ROANOKE TIMES

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

DATE: FRIDAY, September 30, 1994                   TAG: 9410040060
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium


IN VIRGINIA

Prisoners will pay for damage

JARRATT - An inmate disturbance at the Greensville Correctional Center last week caused more than $108,000 in damage, and prisoners who can be linked to specific damage will have to pay for it.

Inmates' prison savings accounts will be frozen until they pay, state prison system spokesman Jim Jones said Wednesday.

Jones said officials still don't know what touched off the Sept. 19 disturbance.

Prisoners started fires, flooded toilets, flipped ice-making machines, set off sprinklers and broke windows and doors. Jones said the damage included about $49,000 in broken windows and $59,000 in broken doors. Estimates for smoke and electrical damage are incomplete, he said.

The prison has been under lockdown since the disturbance, meaning prisoners are confined to their cells except for showers and limited recreation.

- Associated Press

Allen staffer quits after sodomy arrest

RICHMOND - A ranking staffer for Gov. George Allen resigned Wednesday, two days after he was charged with felony sodomy related to an alleged homosexual encounter in a Richmond park.

Executive Mansion Director Craig Westburg Henson, 36, was arrested during a routine patrol in Bryant Park, according to Lt. H.W. Nichols of the Richmond Police Vice Squad.

Henson later was released on a $2,500 bond pending an Oct. 21 court appearance, court records show.

The other man, who also was charged with sodomy, has a previous arrest and conviction for solicitation of a lewd act in Bryant Park, records show.

Allen had appointed Henson to manage a seven-member staff in coordinating social events at the mansion. Henson submitted a resignation letter Wednesday afternoon, according to Allen spokesman Ken Stroupe.

- Staff report

Fla. church group top bidder on school

FORT DEFIANCE - A Florida church group was the highest bidder for Augusta Military Academy at a bank auction, but AMA Trust will retain ownership for the time being through a bankruptcy filing.

The auction was prompted by AMA Trust's default on a Crestar Bank loan on the property.

- Associated Press

Youth gets 13 years in officer's slaying

HAMPTON - A prosecutor said a 16-year-old got off easy by being sentenced to 13 years in prison for his role in the February slaying of Hampton Police Officer Kenny Wallace.

Yancy M. Mitchener, who fired a clip of .25-caliber bullets into Wallace's patrol car on Feb. 21, was convicted of first-degree murder.

Circuit Judge Nelson T. Overton on Wednesday sentenced him to 63 years in prison, then suspended 50 years and placed the youth on probation for 40 years following his release from prison.

``I think it's quite low,'' said Commonwealth's Attorney Christopher Hutton, who had sought a life term. ``The circumstances of this case warranted a life sentence, but the judge made his decision and obviously I'm surprised by it.''

- Associated Press

Fugitive nanny was thinking of suicide

TOLEDO, Ohio - A nanny accused of bilking thousands of dollars from a Wood County family was contemplating suicide before she was arrested in Virginia and found dead in her jail cell, an investigator said.

Diana Kay Conrad, who went by the name of Diane Chambers, among others, was featured on the television show ``America's Most Wanted'' Saturday night.

She was arrested at a Bowling Green, Va., hotel Sunday night after a clerk recognized her. She was found dead in the Hanover County Jail on Monday.

The cause of death has not been determined, although officials said it appears to be a heart attack.

Conrad disappeared in February after the family began to question the way she handled the family's finances. She was wanted on theft and forgery charges.

- Associated Press


Memo: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.

by CNB