ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, November 21, 1996 TAG: 9611210056
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WINNSBORO, S.C.
SOURCE: Associated Press
Almost 30 years after two men began questioning the death of Ronald ``Little Red'' Beasley, a jury on Wednesday ended the mystery of how a paralyzed man could shoot himself in the mouth. The jury convicted his wife of murder.
Frances Truesdale, 54, known to townspeople as Sandra Beasley, sat silently as she was sentenced to life in prison for killing her 29-year-old husband in July 1967.
Truesdale is serving a 20-year sentence in Virginia for the 1988 murder of her second husband, Jerry Truesdale, whom she married about a month after Beasley died.
After the verdict, Beasley's relatives and Jerry Truesdale's family cried, hugged and consoled each other, as a fight they had pursued for years came to a close.
Jerry Truesdale's sister, Judy, ran out of the courtroom to call her mother with the news.
``If the officials had did their job down here in the first place, maybe my brother would still be alive,'' she said, tears running down her face.
``I know the family feels better knowing that Red's death was murder and not a suicide like they said,'' remarked Little Red's father, K.C. Beasley, 80, whose failing health had kept him from waiting at the courthouse.
Beasley and Fairfield County Sheriff Herman Young led the fight to bring Frances Truesdale to court.
``Twenty-nine years is a long time to wait, but as long as justice is done, it's not too long,'' Young said.
In July 1967, Sandra Beasley told police her husband loaded a .22-caliber rifle and fired at her, then put the rifle in his mouth and shot himself.
Her lawyer repeated her story to the jury Wednesday, but she refused to testify or call any witnesses in her own defense.
Defense attorney Bob Fitzsimmons said the coroner and Young's predecessor as sheriff ruled Ronald Beasley's death a suicide, and the case should not be retried.
But K.C. Beasley and Young didn't believe the official report or Truesdale, who they said was the only person around when Little Red died.
Little Red suffered a stroke a few months before his death. He could not walk or feed himself and wore diapers, and he required round-the-clock care, Young and nine other witnesses said during this week's trial.
``Shooting himself was physically impossible for him. How could he do it?'' asked the sheriff, who said Truesdale has at least three other aliases besides Sandra and Frances.
Truesdale's second husband, Jerry Truesdale, was shot to death in 1988 while driving a van in Roanoke, Va. She said he was shot from a passing car, but a jury in 1992 found her guilty of second-degree murder.
Truesdale is eligible for parole within the next few months and will start her sentence in South Carolina if released.
The Virginia investigation brought the questions about Little Red's death back into the open. And when Young became sheriff in 1992, one of the first things he did was reopen the Beasley case.
``Herman swore that if he ever became sheriff, he would reopen Little Red's case, and he kept his promise,'' K.C. Beasley said. ``I'm glad he did.''
LENGTH: Medium: 65 linesby CNB