THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 3, 1994 TAG: 9407030237
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN E. QUINONES MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 129 lines
Friday afternoon, Denise Rayne Holsinger sat in a bar, crying and hugging friends as she watched a television newscast about the slayings of her former boss and buddies at the Witchduck Inn.
On Friday night, Holsinger, a Navy wife and mother of three, sat in a Virginia Beach jail cell charged with their deaths.
And on Saturday, Holsinger's boyfriend, Michael D. Claggett, who also was charged in the killings, admitted in a television interview to shooting all four but said he was urged to do so by Holsinger.
``I did it. I killed them,'' Claggett told WTKR-TV reporters in an emotional interview from the city jail. ``I deserve to die.''
Of the victims who were shot Thursday night on his 33rd birthday, Claggett said, ``Believe it or not, they were my friends. They were all my friends.''
The shootings claimed the lives of LamVan Son, 41, the owner of the establishment; Wendel G. Parrish Jr., 32, a handyman at the tavern; Abdel Aziz Gren, 34, a patron; and Karen S. Rounds, 31, a bartender at the inn.
Holsinger and Claggett each are being held without bond on four counts of capital murder, whichcould make them eligible for the death penalty if convicted; one count of robbery; and one count of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. Claggett also has been charged with possession of a handgun by a convicted felon. Both are being held at the city jail.
Rounds had been working at the inn for just one month - she had been hired, regular customers said, after Holsinger was fired.
In a separate television interview Saturday, Holsinger, 29, of the 600 block of Hempstead Court in Virginia Beach, denied any involvement in the slayings.
Claggett, who lived in the 4600 block of Georgetown Road in Pembroke Crossing Condominiums - just around the corner from the Witchduck Inn - said he and Holsinger went to the bar Thursday night. He said Holsinger locked the door and sat and drank a beer with the other occupants, then signaled him.
``I had a gun, but I didn't want to do it,'' Claggett said on television. ``But she kept saying, `Do it. Do it.' So I jumped over the bar and told everybody to get on the floor,'' Claggett said.
One of the men - Claggett said he did not remember which one - was slow to comply so, Claggett said, he shot him in the temple.
Meanwhile, Claggett said, Holsinger emptied the cash register and ordered him to shoot the bar's remaining occupants.
Claggett said he balked when Holsinger demanded that he kill LamVan Son's 4-year-old son, Joshua, who was in the back room.
``I couldn't do it. I couldn't bring myself to kill him,'' Claggett said with a shake of the head. The young boy later was found unharmed in the back room.
Holsinger dismissed Claggett's story. At first, she denied any knowledge of the killings, but later in her interview with WTKR reporters, she admitted to having been at the bar with Claggett on Thursday night. The events of the night are blocked from her memory, she said, although she insisted that she didn't kill anyone. She said she first learned about the murders the following morning.
``I was shocked,'' said Holsinger, who apologized for her involvement with Claggett.
One of LamVan Son's relatives, a niece, said she was relieved by the arrests and hoped the suspects, if convicted, would receive the death penalty.
Witchduck Inn regulars were stunned by the arrests.
``I was surprised . . . really shocked,'' said Bob Hudson, a patron who knew both suspects. ``Michael was always a quiet kind of guy, but Denise was always such a friendly and jolly person.''
Hudson said Holsinger remained on good terms with Son after she was fired and often visited the inn with Claggett, whom she had met there. ``She didn't seem to hold a grudge about being fired,'' Hudson said.
Hudson said he was at Miss Kitty's Village Inn Friday afternoon with a couple of Witchduck Inn employees when Holsinger and Claggett came in.
``The television news came on, and everybody was watching everything about the murders and getting all upset and stuff . . . Denise included,'' Hudson said. ``In fact, she started crying and carrying on and hugging people, talking about how horrible the whole thing was.''
Claggett also watched the newscast, but said nothing, Hudson recalled.
Police had been working around the clock to solve the case, believed to be the worst mass slaying in Virginia Beach history. Investigators knocked on doors in the area, questioning people who might have heard the shots or known something about the slayings.
By Friday afternoon, police began to suspect that Holsinger had been involved. She was taken into custody and questioned Friday evening and subsequently charged.
Later that night, an arrest warrant was issued for Claggett, and a search warrant for his residence was issued. The Virginia Beach SWAT team was called in, said police spokesman Mike Carey said.
``The SWAT team was being briefed about the search warrant on the Claggett residence,'' Carey said, ``(when) police dispatchers put out a call about a report of a man sleeping or laying in some shrubbery'' on Moraine Court, just a few blocks from the Witchduck Inn.
Shortly after 11:30 p.m., police officer Donna Malcolm arrived there. When she checked the man's identification, she found she had awakened Claggett.
Malcolm took Claggett into custody without incident. Then police began searching the townhouse where they say he lived.
Residents of Pembroke Crossing Condominiums watched early Saturday morning as investigators removed a dozen or so brown paper bags from the townhome.
``Geez, I thought when I moved down here from New York I was moving away from these kinds of horrendous crimes,'' said Tony Szalyga, one of Claggett's neighbors. ``Now I find it right here where I live.''
Szalyga and other residents said the townhouse actually was rented by a sailor stationed at Little Creek Amphibious Base who had gone on temporary duty two weeks ago. They said the sailor had met Claggett at the Witchduck Inn about a month ago and allowed him to stay in the townhome while he was away.
Szalyga said Claggett often was seen entering and leaving the house, but never spoke to neighbors.
``He wasn't a real friendly type, always seemed kind of sullen,'' Szalyga said.
Roberta Larkin, who lives in the townhome adjoining Claggett's, watched investigators moving around the suspect's house and shuddered.
``When my daughter found out about the murders, she said she was scared to stay in the house by herself,'' Larkin said. ``Now I found out that she had good reason to be scared.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Michael D. Claggett
Denise R. Holsinger
Map
JOHN EARLE/Staff
ARREST IN WITCHDUCK INN MULTIPLE SHOOTINGS
KEYWORDS: MURDER SHOOTING ARREST by CNB