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

DATE: SUNDAY, December 12, 1993                   TAG: 9312120055
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ARLINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

20 YEARS LATER, BANK ROBBER GETS LIFE TERM

A man who lived 20 years as a fugitive after a deadly bank robbery has been sentenced to life in prison.

Arlington Circuit Court Judge Benjamin Kendrick gave William W. Graham, 39, the maximum sentence Friday despite Graham's pleas that he has rehabilitated himself.

Lawyers said Graham, a computer technician, probably will never get out of jail.

"I have received more letters on your behalf than for anyone I've ever seen," Kendrick said. "Some will say you've changed. Others will say you did only because you had to."

Graham served as a lookout while three accomplices killed a police officer and a bank manager in the 1972 holdup. The robbers never got any money.

by CNB