Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 11, 1993 TAG: 9311110105
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Robert H. McDaniel, 43, was found lying on his carport floor Tuesday morning when his mother came to check on him after he had failed to show up for work, Sheriff Ralph Dobbins said.
Because of the blood and the nature of the injuries, investigators originally thought McDaniel had been shot. But surgeons determined that he had been repeatedly beaten by some object.
McDaniel was to have met friends in Blacksburg around 7:30 p.m. Monday night, and a friend had talked to him on the phone shortly before 7 p.m., Dobbins said. McDaniel didn't show up for the meeting; friends left messages on his answering machine but didn't think his failure to appear overly unusual.
Investigators think McDaniel had been lying wounded in the garage perhaps all night when his mother finally discovered him around 10:20 a.m. Tuesday, Dobbins said.
They have no suspects or motive.
Dobbins said robbery has not been ruled out, but nothing appears to be missing from McDaniel's home - except a homemade piece of farm equipment made of a three-foot long pipe with some type of hook on the end.
McDaniel, a bachelor, lived alone on Hazel Hollow Road. Friends have told investigators, "Nobody had that type of rage to vent toward him," Dobbins said.
"We're at the mercy of the good Lord and the doctors at Roanoke Memorial, [so McDaniel] can shed some light on what happened" during the period from 7 p.m. to 10 a.m., Dobbins said.
The sheriff asked that anyone who might have seen anything unusual on Hazel Hollow Road Monday night contact the sheriff's department.
by CNB