ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 20, 1997 TAG: 9702200064
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: MARION
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
VICTIM GOT PROTECTION, moved back in with child's father, then left again after more abuse.
A Chilhowie man who killed his girlfriend, their 21-month-old son and himself Monday was convicted a month earlier of assault and battery on the woman.
Eric Miguel Shazier, 26, was given a 30-day jail sentence Jan. 22 in Smyth County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court by Judge Paul Greer. The sentence was suspended, and he was ordered to attend the Abuse Alternatives counseling program.
Michelle Olson, 23, requested a protective order, which the court granted Jan. 16. It ordered no further acts of abuse by Shazier, and no contact with Olson except in connection with visiting their child, Eric Michael Shazier, whose custody they shared.
Despite the protective order, Olson moved back in with Shazier early this month. The couple had an off-and-on relationship for some time.
Chilhowie Police Chief Scott Sexton said Wednesday that police had found a letter Olson left for Shazier saying she was not going to marry him and was moving out. Earlier, she told a co-worker that Shazier had struck her again.
Authorities say Shazier approached Olson and Tyrone Montgomery, whom she was dating, when Olson was moving some of her clothing from a storage building near Montgomery's trailer home.
According to Montgomery's statement, Shazier asked Olson to come back to him. When she refused, he began shooting.
Although autopsies were not complete, Sexton confirmed that Olson was shot once in the head. Montgomery, who suffered arm and chest wounds, was treated at Smyth County Community Hospital and released.
A bulletin was issued for Shazier's arrest when he left the area near Montgomery's trailer home. A Marion policeman pursued Shazier's car north on Virginia 16 toward Hungry Mother State Park. The car crashed into an unoccupied camper and caught fire. Shazier and his young son were found inside, both shot to death. Shazier's pistol was recovered from the wreck.
Court records show that Olson charged Shazier with assault Dec. 12. Her statement on the warrant was that she had gone to pick up their child and Shazier would not let her have the boy. When she threatened to go to authorities, she said, Shazier grabbed her by the head and threw her to the ground.
Shazier also was convicted June 26, 1991, of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Because the case involved a juvenile, court officials could disclose no further details.
He had been an auxiliary policeman in Chilhowie, and had volunteered to help coach seventh-grade football players in Chilhowie, where he played on the Chilhowie High School team.
Olson, who earned a nursing aide certificate from the Blue Ridge Job Corps Center in Marion, worked at Valley Health Care Center in Chilhowie. She was originally from Maine.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 linesby CNB