CHATTANOOGA, TN (Times Free Press) -- The mother of a man charged with killing a Chattanooga police sergeant last year rants in jailhouse letters to her son that Tennesseans are a "stupid hillbilly, Jack Daniel selling ... backward, Bible belt, inbred ... bunch of haters" and shows scant remorse for her own crimes in the case.
Kathleen Mathews awaits sentencing in federal court Monday along with her husband, daughter and daughter's boyfriend. All have pleaded guilty to crimes before and after police say 26-year-old Jesse Mathews shot and killed Sgt. Tim Chapin during a botched robbery.
"You are a good man Jesse," Kathleen Mathews wrote. "I sure as hell understand where your hatred is coming from. You do one little thing that pisses people off and they want to hold it against you forever!"
U.S. District Judge Harry S. "Sandy" Mattice will decide how much prison time Kathleen, Ray and Rachel Mathews will serve for helping Jesse flee Colorado while on parole and then arm himself before the April 2, 2011, robbery and shootout at the U.S. Money Shops on Brainerd Road.
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