned to build a home for their retirement.

"It was a kind of utopia for him and my aunt as well," Womac said. "They were trying to keep it as undisturbed as possible."

© Copyright 1999 The Associated Press

COUPLE ARRESTED IN THE SLAYING OF TENNESSEE CLERIC

By Rachel Zoll Associated Press Writer Monday, Sept. 20, 1999; 7:55 p.m. EDT