Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 26, 1994 TAG: 9402260112
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARA LEE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He served 14.
Now he's suspected of beating a Pulaski man into a coma; kidnapping and raping a woman in West Virginia, stealing her car and driving it to Montgomery County; braining an 81-year-old McCoy man and stealing $500 from him; and stealing a 77-year-old woman's car from the Ironto rest stop on Interstate 81 and attacking her and her passenger.
All but the beating of the Pulaski man occurred in 17 hours between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning.
Montgomery County residents wonder if Hampton, a Christiansburg resident, remains in the county. Police continue to wait for news.
Beckley, W.Va., Police Sgt. Dave Cook and Cpl. Tom Purdy arrived in Christiansburg on Friday morning to examine the rape victim's car. As they dusted a Hi-C juice box and cheddar crackers box with metallic gray powder to find prints, they discussed the case and its effect on Beckley.
The carjacking was only the second ever in Beckley, a town of 18,000. It happened during rush hour. "They'll be careful for a while 'cause it happened in broad daylight, a lot of people were around," Cook said.
Cook, dressed in overalls and rubber gloves to keep from contaminating evidence, said he'd interviewed the woman for several hours Thursday. "She's strong, that's the best way to describe it. She didn't cry, not yesterday."
He leaned over the passenger seat, still popped back to a reclining position, and looked for more food that had been opened.
The officers said they hoped the lab would be able to find dried semen or blood in the car.
Blacksburg resident James Edward Hampton Jr., Billy Joe Hampton's oldest brother, said he hadn't talked to his brother in two years.
"We don't get along that good," he said dryly. "We used to, before a lot of this stuff happened. I'm sick of the whole situation over him."
Billy Joe Hampton lived with his mother in Christiansburg. "She's doing fair," James Hampton said.
Seems like all the talk in Montgomery County is about the parole system. Why was Hampton let out so early the first time? And why was he let out again?
State Parole Board Chairman Clarence Jackson explained how parole works:
If it's your first time in prison - as it was for Hampton after his murder conviction - you can get out after serving one-fourth of your sentence, even with the worst behavior classification, which Hampton had. Because Hampton had one-third of his sentence suspended, he would have been eligible for parole in a little over seven years.
If it's your second time in prison, you can get out after serving one-third of your sentence, and with time off for good behavior you can serve as little as one-sixth. Hampton qualified as having the best behavior possible while serving time on a forgery conviction. He was first eligible for parole after five years of a 25-year sentence. The board held off for two years because he had broken parole last time.
Virginia does have a "three-time loser" law, under which a person convicted of murder, rape or armed robbery three times cannot be let out before his mandatory parole date. That is different from the "three strikes, you're out" bill bandied about on state and national levels that would require a life sentence for someone convicted three times of violent felonies. Hampton's record did not fall under either category.
Jackson said parole boards definitely take a convict's history into account. "One of the main things to look at for future risk is to look at the past. Anything that happened in the past, to predict the future."
Jackson said that although 63 percent of those in prison never return, the system has many problems. He said the majority of the most violent serial rapes and murders in Virginia were committed by men out on mandatory parole.
"I wish I knew the answer to all of these questions. Prison does not seem to deter violent behavior."
Meanwhile, Hampton is on the armed-and-dangerous list on the whole East Coast.
Cook, the Beckley police sergeant, said, "Somebody like this, it's just hard to tell what his next move will be."
Hampton is 5 feet 7 inches, with auburn hair and a limp. He was last seen in a white 1990 Oldsmobile sedan with Maryland handicapped plates, license number 7492HC.
Staff writer Kathy Loan contributed to this story.
by CNB