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

DATE: SATURDAY, May 5, 1990                   TAG: 9005050256
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TAZEWELL MAN, FRIEND CHARGED WITH MURDER

Delbert M. Smith, 23, of Springville, and Jillanna J. Philbrook, 35, of Allendale, Fla., were arrested between 4 and 5 p.m. Friday in Daytona Beach Shores, Fla.

Smith was charged with capital murder, first-degree murder, robbery and use of a firearm in connection with the death of Opie P. Meadows. Philbrook was charged with first-degree murder and robbery. They are being held without bond in the Volusia County Branch Jail pending an extradition hearing.

Their arrest came after a Daytona Beach Shores police officer spotted the two outside a bar getting into Meadows' pickup truck.

Police seized a .22-caliber rifle thought to be the death weapon from an apartment shared by Smith and Philbrook. Using a search warrant, police also recovered some receipts from the apartment bearing imprints from Meadows' credit cards.

Meadows, 76, died at his Springville home Thursday afternoon from a gunshot wound in the chest. Smith lived nearby and knew Meadows, authorities said. Meadows' pickup truck and wallet had been stolen.

Virginia's capital murder statute, which allows the death penalty, can be applied when murder occurs during the commission of a robbery.

Tazewell County Sheriff's Investigator C.E. Ruble said police gathered evidence Thursday night that linked Smith to the crime scene. Teletype messages were sent to Florida authorities asking that they be on the lookout for Smith or Meadows' red Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck with a red camper shell.

Ruble said he didn't know whether Meadows' wallet was found at the time of arrest.

Smith met Philbrook while serving in the armed forces in Georgia. She had been living in Tazewell County for about two months, officers said.