Two men were found not guilty July 26 of murder and manslaughter in connection with the death of Pulsar Plas-tics plant manager Brian Pashea, 26. Pulsar Plas-tics, an injection molding firm, is based in Carlyle, Ill. Pashea ran the firm's Sardis, Miss., plant.
As a result of his son's death, Pulsar Plastics owner Dale Pashea closed the Sardis plant and moved the machinery to an expanded Carlyle plant. The employees at the Sardis plant were offered employment at the Carlyle plant and three months severance pay.
``Placing a plant in Mississippi was the gravest mistake of my life. It has left me without my most-valued possession, my son Brian,'' Dale Pashea said in a letter to Plastics News.
The 70,000-square-foot Sardis plant, which opened in 1992, had 45 employees. Brian Pashea was the plant manager there from July 1994 until his death on July 5, 1995.
The Carlyle plant added 24,000 square feet and four presses to take on the Sardis work. The plant had housed nine presses in 52,000 square feet prior to the expansion. Two employees moved from Mississippi to join the staff of 155 in Illinois.
The two men, Jeff Edlin, 36, and his cousin Alan Boothe, 23, were charged with murder and manslaughter following the incident.
According to taped statements from the two men, they followed Brian Pashea after he left work. They hid at a nearby gas station while Pashea and his younger brother had dinner with two others. After dropping his brother off at his car, Pashea headed toward the apartment the two brothers shared in Oxford.
Edlin's wife, who was Pashea's secretary, had filed for divorce, and Edlin suspected the two of having an affair, according to the court records. Brian's brother has denied that there was anything more than friendship between Brian and his secretary.
In a statement to authorities, Boothe said he flipped on the car lights to stop Pashea. Edlin then pulled Pashea from his car and punched him in the mouth. As Pashea ran toward the road, Boothe ran after him and hit him with his chest.
In his statement, Boothe said Pashea fell backward and hit his head on the pavement.
After being taken to South Panola Community Hospital, where he was treated for closed head wounds and respiratory arrest, Pashea was transferred to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Oxford where he died.
Last month the jury deliberated for two hours and returned the not guilty verdicts for the men. District Attorney Bobby Williams could not be reached for comment.
``We don't see any way we could [appeal the case],'' said Dale Pashea. ``We've thoroughly checked it out and have been in contact with the FBI in Mississ-ippi. Unless a federal statute was violated we can't take it to another level.''
Pulsar Plastics serves the lottery, electronic housing, console, medical and vending industries. Customers include Snap-On Inc., Hunter Engineering Inc. and Caterpillar Inc. The firm reported sales of $15.6 million last year.