
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 3, 1990                   TAG: 9004030471
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: By Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

TRIAL MOVED FOR MAN HELD IN WIFE'S DEATH

RUSTBURG - The capital murder trial of James Ira Hicks, accused of hiring a man to kill his wife, will be moved 112 miles east to the city of Colonial Heights, a Campbell County circuit judge ruled Monday.

Judge J. Samuel Johnston Jr. explained his reasons for moving the trial - rather than bringing a jury in from another county - in a three-page letter to Hicks' attorneys and Commonwealth's Attorney Neil S. Vener dated Monday.

Johnston said extensive media coverage and widespread rumors since Hicks' Jan. 16 arrest made it impossible to find an impartial jury in Campbell County.

Bringing 12 jurors and two alternates to Rustburg also would involve enormous costs, Johnston wrote.

The trial is scheduled to begin July 16.

Johnston said he chose Colonial Heights, a Richmond suburb, because it falls outside the Lynchburg media coverage area but is close enough for witnesses to travel to on a daily basis.

Hicks has been charged with hiring a 29-year-old Lynchburg carpenter to beat his wife to death with a hammer Jan. 8.

Reuben Gregory Barksdale told investigators he killed Hicks' wife, Lena, for $900.

by CNB