THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Wednesday, December 14, 1994           TAG: 9412140481
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                         LENGTH: Medium:   62 lines

WOMAN DIED FROM INJURIES RELATED TO PURSE-SNATCHING THE PORTSMOUTH ACTIVIST DIED AFTER FALLING DURING THE CRIME, AND POLICE HAVE NO SUSPECTS.

An attempted purse-snatching was upgraded to homicide Tuesday after the 78-year-old victim died of injuries suffered in the attack earlier this month.

Margaret B. Teele, of the 4200 block of Burnham Drive, died Saturday, eight days after she was attacked in the Food Lion parking lot at 3995 Twin Pines Road.

On Tuesday, police reclassified the case after an autopsy, conducted Monday, determined that the exact cause of death was a blood clot resulting from injuries suffered in the attack.

Teele's death raises to 21 the number of homicides reported in Portsmouth in 1994.

The attack on Teele, a real-estate professional and community activist, occurred about 5:30 p.m. Dec. 2. Teele had worked all day and had attended a Portsmouth Woman's Club luncheon. On her way home to Edgefield from the office, she stopped to get a quart of milk and a box of cereal.

As she walked toward the grocery store entrance, a man on a bicycle approached from between two cars and attempted to snatch Teele's purse. When he failed to get the shoulder bag, he knocked her to the ground, then rode away.

Teele suffered a broken right hip and arm and cuts on her face. A pin and a plate were put into her hip on the night of the assault.

Teele was later transferred from Maryview Medical Center to Bon Secours Maryview Nursing Home in Suffolk for physical therapy.

``She was doing very well with the therapy,'' Rachel Benzie, a friend and business associate, said Tuesday. ``She was determined to recover.''

Benzie, who visited Teele around 4 p.m. Saturday, said she was ``very bright.''

At 8 p.m. Saturday, Bennetts Creek Rescue Squad was summoned to transport Teele back to Maryview Medical Center. An hour later, Teele was pronounced dead.

Funeral and burial services were held Tuesday.

Teele had worked with Benzie Realty & Associates for 25 years. Over the years she held every office in the Portsmouth Woman's Club and served for 25 years in the Child and Family Service organization. She also had been volunteering at the Portsmouth Museums for a quarter of a century.

Teele never slowed down, Benzie said.

``She worked every day in real estate and did so many other things, too,'' Benzie said.

Police have no suspects and no witnesses. Before she died, Teele described the assailant as a black man, possibly in his teens, on an old bicycle.

Police ask that anyone with information contact Detective David Beachler at 393-8536 or call the Portsmouth Crime Line at 488-7777. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Margaret B. Teele had been active in community groups.

KEYWORDS: ASSAULT FATALITY PORTSMOUTH POLICE DEPARTMENT by CNB