Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 26, 1993 TAG: 9310260145
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
FAIRFAX - A woman who tried to convince Fairfax County police they erred in ruling her son's death a suicide was proven right when his former girlfriend confessed to stabbing him.
Pamela S. Easley spent more than four years hounding police, phoning investigators to point out flaws in their probe and in the medical examiner's report on 21-year-old Timothy W. Easley's death.
Some of Easley's co-workers told her she was obsessed, but she persisted, even after moving to Louisiana last fall.
"When it comes to my kids, I push," said Easley, 46. "I knew my son did not commit suicide and I wanted his name cleared, and I wanted the person who killed him brought to justice."
Candy A. Wharton, 33, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter. She is being held without bond in the Fairfax jail awaiting a Dec. 1 trial.
Fairfax Police Chief Michael W. Young said that Thomas J. Lyons, the original homicide investigator in the case, concluded that Easley's death was a suicide based on "inaccurate findings" and that his conclusions were not adequately reviewed by his supervisors.
- Associated Press
\ Saturday's Lotto pot has 1 winning ticket
RICHMOND - A ticket purchased at a Vienna convenience store matched all six numbers to win a $1 million Lotto jackpot, the Virginia Lottery announced Sunday.
The winning numbers in Saturday's drawing were: 4-10-18-25-33-36.
Five correct numbers paid $770 to each of 68 winners, and four correct numbers paid $45 to 2,473 players. Three right was worth a free play to 35,991 players.
Wednesday's drawing also will have a $1 million jackpot, according to lottery officials. - Associated Press
\ Relic collectors fined for selling artifacts
NEWPORT NEWS - Two relic collectors were sentenced Monday to probation and ordered to pay $1,250 each in fines and restitution for trafficking in artifacts stolen from a Civil War ship in the James River.
Gary Lee Williams of Mechanicsville and Fred Larry Stevens of Falmouth pleaded guilty in August to advertising and selling belt buckles made from melted-down brass recovered from the CSS Florida, a Confederate raider.
Authorities say Williams and Stevens advertised the belt buckles in the North-South Trader, a nationally known collector's magazine. They were charged with misdemeanor violations of the federal Archaeological Resource Protection Act.
U.S. District Judge James E. Bradberry sentenced the men to two years probation, a $500 fine and ordered them to pay $750 restitution to the federal government.
- Associated Press
\ DNA test results could free death row inmate
RICHMOND - A DNA test raises questions about whether death row inmate Earl Washington Jr. is guilty of raping and murdering a Culpeper woman in 1982, Attorney General Stephen Rosenthal said Monday.
The test of sperm found on a vaginal swab shows two genetic traits found in Washington's blood but also a third trait not found in Washington or the victim or her husband, Rosenthal said at a hastily called news conference.
"Earl Washington may or may not have committed this crime. It is by no means absolutely conclusive one way or the other," Rosenthal said.
He said the state requested the test for reasons he would not specify, and the results arrived Monday. He said the information would be sent to Gov. Douglas Wilder, and further tests would be conducted in the next two weeks.
"I've been waiting a long time," Washington, 33, said in a telephone interview from death row at the Mecklenburg Correctional Center. - Associated Press
\ Navy wants oversized pets out of housing
NORFOLK - Dozens of families are howling about the Navy's plan to strictly enforce a size limit on dogs in housing at the Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base.
"If I abuse my dog, if I don't treat my dog right, fine, make me get rid of her," said Hope Samsel, whose beagle Teddy Bear has gotten plump as she's grown older. "But my dog is loved, and they want her to go."
Base residents have received notices the past few weeks that they have 30 days to find new homes for dogs that weigh more than 25 pounds or stand taller than 14 inches at the shoulder.
Navy housing officials defended the policy as a health issue. "Basically, people are living in confined quarters with limited yard space," said Nancy Theriault, director of base housing at Little Creek. "Large dogs create a problem." - Associated Press
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB