Newspaper clip file – Melvin Roberts

March 14, 2019

Local convenience store owner arrested for rape

Roberts of Melvin's Nite Owl professes innocence

March 14, 2019

By Monica Drum
Eagle City Reporter

Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department officials announced yesterday that Melvin Roberts has been arrested for the rape of a 16-year-old babysitter in his employ.

YCSD officers reportedly arrested Roberts yesterday around 9 a.m. at his store, Melvin's Nite Owl, at the corner of North Lamar Avenue and Highway 30.

According to the official complaint, Roberts is accused of attacking the 16-year-old babysitter, who was staying at Roberts's home with his grandson, while Roberts was scheduled to be working and his wife, Candy, was out of town.

The complaint alleges that Roberts entered a room in his house where the girl was sleeping and forcibly raped her in the dark, telling her that he would kill her if she made any noise or told anyone.

The complaint states that the girl smelled alcohol on Roberts's breath and she believed he was very drunk at the time of the attack. Besides the rape, the victim was also beaten and suffered a concussion and multiple contusions, as well as a broken finger, which she says happened when she tried to resist Roberts's advances.

The complaint then states that the girl stayed in the room for an hour, believing the attacker was still somewhere in the house. When she finally went out into the rest of the house, she found that he had left. The girl then called 911 and told them what had happened, which launched the investigation that culminated with Roberts's arrest yesterday morning.

Speaking by phone from the Yoknapatawpha County Jail, Roberts said he is innocent of the charge and that he can prove he was working through the night of the alleged attack.

He added that he did not return to his house until after midnight, when he found the babysitter had left, so he checked on his grandson and went to bed.

Roberts's attorney, Don Margolis, who was present with Roberts during questioning, called the charges baseless and said they will be defeated if and when they go to court.

But YCSD spokesperson Elizabeth Jones described the case against Roberts as very good. Physical evidence found at the scene implicates Roberts in the attack, and the victim's testimony against Roberts is solid, according to Jones.

The victim, who is currently recovering in a private room at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Oxford, picked Roberts out of a line-up as her attacker and also identified his voice as that of her attacker.

Many in Oxford wonder how Roberts could do such a thing, but people close to the situation said Roberts has been battling alcoholism and substance abuse for several years now, bouts of which have required him to seek professional help at clinics for rehabilitation in Tupelo and Memphis.

Roberts states that Melvin's Nite Owl will remain open during its regular hours and that he expects to be back in the store soon to continue serving his many customers. He also says that his longtime policy of serving customers in uniform for free will no longer apply to employees of the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department.

November 21, 2019

ACQUITTED!

Convenience store owner released from custody

November 21, 2019

By Monica Drum
Eagle City Reporter

Yoknapatawpha District Attorney R.J. Metcalf expressed shock and disbelief yesterday in court when local convenience store owner Melvin Roberts was acquitted of what Metcalf and other officials felt was an airtight charge of rape against a 16-year-old girl.

The girl, who also attended the court proceedings to identify her attacker, burst into tears when the Honorable Marty McManus released Roberts based on what he called "a severe degree of reasonable doubt" that Roberts had actually committed the heinous crime.

The girl was attacked on March 14 in Roberts's home as she was sleeping. The girl was babysitting Roberts's grandson while Roberts was scheduled to be working and his wife was out of town visiting relatives.

The girl was forcibly raped and suffered a concussion, multiple contusions, and a broken finger as a result of the attack. She subsequently identified Roberts in a police line-up and also identified his voice from behind a screen as the voice of her attacker.

Roberts also had three distinct scratches on his hand and a large bruise on his inner right thigh consistent with an act of rough sexual intercourse.

A large group of community leaders has rallied around Roberts from the beginning, contributing funds for his legal defense and working for free in his store to help defray the costs of his overhead.

Roberts's attorney, Don Margolis, has insisted from the start that Roberts could prove his innocence and would at the trial. A man of his word, Margolis produced a time card from Roberts's store showing that he was in the store working during the entire time of the attack.

Roberts's alibi was also corroborated by another employee who was in the store at the time and by several customers that Roberts called as witnesses for his defense. These witnesses stated that they saw Roberts in the store at various times ranging from 8 p.m. until 12 a.m. The girl was attacked at approximately 10 p.m.

District Attorney R.J. Metcalf says that he will not rule out Roberts as a suspect despite the strength of his alibi, due to the large amount of physical evidence associated with the case. But Metcalf said that while he's not convinced of Roberts's innocence in the attack, he will now focus on other possible attackers in the case.

Margolis says that he and his client plan to file a multi-million dollar lawsuit for false arrest against District Attorney Metcalf and the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department for what Margolis calls the "malicious prosecution of my client when they should have known that he would never do such a thing. He has the utmost respect for law enforcement. They eat free in his restaurant every day, and then they band together to railroad him into prison for attacking a child."

"It's crazy. The man is a community hero, and this is how he's treated," Margolis continued. "Maybe when those coffers open up a little, they'll know how to treat such people."

Roberts plans to continue working at his store and apologizes to his customers for any inconvenience his absence may have caused.

March 23, 2021

Melvin's Nite Owl on the market

Melvin Roberts says customers just not coming in anymore

March 23, 2021

By Kelly Shackleton
Oxford Eagle

Harte Agency owner Jeff Harte says Melvin's Nite Owl, once the busiest food and drink store and cafe in Oxford, has recently been placed with her agency for sale as soon as possible.

Melvin Roberts, a lifelong resident of the Oxford area, opened the store in the fall of 1982 and added a cafe in 1984.

Today, there are more than 20 convenience-type stores in Oxford and the surrounding area, but most people agree that Melvin's Nite Owl was the original innovator of the idea locally, jumping on the concept that people traveling to and from Oxford would like to stop and get the things they needed such as drinks and gasoline before beginning their journey.

Harte said the store and the adjoining cafe and car wash area will list in the $200,000 range, and he welcomes any and all inquiries.

When reached for comment, Roberts said only, "I would like to sell it as soon as possible because it's just not profitable for me anymore."

Roberts said his business had gone downhill ever since his entanglement in the rape trial of a 16-year-old girl two years ago when he claims this newspaper sullied his name irreparably.

"I've kind of had my time in the sun, I guess you could say," Roberts said. "I think someone else, maybe someone younger like I was when I started, could turn it around. I really don't see why not."

Harte said he will show the store to the general public on March 30 at noon. All interested parties are invited to attend the showing, where refreshments will be served.