Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 6, 1990 TAG: 9007060355
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
James S. "Pete" Ware is charged with murder during the commission of a robbery in the indictment returned this week by a Roanoke grand jury.
He could face the death penalty if convicted.
Ware, 24, is accused of killing Ophelia Laverne Wiley in May during a robbery in her Hanover Avenue home.
Police found Wiley bleeding to death in a downstairs hallway after her son leaped from a second-story window and ran for help.
Ware fled to Kansas following the killing and was apprehended after he could not afford the toll for an off-ramp on Interstate 70.
Authorities said Ware admitted taking items from the house during an interview with a Roanoke detective at the Charlotte, N.C., airport following his arrest.
Authorities said they believe Ware slashed Wiley, a mother of two, then ran to a nearby housing project. Wiley's 2-year-old son was asleep in the house when her 8-year-old son ran for help.
Police said Ware hitched a ride to Covington with an unsuspecting motorist, then stole his van.
He later ditched the van in Mount Vernon, Ill., and stole another car before fleeing to Kansas, authorities said.