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

DATE: MONDAY, March 11, 1991                   TAG: 9103110345
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                                LENGTH: Medium

CLASSMATES SAY SUSPECT BRAGGED OF FINDING BODIES

The 16-year-old accused of killing two boys who lived in his neighborhood bragged to his classmates and to police that he had found the bodies, acquaintances said.

Sean Novak was held without bond pending a court hearing scheduled for today to determine whether the suspect will be tried as an adult.

A student at First Colonial High School said Sunday that Novak bragged about finding the bodies of Christopher Scot Weaver, 7, and Daniel Geier, 9. Their bodies were found Tuesday by neighborhood residents.

"He's in my art class," the student said. "He told us he found the bodies. He didn't go into detail. He just said their throats were slashed and stuff like that."

Police arrested Novak Saturday. Although he has been identified in TV news reports as the suspect, no city officials would confirm nor deny it, keeping a tight lid on the case.

The suspect was arrested while the funeral for Daniel Geier was being held. The funeral for Christopher Scot Weaver will be held Tuesday. The two slain boys were friends and classmates at Birdneck Elementary School.

A spokesman for the Weaver family said Novak frequently mowed lawns in the housing complex, including theirs.

Tami Weaver, who was serving in the Persian Gulf with the Navy when she got the word that her son had been murdered, got home early Sunday.

Many people were uneasy with the fact that someone they knew was a suspect in the slayings, and recalled how strange they thought Novak was.

"Sometimes, it was like, you know, he was trying to stick out, like he wanted to do anything that looked weird," a 15-year-old boy said. "He'd wear that cat's leg and push it in your face, and he had cat heads and bones and stuff. And dead birds.

"And when everyone got used to that, he'd say he was going to kill a dog or something next . . . always something bigger just to freak ya."

But other residents said they were shocked that Novak had been arrested. "I didn't know him as a best friend, but he seemed like a normal kid," one boy said. "I heard it on TV, and I was very surprised. He used to always have Army stuff and play war."

Several said his family was extremely religious and attended church frequently.

"He seemed like a nice person," said a woman whose daughter had dated Novak for a time. "He would sit outside in my back yard at the picnic table and talk. I felt sorry for him to get pumped full of so much religion. He probably thought the devil got hold of him."

by CNB