by Charly Mann

For more than twenty-five years I have tried to make sense of the death of my childhood friend and neighbor Craig Newman at the hands of his father Dr. William S. Newman. Dr. Newman was probably the most talented and knowledgeable musician ever to live in Chapel Hill. Craig was two years younger than me, born in 1952, and the sweetest child in the Greenwood neighborhood.

Dr. Newman was born on April 6, 1912 in Cleveland, Ohio, and was a first cousin of the actor Paul Newman, who was also from Cleveland. He showed remarkable talent from an early age as a pianist, scholar, and automotive engineer. By the time he was 23, in 1935, he had received a PhD in music, and had published the first of a long line of critically acclaimed books on classical music. He was also regularly giving piano recitals around the world, often as the featured soloist of major orchestras. Newman loved motorcycles and several times traveled the country on the back of his Harley Davidson during his concert tours. Remarkably, at the same time he was doing all this touring, he also held teaching positions at both Julliard and Columbia University. During World War II Bill, as he preferred to be called, worked in Army Intelligence rising to the rank of major by the end of the war.

Dr. William Stein Newman lecturing in his music class at UNC Chapel Hill 

Shortly after World War II, in 1945, Bill became a professor of music at the University of North Carolina. A year after that he met Claire Murray on an airplane flight from New York to Boston as he was on his way to give a concert and she was returning from her job in New York City to visit her family. They were married on December 20th, 1947. In 1950 they built the first house on Old Mill Road in the Greenwood neighborhood. Newman was one of UNC's most beloved professors. He often invited as many as two hundred of his students and other faculty members to parties that were held in his backyard. All the food for these events was prepared for by the Newman's. Bill also loved teaching his students how to repair their cars and fix broken electronic equipment. When he was not teaching or performing around the country, he was usually in his garage working on his Mercedes or motorcycles, or writing one of his many books. His textbook, Understanding Music, is considered the best book on music appreciation in the English language.

William and Claire Newman home at 808 Old Mill Road, Chapel Hill

The Newmans however were not a normal Chapel Hill family. Their son, Craig, was an only child, which was highly unusual in those days, and Bill was 40 when he was born in 1952. I was a friend of Craig during his childhood and found him to be sensitive, but lacking interests in things most boys my age enjoyed like riding bicycles around town, playing sports or anything else that involved much physical activities. He also did not have much interest in the then emerging rock 'n roll music. He seemed introverted, but not really shy. He had plenty of friends and enjoyed being in the company of people his age.

Two of more than two dozen well regarded books Dr. William S. Newman of UNC wrote on music history and technique

One thing odd about the Newmans was that they seemed to exercise much less parental supervision than other parents. They allowed Craig to have things other parents would never have. For example, before he was twelve he had a real vintage World War I pistol and a military sword. As a young teenager he had adult men's magazines openly displayed in his room. This was exceptionally out of the ordinary since they were not even commonly available in Chapel Hill, and then could only be purchased by adults. Since both of his parents seemed so refined and sophisticated this was particularly bizarre. One final thing that was unusual about the Newmans was that even though they were quite polite to Craig's friends, it was the only house in Greenwood that I recall where children did not congregate or stay for very long. It was much more typical for Craig to be at someone else's house.

Jim Baucom front and Craig Newman left 1958 Chapel Hill. Jill Adams is standing in the back. 

By the time Craig was twelve he began exhibiting strange behavior, and there was a noticeable friction between him and his parents. Several of his former friends recall him hiding when his mother would come to pick him up from school, at a Boy Scout meeting, or from their house. His downward spiral seemed to start about the time he entered Guy B. Phillips Junior High School in 1964. His best friend Jim Baucom now went to Durham Academy and they rarely spent time together anymore. By the time he was 16 the only kids he was hanging out with were aimless outcasts, and he started smoking hash and marijuana which was still rather uncommon for most high school and college students. Some have speculated that Craig got into harder drugs which may have contributed to his weird behavior, but I have my doubts about this. First since Craig's only source of money was his parents, and they had strong concerns about his drug use, I doubt if he could have afforded a serious hard drug habit. He definitely was not the kind of endearing personality to whom others would give drugs for free. Finally, several people who knew him in his twenties who were wild and regular drug users have no recollection of him doing the same. Craig did graduate from UNC in 1978, but there is no evidence he ever got a job.

About the time Craig entered college his parents had a small room built for him next to the garage. This seemed strange to me then since Craig didn't seem to get along that well with his parents, and if he was going to live at home he already had a room in the house. From time to time in the 1970s he would disappear for a week or more and then reappear at home. Craig spent much of his time sitting on the rock wall across from the downtown Post Office at Franklin and Henderson Street. He did not seem very happy, and was fixated on having plastic surgery so he could look like then James Bond actor Roger Moore.

In the early 1980s there were several confrontations between Craig and his mother. In one he knocked her down in front of the NCNB bank on Franklin Street. Soon after this Craig began to threaten to kill his mother, and Dr. Newman bought a gun for their protection. Early on the afternoon of October 12, 1983 Craig had another violent confrontation with his mother. Later he began ranting in their back yard that he was going to kill her. At about 5 PM Craig tried to break into the house through the kitchen door, and Dr Newman shot him once in the chest with a .32 caliber pistol. This shot did not stop Craig, and he tried to get in through an adjacent breezeway. This time Dr Newman shot Craig in the head, and he fell mortally wounded onto their backyard. The South Orange County Rescue Squad was summoned by the Newmans before they called the Police. Claire rode in the ambulance with her son. He died at North Carolina Memorial Hospital later than evening.

Craig Newman front right next to his then best friend Jim Baucom 1964. This is a crop of the photograph Jim gave to Craig's mother several years after his death. It was taken at a boy scout jamboree in 1964. They were the two youngest members of Troop 826 which met at the University Baptist Church. Jim's father was instrumental in getting Craig into boy scouts.

Dr. Newman was originally charged with voluntary manslaughter, but those charges were dropped when the police investigation showed he did not intend to shoot Craig. No one who knew the Newmans had any doubts that on that terrible afternoon they feared for their lives and the shooting was an act of self-defense.

Claire Newman, their lawyer Steven Bernholz, and William S. Newman during the manslaughter hearing of their son Craig in 1983

Dr. Maynard Adams, UNC philosophy professor, and neighbor and friend of the Newmans for more than 30 years, gave the eulogy at the funeral. Professor Adams was one of few people in Greenwood who Craig talked to in his final years. Their conversations were usually quite deep and pertained to subjects like the meaning of life. The Newmans were both terribly sad at the funeral. Neither of them ever looked up during the service. Everyone I have spoken to who knew them say they were never the same after this. Years later Craig's boyhood friend, Jim Baucom, gave Mrs. Newman a boy scout picture of Craig and him. She thanked him but said there were so many sad memories.

Chapel Hill's musical genius William S. Newman's book on Beethoven

Looking at the facts now it is likely that Craig suffered from Asperger Syndrome which was unheard of at that time. Craig had almost all the symptoms of the disease. They include having significant difficulties in social interaction and being physicaly clumsy. As one grows older people with AS become obsessed with a single topic which they learn about in great detail, and helps them develop an above average vocabulary. They also develop repetitive routines or rituals that they follow for years. Like Craig, AS suffers have limited empathy for their peers. The exact cause of Asperger's is unknown, though it is likely genetic and not related to drug use.

The most disturbing fact about Asperger's is that by adolescence it begins manifesting itself through violent behavior. It is fairly typical that by one's teenage years one becomes noncompliant to their family members, often getting very angry, breaking things, slamming doors, and screaming. Parents and siblings of someone with AS often fear for their safety. Without learning behavior modifications and taking medications, boys with Asperger's get progressively more destructive to property, people, and pets. It is likely that Craig's early use of hash actually helped control his symptoms. One boy with the disease tried to kill his mother by putting, what he thought was, poison in her food. When she did not die, he expressed disappointment that his method had failed.

Craig had great difficulty talking to people by the age of thirteen. He also seemed to lack empathy, had poor social skills, and rarely made eye contact when talking. He would often go off into long conversations about his then favorite subject, like his desire to have plastic surgery. He also had a daily ritual of just sitting on the wall across from the downtown Post Office. Sadly people with AS, like Craig, deeply desire frienships but often give up trying because so many of their relationships fail. It seems Craig cared for his parents very much, especially his mother, but was frustrasted he could not figure out how to even be close to her.

Unfortunately for Craig and the Newmans, Asperger Syndrome was not diagnosed in the United States until 1992, so there was no way he could have gotten treatment for the malady.

Back cover of UNC Professor William S. Newman's book The History of the Sonata Idea

I would like to remember the Newmans by a performance Bill Newman gave at Hill Hall in 1955. I was six years old and he performed an incredible version of Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No 3 in D Minor, which I later learned is the most technically demanding and difficult pieces of music to play on the piano.

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