Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 26, 1993 TAG: 9310260121
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
James T. Smith, 46, was so angry that he ran home and got his .357 Magnum the night he found his wife visiting with another man at her home.
As it turned out, Sandra Smith, 43, was just catching up on some old memories with Edwin R. Hairston, a former classmate she had seen at a recent class reunion for the first time in years.
But prosecutors said Smith didn't ask many questions before he wounded Hairston, 42, with one shot and killed Sandra Smith with five.
At a hearing in Roanoke Circuit Court, Smith pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, malicious wounding, use of a firearm and possessing a gun as a convicted felon.
The former church deacon is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 10, and faces up to life plus 36 years in prison.
Chief Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Betty Jo Anthony summarized the evidence:
On the night of July 27, James Smith went to his estranged wife's home in the 1600 block of Andrews Road Northwest and found her in a basement recreation room with Hairston.
Smith later told police he stayed a few minutes, but was not included in the conversation and "felt like a piece of furniture."
He went home and picked up his gun before paying his preacher a visit. At the home of the Rev. Robert Ingram of Bible Way Pentecostal Church, Smith said "he was tired of the way he was being treated and that he intended to kill her," Anthony said.
Smith then stormed out. Ingram called police, but was too late.
Smith later told police that he returned to the Andrews Road home to find Hairston stretched out on a couch with his shoes off.
"Get your shoes on," he instructed Hairston before the shooting started. Smith later told police that he continued to pull the trigger until the revolver's hammer clicked on empty chambers.
He then went back to Ingram's home and said he had killed his wife and a visitor.
Sandra Smith was found dead at the scene. She had worked as an animal control officer since 1980, and before that for four years in the police dispatch center.
Assistant Public Defender Roger Dalton did not contest much of Anthony's account. He added that although the Smiths were separated, they continued to visit and vacation together.
"Because of that continuing relationship and Mr. Smith's religious beliefs about the sanctity of marriage, he did feel he had more of a stake in this than just as an ex-husband," Dalton said.
Keywords:
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by CNB