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

DATE: TUESDAY, November 2, 1993                   TAG: 9311020132
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

PROTRUDING NAIL MAY BE KILLER

A man first thought to have been stabbed to death Oct. 23 may have killed himself accidentally as he tried to break down the door of a Northwest Roanoke home.

John Oakey Page possibly was killed when he rammed his shoulder onto a nail protruding from the door frame, according to court records.

An autopsy determined that Page, 38, of Staunton Avenue, died from a puncture wound to his neck "that possibly could have been caused by a nail-like object that was exposed in the door frame," according to a search warrant filed Monday in Roanoke Circuit Court.

Police used the warrant to seize a door frame from 1712 Melrose Ave. N.W., where Page attempted to break in the night of Oct. 23.

No charges have been filed. A police spokesman said Monday that an investigation of Page's death is not complete.

A real estate employee checking for repair work found Page's body lying on the ground at the rear of a house at 1724 Melrose the morning of Oct. 23.

Earlier that day, police were told that Page tried to break into the house at 1712 Melrose.

Police were told that Page had arrived at the house looking for a former girlfriend. As a man in the house watched through a peephole in the door, Page backed up and kicked the door, breaking the frame.

The man in the house, whom police did not identify, then struggled briefly with Page, who left a short time later, police said.

Keywords:
FATALITY ROMUR

by CNB