Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 14, 1995 TAG: 9504140035
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
MANASSAS - The father of two boys whose mother hid them rather than return them to Prince William County schools has reported the children missing.
David Coder said Wednesday a private investigator he hired lost track of his two sons and his ex-wife, and he filed the report to be eligible for help from organizations such as the Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The Woodbridge father got temporary custody of Charles, 8, and Andrew, 6, on March 27. He said he has no idea where to look for his children.
``There is nothing I can do now except wait,'' he said.
Charles, who is mildly autistic, has not attended school since his mother withdrew him from Neabsco Elementary in November, saying the school did not protect him from harassment by classmates.
Donna Coder pulled her younger son out of school in February and went into hiding with the boys Feb. 24.
- Associated Press
Inmate sentenced in prison stabbing
EMPORIA - A jury convicted a prison inmate of stabbing a fellow prisoner 10 times as part of an alleged conspiracy by guards.
The Greensville County jury took 15 minutes Wednesday to find Herbert Boone, 31, guilty of malicious wounding in the attack on James Steele, 24. Circuit Judge Robert G. O'Hara Jr., following the jury's recommendation, sentenced him to five years in prison plus a $200 fine.
Three guards were indicted with Boone in connection with the October 1994 attack in Greensville Correctional Center. One is charged with malicious wounding and two are charged with conspiring to commit malicious wounding. Defense attorney Jerry E. Waldrop argued that Boone was being framed as part of a scheme by Steele and one of the three indicted guards, Rickey D. Harvey, that allegedly involved bringing a civil lawsuit against the state and other guards.
Prosecutor R. Neely Owen called the purported frame-up ``smoke and speculation.''
Boone is serving time at Mecklenburg Correctional Center for robbery, assault and weapons offenses. Steele, who has homicide and malicious wounding convictions, is at Greensville Correctional Center.
Ten other guards and three more inmates were indicted last year on felony charges that guards beat prisoners or directed inmate goon squads to beat them. One guard was acquitted. Another pleaded no contest to a reduced charge and was given 30 days in jail. Charges against three other guards were dropped in exchange for testimony or because of a lack of evidence.
- Associated Press
Fire razes landmark 1908 lumberyard
HAMPTON - The R.F. Slaughter Lumber Corp., a local landmark since 1908, was destroyed by fire Wednesday as William Charles, the company's owner, stood and watched. Flames began devouring the lumberyard at 1:15 a.m. Wednesday. The fire was under control by 3 a.m. but the yard's several buildings were nearly all destroyed .
One firefighter was treated for smoke inhalation. The flames cracked windshields on three fire trucks and melted a metal display plate on at least one of the engines.
The inventory was worth about $400,000, Charles said, and the total property worth $1 million.The cause of the fire was unknown Thursday.
- Associated Press
by CNB