田纳西州查塔努加——执法官员周三宣布，几十年前，田纳西州的一名前州长在卷入该州最大的政治丑闻时，帮助资助了一名关键联邦证人的合同谋杀案。

周三首次披露的新细节具有电影的元素:工会老板吉米·霍法(Jimmy Hoffa)的一个值得信任的盟友在作证指控一名腐败的州长出售监狱赦免令后被枪杀，一名枪手戴上假发和黑脸，让当局不知所措。

自2015年重新调查以来，位于查塔努加附近的汉密尔顿县的调查人员一直在努力解决塞缪尔·佩特约翰(Samuel Pettyjohn)的42年悬案。不会提出新的指控，因为所有参与其中的主要参与者现在都已经死亡，但当局表示，结案将为田纳西复杂历史的一个方面画上句号。

1979年，查塔努加商人、霍法的密友彼得约翰在田纳西州臭名昭著的“以现金换取宽恕”丑闻的早期阶段，向联邦大陪审团作证后，在查塔努加市中心被枪杀。

汉密尔顿县地方检察官尼尔·平克斯顿(Neal Pinkston)说:“本质上，彼得约翰先生与当局合作，对当地以及州一级的情况了解得太多，个人不喜欢这样，所以有人雇了人来谋杀他。”“大约42年后，我们来到了这里。”

丑闻最终导致民主党州长雷·布兰顿(Ray Blanton)被罢免，他在调查中从未被起诉——但他的三名助手被起诉。然而，关于州长政府在多大程度上积极阻挠调查的问题仍然存在。官员们说，该案件中至少有五名证人被谋杀或自杀。

平克斯顿告诉记者，彼得约翰将会见囚犯，以表明资金将有助于确保从1976年开始提前释放囚犯。参与布兰顿竞选的威廉·汤普森也加入了彼得约翰的行列，他后来被判犯有以现金换取宽大处理的丑闻。

据平克斯顿说，彼得约翰和汤普森会在国会大厦的州长办公室付款。

当联邦调查人员开始调查州长办公室是否在用现金换取假释时，彼得约翰被传唤为正在进行的计划作证。彼得约翰最终同意与FBI特工合作，甚至提供了一份为提前释放某些囚犯向州长办公室付款的人的名单。

不久后，彼得约翰在当局称之为“处决式袭击”中被杀目击者告诉当局，他们看到一个穿着风衣的黑人离开了彼得约翰的商店。与此同时，彼得约翰被发现时，他的手枪就在附近，但没有开枪，他身上有10多万美元。

根据平克斯顿的说法，埃德·艾利——一个2005年死于联邦监狱的著名银行抢劫犯——被几个消息来源雇佣来杀害彼得约翰。平克斯顿说，这些消息来源包括一个未披露的第三方，他代表布兰顿政府支付了一些合同款项。估计谋杀总价格在25，000美元到50，000美元之间。

“我很确定。当被问及他有多确定布兰顿政府帮助支付了彼得约翰的谋杀时，平克斯顿说。

官员们说，艾黎是白人，他戴着假发，戴着眼镜，用浓棕色的化妆品盖住皮肤，以欺骗任何目击者。

根据汉密尔顿县大陪审团的调查结果，“合作的个人表示，艾黎承认彼得约翰因各种原因被谋杀，包括他是联邦调查局在调查州长雷·布兰顿时的合作来源”。

大陪审团的结论是，如果艾黎今天还活着，他将被指控一级谋杀彼得约翰。

汉密尔顿县悬案部门的主管迈克·马西斯(Mike Mathis)承认，当大多数涉案当事人都已死亡时，检察官办公室向大陪审团起诉是非常不寻常的，但他表示，该县第一次选择这样做是因为“这给了你一个合法的结案机会”。

萨迪克·彼得约翰是塞缪尔·彼得约翰的儿子之一，他说他的母亲经常形容他的父亲是一个“有着金子般的心”和“非常慷慨、乐于助人”的人，同时承认他的父亲与犯罪活动有关。当局表示，彼得约翰是一个有组织的炸毁一栋建筑以收取保险赔偿金的努力的一部分，但他从未因过早死亡而受审。

“在一个与犯罪有关的家庭中长大是一种诅咒和祝福，”他补充道。“那个人死了，你可以走那个路线，也可以走不同的路线;我们所有人都选择努力在生活中做得更好。”

布兰顿于1996年去世，在他州长任期的最后几天里，他赦免并减刑了50多名州囚犯，引发了人们的愤怒。布兰顿的民主党同僚与立法机构中的共和党人合作，将他的共和党继任者拉马尔·亚历山大的就职典礼提前了三天。

布兰顿从未在丑闻中受到指控，但在1981年，他被判犯有与任职期间向朋友出售价值23，000美元的酒类执照无关的敲诈和共谋罪。

Closed cold case murder tied to ousted Tennessee governor

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- A former Tennessee governor's administration helped fund a contract murder of a key federal witness decades ago while embroiled in the state's largest political scandal, law enforcement officials announced Wednesday.

The new details revealed for the first time Wednesday have elements that ring of a movie: a trusted ally of union boss Jimmy Hoffa gunned down after testifying about a corrupt governor selling prison pardons and a gunman who donned a wig and blackface to throw authorities off the scent.

Investigators in Hamilton County, which encompasses Chattanooga, have been chipping away at the 42-year-old cold case of Samuel Pettyjohn since they renewed their investigation in 2015. No new charges will be filed because all of the major players involved are now dead, but authorities say closing the case provides closure to one aspect of a complicated piece of Tennessee history.

Pettyjohn, a Chattanooga businessman and close friend of Hoffa, was fatally shot in 1979 in downtown Chattanooga after testifying before a federal grand jury during the early phases of Tennessee's notorious “cash-for-clemency” scandal.

“Essentially, Mr. Pettyjohn cooperated with authorities and knew too much about what was going on locally, as well as the state level, and individuals didn’t like that and so individuals hired someone to murder him,” Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston said. “Here we are some 42 years later.”

The scandal ultimately led to the ousting of Democratic Gov. Ray Blanton, who was never indicted in the investigation — but three of his aides were. However, questions have lingered about the extent to which the governor's administration actively worked to thwart the investigation. Officials say at least five witnesses in the case were murdered or killed themselves.

Pinkston told reporters that Pettyjohn would meet with inmates to indicate that money would help secure an early release from prison starting in 1976. Pettyjohn was joined by William Thompson, who had been involved in Blanton's election campaign and would later be convicted in the cash-for-clemency scandal.

According to Pinkston, Pettyjohn and Thompson would drop payments off at the governor's office in the Capitol.

As federal investigators began examining whether the governor's office was exchanging cash for parole, Pettyjohn was subpoenaed to testify about the ongoing scheme. Pettyjohn eventually agreed to cooperate with FBI agents, even going as far as providing a list of people who made payments to the governor's office for the early release of certain prisoners.

Shortly after, Pettyjohn was killed in what authorities describe as an “execution style hit.” Witnesses told authorities that they saw a Black man in a trench coat exiting Pettyjohn's store. Meanwhile, Pettyjohn was found with his pistol nearby, which had not been fired, and more than $100,000 on him.

According to Pinkston, Ed Alley — a known bank robber who died in 2005 in federal prison — was hired by several sources to kill Pettyjohn. Pinkston said those sources included an undisclosed third party who paid some of the contract money on behalf of the Blanton administration. The estimated total murder price was between $25,000 and $50,000.

“I’m very sure. I’m proof positive,” Pinkston said when asked how certain he was that the Blanton administration helped pay for Pettyjohn's murder.

Officials say Alley, who was white, wore a wig, glasses and covered his skin in heavy brown makeup to deceive any witnesses.

“Cooperating individuals indicated Alley admitted Pettyjohn was murdered for various reasons including he was a source of cooperation for the FBI in investigations of Gov. Ray Blanton,” according to findings from a Hamilton County grand jury.

The grand jury concluded that if Alley were alive today, he would be charged with first-degree premeditated murder of Pettyjohn.

Mike Mathis, supervisor of Hamilton County's cold case unit, acknowledged that it was highly unusual for a prosecutor's office to pursue a grand jury when most of the involved parties were dead but said the county chose to do so for the first time it because “it gives you a legal closing.”

Saadiq Pettyjohn, one of Samuel Pettyjohn's sons, said his mother often described his father as someone with a “heart of gold” and “very generous, giving person,” while acknowledging his father was associated with criminal activity. Authorities say Pettyjohn was part of an organized effort to blow up a building to collect insurance payouts, but he was never brought to trial due to his untimely death.

“It's a curse and a blessing to grow up in a family that's connected to crime,” he added. "When that person dies, you can go that route or you can go a different route; all of us chose to try to do better in our lives."

Blanton, who died in 1996, had sparked outrage after he pardoned and commuted prison terms for more than 50 state inmates in the waning days of his gubernatorial term. Blanton’s fellow Democrats worked with Republicans in the Legislature to move up the inauguration of his Republican successor, Lamar Alexander, by three days.

Blanton was never charged in the scandal, but in 1981, he was convicted of unrelated charges of extortion and conspiracy for selling a liquor license for $23,000 to a friend while in office.