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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 2, 1994                   TAG: 9402020093
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

VIETNAM STRESS BLAMED IN SLAYING

A Vietnam veteran was experiencing a flashback to his combat service the night his brother-in-law was shot to death, a psychiatrist testified Tuesday.

Ricky Lynn O'Neil is expected to plead not guilty by reason of insanity at a trial scheduled to begin Monday.

At a pretrial hearing Tuesday in Roanoke Circuit Court, psychiatrist Robert Showalter provided a preview of his testimony.

O'Neil - who is charged with killing Joseph Turner Davis on March 2 - suffers from post traumatic stress disorder as a result of his service in Vietnam, Showalter testified.

"He did not understand the difference between right and wrong," Showalter said.

"He did not see it as a crime, no more than he would see killing an enemy in the combat zone as a crime when he was on active duty."

The psychiatrist said that O'Neil, 40, experienced "threatening circumstances" in the seconds before the killing, pushing him into a flashback.

Prosecutors plan to dispute the insanity defense, according to Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ann Gardner.

Davis, 47, was shot 12 times with two guns after an argument, according to testimony at an earlier hearing. His body was found by Roanoke police at a Woodcrest Road home where both men lived.

Authorities have said the argument could have been caused by two things: O'Neil had attempted unsuccessfully to borrow money from Davis for a sports bet earlier in the day, then became angry a second time when he arrived home too late for dinner.

In a statement to police, O'Neil admitted he shot Davis but said it was after Davis had pulled a steak knife, according to earlier testimony.

Although insanity pleas are rare in Virginia, O'Neil's case will be the second time one has been used in a Roanoke murder case within two weeks.

Last week, a jury rejected Edwin C. Turner's claim that he was temporarily insane the night he killed a man. Lawyers said Turner experienced an "irresistible impulse" caused by the victim's threatening behavior, but the jury convicted him of first-degree murder and set his sentence at life in prison.

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