Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 23, 1991 TAG: 9102230380
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREGORY LANG/ SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: SALEM, MASS. LENGTH: Medium
A jury was selected Friday in the 14-year-old case, and the prosecution suffered a setback when the judge decided not to allow key testimony from a witness who was 6 years old at the time.
Colby, 44, has been jailed in Massachusetts since being arrested at the motel where he worked in Salem, Va., in August 1989. He had moved to Roanoke shortly after the slaying.
Massachusetts authorities say he confessed to the slaying of Beverly Autiello when questioned after his arrest, but also were counting on testimony from Kala Freer.
Autiello, 30, was baby-sitting for Freer when a man broke into her home and killed her April 9, 1977.
In a reversal of a previous decision he made, Superior Court Judge John Ronan accepted defense attorney Hugh Samson's motion to suppress testimony involving Freer's recent identification of Colby as the killer.
Freer had picked a 1974 picture of Colby from a photo array and identified him as the killer. But in a police lineup last week, Freer could not identify him.
About two months ago, Ronan had rejected a similar motion and had said he would allow testimony from the woman, despite reservations that her memory may have been clouded and that she had been hypnotized shortly after the crime.
The new ruling means Freer will testify, but cannot talk about the identification that apparently led to Colby's arrest.
That identification had been considered a key aspect of the case.
Colby sat quietly with Samson at the center of the courtroom Friday with about 65 potential jurors on either side and behind him. At one point, the judge asked Colby to stand and turn around so the group could see him.
"I think he's trying to hang in there," Samson said earlier this week about his client. "It's really been a strain on him."
Colby had lived quietly in the 2200 block of Kenwood Boulevard in Southeast Roanoke for 10 years before his arrest. Neighbors described him as a hard-working family man and churchgoer.
by CNB