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

DATE: TUESDAY, August 31, 1993                   TAG: 9308310141
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MARLINTON, W.VA.                                LENGTH: Short

VA. MAN EXONERATED IN RAINBOW SLAYINGS

A murder charge was dismissed Monday against a Virginia man, one of three men accused of the 1980 slayings of two hitchhikers who were on their way to a counterculture gathering in Pocahontas County.

Pocahontas County Circuit Judge Frank Jolliffe dismissed the charge against Richard Fowler at the request of Special Prosecutor Walt Weiford and Fowler's lawyer, Denny Dohnal.

Weiford said evidence that came to light during the trial of another defendant, Jacob Beard, exonerated Fowler, 41, of Gordonsville, Va., in the June 25, 1980, shootings of Vicki Durian, 26, of Wellman, Iowa, and Nancy Santomero, 19, of Huntington, N.Y.

Durian and Santomero were killed en route to a gathering of the Rainbow Family at Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park.

Beard, 47, of Crescent City, Fla., was convicted of the slayings June 4 and was sentenced to two life terms in prison without mercy, making him ineligible for parole.

Weiford said Fowler may have been an accessory after the fact, but he said that would be a misdemeanor and the one-year statute of limitations has expired.

Another defendant has yet to come to trial: William McCoy, 37, of Hillsboro.

Charges were dismissed last month against a fourth defendant, Arnold Cutlip, 56, of Lobelia, for similar reasons as the charges against Fowler, lawyer said. A fifth defendant, Gerald Brown, 51, of Droop, choked to death while eating in February before going to trial.

by CNB