MR. PANOSH: Mrs. Coble, please.

HELEN COBLE, being first duly sworn, testified as follows during DIRECT EXAMINATION by MR. PANOSH:

Q    Would you state your name, please.

A    Helen Coble.

Q    Ms. Helen Coble, where do you live?

A    5440 N.C. 22, Pleasant Garden.

Q    And you say "N.C.," you're talking about Highway 22?

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A    Yes, sir, I am.

Q    Do you know the location on Brandon Station Court where this fire occurred back on October the 9th?

A    Yes, I do.

Q    And that's fairly close to your house; is that right?

A    Pretty well close, yes.

Q    On that day, October the 9th of 1995, you found out about the fire when you heard the fire trucks; is that right?

A    That's right.

Q    Okay. And after that, the sheriff's officers came out and investigated you; is that right?

A    That's right. Uh-huh.

Q    They asked you questions about what you heard that day?

A    That's right. Uh-huh.

Q    Did you hear anything unusual on that day?

A    No, I didn't.

Q    And you live at that residence with your husband, George; is that right?

A    Repeat that, please.

Q    You live there with your husband?

A    Yes, I do, uh-huh.

Q    Were you and your husband burning trash that day?

A    No, we wasn't.

MR. PANOSH: No further questions. Thank you,

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ma'am.

CROSS-EXAMINATION by MR. HATFIELD:

Q    Ms. Coble, do you live in the house basically behind Patricia Kimble's house?

A    Well, there's a field and some woods between us.

Q    And the field's owned by you and your husband, isn't it?

A    I can't hear you too good.

Q    I'm sorry.

A    Uh-huh.

Q    The field belongs to you and your husband, doesn't it?

A    Yes, uh-huh.

Q    And there is a road for tractors and garden equipment

A    Yes, that's right.

Q    -- that runs along the edge of that --

A    Uh-huh.

Q    -- road; isn't that right? Is that -- am I right about that? Don't you have a road, a dirt road?

A    Oh, yes, we do, uh-huh.

Q    And the dirt road goes between your -- you and your husband's field --

A    That's right.

Q    -- and the --

A    Uh-huh.

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Q    -- land owned by Patricia Kimble; is that correct?

A    Yes, we do, uh-huh.

Q    And you and your husband have a shed, like a tobacco barn, back on the corner of your property, don't you?

A    That doesn't belong to us, the tobacco barn doesn't.

Q    Okay. Don't you have a utility shed or a –

A    We have a barn.

Q    A barn?

A    Almost down to the railroad tracks.

Q    Now, isn't it a fact that you and your husband heard gunshots from time to time in that area?

A    At times, we did, but we didn't think it was anything to have sound like -- kind of sound like a -- they was just practicing, you know, I mean, target shooting.

Q    Do you know who the people were who were -‑

A    No -‑

Q    -- doing that?

A    -- I do not know who was doing it.

Q    And didn't you also have trouble with people using your barn without your permission?

A    Well, they would go over across the railroad in cars and come out, and we wouldn't know who they were.

Q    That happened all the time, didn't it?

A    Well, off and on, yes, uh-huh.

Q    Now, did your husband finally put a wire or a chain up

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across your dirt road, to keep --

A    He put a "No Trespassing" sign up, yes, uh-huh.

Q    And did that help any?

A    It -- yes, uh-huh.

Q    Now, you never knew Patricia Kimble, did you?

A    Sir?

Q    Did you know Patricia Kimble?

A    I met each one of them one time. That's all.

Q    You --

A    We didn't really know them.

Q    Okay. So you met Theodore Kimble, also?

A    Met who?

Q    Did you meet her husband, Theodore?

A    Yes, one time.

Q    And what was the circumstances of that?

A    He wanted to know who owned some land across the railroad.

Q    Were you able to tell him?

A    Yes, we told him.

MR. HATFIELD: Thank you very much.

REDIRECT EXAMINATION by MR. PANOSH:

Q    Ma'am, did any of that stuff that Mr. Hatfield made reference to --

MR. HATFIELD: Objection to --

THE COURT: Sustained.

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MR. HATFIELD: -- characterizing it -‑

THE COURT: Sustained.

Q    Did any of the events that Mr. Hatfield made reference to, did that happen on October the 9th, the day of the fire?

A    Happen when?

Q    The day that you heard the fire trucks going to Patricia Kimble's house?

A    It was that night when the house was on fire, we heard the fire trucks going in.

Q    But Mr. Hatfield made reference to people going across your land. Was that on the same day?

A    No, no, it wasn't, uh-huh.

MR. PANOSH: No further questions.

THE COURT: Step down, ma'am. Watch your step. You may step down. Ms. Coble, you may step down.

(The witness left the witness stand.)