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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 23, 1994                   TAG: 9403230072
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FAIRFAX                                LENGTH: Short

SUSPECT IN MURDER HELD WITHOUT BOND

A Fairfax County judge on Tuesday ordered a man charged in in the slaying of a Northern Virginia building contractor held without bond until his August trial.

Dressed in a dark green jail uniform, Ralph N. Shambaugh Jr. occasionally glanced around the courtroom but did not speak as Circuit Judge Richard Jamborski set a trial date of Aug. 23.

Jamborski, who will hear the case, also ordered that Shambaugh be held without bond in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

Shambaugh, of Morgan County, W.Va., is charged with capital murder in the shooting death of John Kowalczyk in a Vienna parking lot July 10. He could be sentenced to death if convicted.

Shambaugh also faces charges of conspiracy to commit murder and using a firearm during a felony.

Shambaugh surrendered to police in Martinsburg, W.Va., after his indictment in September.

Authorities say Shambaugh was hired by Kowalczyk's former in-laws, Stanley and Jacqueline Hyman, during a custody battle involving Kowalczyk's two children.

The Hymans denied any involvement in the slaying. The couple were found dead at a Florida condominium in August, the victims of an apparent murder-suicide.

"We plan to use evidence gathered during our investigation of the Hymans," Commonwealth's Attorney Robert Horan said.

Defense attorney Peter Greenspun noted that Shambaugh has claimed innocence from the start.

by CNB