Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 21, 1994 TAG: 9411210092
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI AND LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But the man they believe killed Vest apparently had shot himself.
The first apparent murder-suicide in Roanoke County this year came after a shooting rampage by Jacob Shane Caldwell, an enraged 20-year-old Botetourt County man who feared that Vest, 53, was involved with his former girlfriend.
Roanoke and Botetourt County law enforcement agents continue to piece together what happened Saturday night that instigated Caldwell's actions.
Since at least Friday, the young man was living at Vest's Flagler Drive home. The two knew each other through the women they dated, Botetourt County Sheriff Reed Kelly said. Vest was seeing a Botetourt County woman; Caldwell had dated her daughter. Kelly would not release the women's names.
Kelly's office received a call about 8:40 p.m. Saturday from a neighbor in Applewood Estates who said there was a man shooting into the women's home on Westridge Drive.
By the time sheriff's deputies arrived, there were signs that the man had fired both inside and outside the house. He also had struggled with the younger woman, they said, but neither mother nor daughter were seriously injured.
"Our belief is that Caldwell killed Vest, then drove to Botetourt County with the intention of harming others," Kelly said. "He came heavily armed."
Deputies found Caldwell dead in the kitchen with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. On his body were three weapons: two semiautomatic pistols and one revolver. The rounds from one gun had been emptied.
Caldwell had driven to the women's home in one of Vest's two cars. Kelly said it appeared that Caldwell had been drinking.
Exactly what the young man said during his altercation with the women was not released by police, but it led sheriff's deputies to alert Roanoke County investigators to check on Vest at his home.
About 9 p.m., police found the General Electric employee dead. Vest had been stabbed more than once, according to a law enforcement source. The apparent murder weapon was confiscated from the home, but police did not reveal what it was.
Autopsies on Vest and Caldwell are expected today.
Vest's neighbors said they last saw him about 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Almost 10 hours later, they saw police cordon off his house with crime-scene tape, with a police evidence van parked in the driveway as his body was wheeled out.
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