GRACEVILLE — James Gilley was the kind of guy who’d look out for his neighbors. If someone paid a visit to Terry Springer’s house while he was out, Gilley would’ve given Springer a description of the visitor and the visitor’s car right down to the tag number, Springer said.
Springer will have to watch out for himself now. Gilley was found dead late Thanksgiving, along with 31-year-old Alicia Sapp, who listed Panama City as her home on Facebook. They’d both been shot to death in Gilley’s house at 5267 Peanut Road.
Joseph Gilley, James Gilley’s 31-year-old son, was arrested early Friday in connection with the homicides after a five-hour manhunt that involved several law enforcement agencies.
“That’s messed up,” Springer said, “to kill my ‘Pop’ like that.”
Springer, whose back yard butts up against the yard behind the house where Gilley lived, didn’t know Gilley’s given name; he just called him ‘Pop’ when they get together in the yard over beers and bonfires. Games of horseshoes extended from one yard the other, and Gilley would cut Springer’s grass, or lend a boiler for a cookout, and expect nothing in return.
“He ain’t never met a stranger,” said Springer’s friend Terry Westly, who also knew Gilley only as Pop.
At the store just down the road, a cashier who was too busy with work for an interview said she called Gilley “Mr. Squeaky” because of his voice. She said he had recently bought the van that his son took after Gilley, whose age could not be verified Friday, had been killed; before that he would drive his lawnmower to the store and help her restock iceboxes.
Graceville Police have not released details from the investigation such as a possible motive or evidence they have recovered. What police have said is a neighbor flagged down an officer at about 10:45 p.m. Thursday to report gunshots. The officer found the bodies of Gilley and Sapp dead from gunshot wounds. The elder Gilley’s van was missing, and Graceville police, along with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and a tracking team from the local prison, tracked it to where Joseph Gilley allegedly abandoned the van.
Gilley was arrested without a struggle around 3:30 a.m. Friday at the home of another relative. He is being held on murder changes.
This is not Gilley’s first arrest. He was released from prison in October 2012 after he served less than two years for theft and burglary.