THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 23, 1996 TAG: 9603230248
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
Dental records confirmed the worst Friday for the family of a 16-year-old boy missing for two months: The body found in a closet in a Willoughby Spit apartment was that of Adam Wese.
The state medical examiner said he thinks the boy was killed just hours after he disappeared on Jan. 18. He was last seen by his father at a bus stop near his home in the 800 block of Little Bay Ave. - just three blocks from where his body was found Thursday.
``The body has been at that location since that time,'' said Larry Hill, a police spokesman. ``The time of death is Jan. 18.'' Strangulation and suffocation are believed to be the cause.
The suspect in the slaying, 18-year-old Louis Pino, remained in jail without bail Friday on a murder charge. He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.
Pino and Adam Wese both went to Granby High School, Hill said Friday.
There was no indication of a motive in the killing. Hill said only that police would give their information to prosecutors and that details would come out in court.
Hill, however, categorically dismissed speculation that Wese's disappearance might be linked to the case of self-proclaimed vampire Jon C. Bush of Virginia Beach.
Wese's father, Robert, was notified by police Thursday that the body found three blocks from his home might be that of his son. He was shown a photograph of Pino but told investigators that he did not recognize him.
Robert Wese, who has said his son was depressed at the time he disappeared, launched a wide-ranging search for his son. He posted fliers and even hired an airplane to tow a banner asking that his son come home.
It was Pino who called police to his apartment in the 1000 block of Little Bay Ave. Thursday afternoon. He told dispatchers that a body was in his closet, police said. When investigators arrived, Pino led them to a bedroom, where they found a long cardboard box with a body inside.
The apartment was sealed with red tape overnight by investigators. After they allowed people back in on Friday, a woman and two teenagers carried out clothing and other personal belongings.
The woman declined to comment.
What spurred Pino to call police and reveal that Wese's body was in a bedroom closet was unknown Friday.
But neighbors said that in the hours before officers arrived, Pino paced the porch outside his third-floor apartment and wandered in the parking lot.
``He was up and down the stairs about a thousand times and walking out in the parking lot,'' said Christy Shelton, whose family is staying in a friend's apartment in the building.
Her husband, Chris, said they had never seen much of Pino - until Thursday when he started pacing.
But Pino's apartment had long been a busy place.
``They had a lot of loud parties,'' he said.
``A lot of teenage kids were up and down from there,'' Christy Shelton said.
``Some of those girls didn't even look to be 12 years old.''
She said the teenagers often congregated outside.
``They would hang out a lot in the parking lot, having a real good time,'' she said.
Other residents of the building looked tired and frustrated when they answered their doors Friday. All declined to comment.
Granby students who knew Pino were told by teachers Friday to not speak to the media. But one did.
A 15-year-old, whose mother allowed him to speak only if he were not identified, said Pino talked of not believing in God and once said there is ``no right or wrong in religion.'' He described him as ``a loner. Real quiet.''
The student said that Pino once posed for pictures in a photography class by lying on the ground and playing dead and that he sometimes dyed his hair bright colors.
The student said he once sat next to Pino in an art class and was both impressed with and troubled by his artistic ability.
``He was a real good artist,'' he said. ``He'd draw knives in people. . . '' ``He could also draw good portraits of people, just how they looked.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
Adam Wese appears to have been strangled and suffocated.
Why Louis Pino, 18, revealed he had a body in his closet is unknown.
KEYWORDS: MURDER by CNB