ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 26, 1996 TAG: 9612260001
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
Of the 11 homicides in Roanoke this year, the killings of Wanda and Manfred Woody are the only ones that remain unsolved.
Police consider a homicide solved if they make an arrest.
Early June 6, as the couple were preparing breakfast in the kitchen of their Old Southwest apartment, someone attacked them and beat to death with a frying pan, according to Roanoke Police Sgt. Stan Smith.
Investigators have narrowed the time of the couple's deaths to within six hours. Since there were no signs of forced entry, they believe the couple likely knew their killer.
They have not ruled out the possibility of robbery, since several items from the house were missing. Smith would not reveal what they were. But he said it's unlikely robbery was the motive for the killings.
"If someone came up during the early morning to rob them, they'd bring a weapon," Smith said. "They wouldn't rely on an iron skillet."
Though investigators have compiled a 4-inch-thick binder full of witness statements and findings from the scene of the killings, they lack enough evidence to charge a suspect. Finding a weapon is not tantamount to solving a homicide, police say.
"You may have several pieces of evidence but not any particular one that would be significant enough to be the key piece to place charges," Smith said. "The physical evidence would indicate that the Woodys knew their murderer, that they welcomed that person in their home. So it wouldn't be uncommon, or significant enough, if that person's prints were found in particular areas."
Police will not comment about possible suspects, nor will they talk about what they need to make an arrest, although they say they are confident they will do so.
Investigators have revealed little about the crime scene and the events leading up to the killings.
Manfred Woody was last seen at his Day Avenue apartment at 2 a.m. June 6. A next-door neighbor had been visiting with him.
The Woodys' teen-age son, Malcolm, told police he awoke at 8 a.m. and found his parents beaten about the head and lying on the kitchen floor. Wanda Woody was found near the kitchen table; Manfred Woody was found near the refrigerator.
Because the Woodys' telephone had been cut off, Malcolm Woody walked to his brother's home on Highland Avenue Southwest to call police. Investigators said he told them he heard nothing as he slept. Malcolm, who is now 18 and living with a sister in Northwest Roanoke, declined to be interviewed for this story.
The murder scene, Smith said, "gives all the signs of some kind of disagreement that got out of hand and all of a sudden someone exploded."
"There's nothing more serious than murder," Smith said. "And sometimes it's the hardest to prove."
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