Slain teachers not forgotten

For Michelle Paulk-Hamilton, no memory stands out of her time in high school like that of when two Hernando High School teachers were murdered 14 years ago.

A junior at the time, she said she and other classmates, teachers and school officials gathered together to mourn the loss of Joseph Bristol and Mike Imhoff at the school about an hour after learning the two were fatally shot near U.S. 98 and Lake Lindsey Road.

She said it was a time when everyone needed comforting after coming down from the shock that two educators could be murdered in the county.

"It was just so shocking," Hamilton said. "It was nice that they opened the school that night for us to all come and get the support and comfort we needed."

Now 14 years following their deaths on Jan. 11, 1996, Hamilton said each year she's reminded of the incident and how it changed both she and her fellow classmates. And although she's saddened by the events, she said she doesn't ever want to forget either Bristol or Imhoff.

It's that dedication that inspired others to begin honoring both men every year at the spot they were slain.

After giving up placing memorials at the shooting site, Vi Coogler said talking to Hamilton made him again want to give it a try. He said in the past, he and others would leave crosses or flowers only to have both stolen the next day.

Now instead of giving up, he said he would like to hold an annual memorial at the site beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 23, at U.S. 98 and Lake Lindsey Road. He would've rather held it earlier this week or even on Saturday, Jan. 15, which would've been closer to the anniversary date.

However, he said cold temperatures earlier and expected rain during the weekend prompted him to try and organize it later this month.

"I hate to go past the anniversary date, but at least now we're doing something," Coogler said. "And now that I've been talking to people, I'm getting very excited about getting the community together for this."

He said the extra time allows for him to also plan a reception after the ceremony at Coney Island Drive Inn, 1112 East Jefferson Street, Brooksville, where he hopes to have a large enough gathering of community members present.

Hamilton said she's calling her former classmates so that they all can reconnect and pay respects to their educators from more than a decade ago.

"It's one of those things that seems so long ago-but on the other hand it seems like only yesterday we were all together in shock about this," Hamilton said. "But this is something we all went through together and it still impacts us all."

On a Thursday evening in 1996, both teachers were driving together when they saw 19-year-old Jimmy Dale Smith alongside the road.

Both teachers were reportedly forced from the car and Smith - using a .30 caliber rifle - shot and killed Imhoff before turning the gun on Bristol and killing him as well.

Smith was caught later that same evening following a shootout with deputies - during which he was shot and injured.

Meanwhile, Coogler said Howard Thomas, head woodshop teacher at STAR Education Center, is making a special wooden cross for both teachers. Thomas, who knew both teachers during his tenure at Hernando High, said he was working with his students to make and donate the cross free of charge. He expects it to be ready by Wednesday, Jan. 20.

Coogler said he hopes this time thieves will leave the cross and other memorials alone.