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Gwinnett Daily Post SUNDAY, JANUARY 24, 2016
www.gwinnettdailypost.com $2.00 ©2016 SCNI
Vol. 46, No. 76
Matthew Leili heads to trial for wife’s murder From the beginning, the police said he was a suspect. But he was free, not facing a single charge For years, the case against Mat- in the woman’s death, which the thew Leili dragged on. medical examiner’s report called Nique Leili, a 44-year-old “highly suspicious for homicidal Lawrenceville mother of three, violence.” died sometime in early July 2011. Now, Matthew Leili will stand The husband filed for divorce trial, less than a year after he was while she was still listed as a arrested and charged with murder missing person, saying she’d in March. Jury selection starts abandoned him and their children Monday morning and is expected — two girls, 9 and 12 back then. to last two days. By Joshua Sharpe
joshua.sharpe@gwinnettdailypost.com
Nique Leili
Matthew Leili
Prosecutor Lisa Jones, deputy chief assistant district attorney, said she expects the trial to take a week and a half or two weeks.
The case is going to court faster than many do after charges are filed, because Leili filed a speedy-trial demand. His attorney, Thomas Clegg, has said Leili doesn’t want to “languish and wait” in the county jail, where he’s been held without bond since the arrest. “He is absolutely insistent that he did not do this,” Clegg said late last year, “and he wants his day in court.”
Sharp inquiry Button Gwinnett relative — and British citizen — authors book on American founding father By Curt Yeomans
curt.yeomans @gwinnettdailypost.com
Colin Sharp got a shock in the late 1990s when an aunt came to visit him and casually mentioned a family tie to one of the men who broke the American colonies away from British authority. Sharp, a British citizen who lived in Virginia and worked for the British embassy at the time, had been unaware that he had any ties to American history. A newspaper clipping in a British newspaper, however, prompted his aunt to share a forgotten bit of family history. Sharp is distantly related by blood to Declaration of Independence signer Button Gwinnett. “It came as a surprise because I knew nothing of him before she mentioned it,” said Sharp, whose middle name is Gwinnett. The news from Sharp’s aunt led him to take an in-depth look at his ancestor in the early 2000s. That in turn eventually led Sharp to write a book, “Button Gwinnett: Failed Merchant, Plantation Owner, Mountebank, Opportunist Politician and Founding Father,” which was Colin Gwinnett Sharp stands in the garden at his home in the United Kingdom. A book he wrote about his famous relative, Button Gwinnett, was published last year in Britain. Sharp said they
See BUTTON, Page 8A are both descended from Gwinnett’s grandfather. (Special Photo)
A day in court is significant for the whole family, which has been fractured by Nique Leili’s murder. The husband fought with the wife’s family over her burial arrangements before she ultimately was laid to rest by her grandfather in Athens. There was another court battle over visitation of the couple’s children; the mother’s family said Matthew Leili kept
See LEILI, Page 8A
Latest winter storm makes little impact By Keith Farner keith.farner@gwinnettdailypost.com
Less than 24 hours after the threat of an impending storm wreaked havoc with area event schedules, the weather moved through the area with little more than a whimper. Gwinnett County police and fire departments didn’t register anything noteworthy in terms of weather-related incidents. Police spokesman Cpl. Frederick Saldana said there was nothing to report overnight Friday, and by late Saturday morning, all operations were fully functional. Gwinnett Fire spokesman Capt. Tommy Rutledge echoed those sentiments about no major weather-related incidents. “Call volume has pretty much been routine to my knowledge,” he said. A wind advisory was issued until 7 p.m. Saturday because the National Weather Service expected winds of 15 mph to 25 mph, with gusts up to 40 mph. Forecasters warned about saturated soil leading to trees being uprooted because of winds and ice-covered branches. A winter weather advisory that warned about black ice and slippery spots on bridges and overpasses expired at 1 p.m. Saturday as temperatures reached the freezing mark. Wind chill, though, remained in the 20s, according to lawrencevilleweather.com. Still, the threat of more serious weather caused events throughout Gwinnett to be called off or rescheduled. The Bring One for the Chipper See WEATHER, Page 8A
Raise stems GCPS bus driver turnover, but mechanic shortage looms By Keith Farner
keith.farner @gwinnettdailypost.com
SUWANEE — The thirdlargest bus fleet and ridership in the country is seeing an improvement in retaining bus managers thanks to a recent pay raise. But now officials are increasingly
concerned about having enough mechanics. Gwinnett County Public Schools pays a starting rate of $14.49 per hour, which is slightly below the national average ($14.58) and the metro Atlanta average ($15.47). But the GCPS employees have enjoyed consistent raises in recent years
from $12.64 in 2013-14 to $14.14 last school year. For drivers, GCPS pays $14.49 for a first-year hourly rate, which is behind Douglas, Forsyth, Cobb, Clayton, Barrow, DeKalb and Fulton counties and Atlanta Public Schools. Buford City Schools pays $18.57, while APS pays $17.04 and Fulton
is at $15.90. Gwinnett is 98 cents below the average and 64 cents below the next closest, Douglas. While pay has improved, concerns have shifted to the mechanic-to-bus ratio, which is considered low because the district has 40 See BUSES, Page 8A
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INSIDE Classified........8B
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Raises for Gwinnett County Public Schools bus drivers and managers slowed turnover, but the mechanic-tobus ratio is a concern. (File Photo)