THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 1, 1996 TAG: 9608010428
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 54 lines
Richard Whittle, extradited from California last week to face charges in the 1982 rape and murder of a Navy co-worker, pleaded not guilty in federal court Wednesday and asked for a jury trial.
U.S. District Judge John A. MacKenzie ordered Whittle to provide blood samples and fingerprints to prosecutors, who need additional samples for more extensive forensic testing.
Whittle, 38, was arrested last month after new DNA and fingerprint technology showed a preliminary match between Whittle and evidence gathered at the crime scene in 1982. Now investigators want to do more extensive comparisons using additional blood samples from Whittle.
When confronted by investigators in California in June, Whittle allegedly confessed to killing Pamela Ann Kimbrue in March of 1982. Kimbrue and Whittle both worked as couriers on the Norfolk Naval Base.
Prosecutors in California said Whittle ``expressed great regret'' and remorse for committing the crime. Whittle was allowed to stay in California after his arrest to settle his business affairs. He and his wife had purchased a new home a week before his arrest.
Whittle's attorney, Howard Miller, said Wednesday he had just taken on Whittle's case and could not comment.
Whittle faces up to life in prison if convicted. Prosecutors cannot ask for the death penalty because it was not in effect at the time of the crime.
Kimbrue was raped and strangled and beaten in the head and face. Her wrists were tied with rope and a seat belt was wrapped around her neck. Inside the car, investigators found a green ski mask, two makeshift mittens described as T-shirts stapled together, glass fragments from a broken soft drink bottle, hairs, and latent fingerprints.
Investigators eventually recovered 31 head hairs from the ski mask that are microscopically similar to Whittle's hair. Sixteen additional head hairs and one pubic hair also were recovered from the woman's car and found to be similar to Whittle's, investigators said.
The case was solved after the Naval Criminal Investigative Service formed an international ``cold case'' squad and reopened the case. Investigators said original investigators gathered evidence thoroughly and safeguarded it through the years, making it possible to solve the case 14 years later.
An autopsy determined that Kimbrue died from ``drowning, following mechanical strangulation.'' Federal investigators said Whittle was discharged from the Navy in late July 1983 for drug violations.
Whittle's trial is set for Sept. 24. ILLUSTRATION: ALBA BRAGOLI illustration
As shown in this artist's depiction, Richard Whittle, bottom left,
pleaded not guilty in federal court Wednesday to murder and rape
charges. Whittle, a former courier for Norfolk Naval Base, is
accused in the 1982 death of a co-worker, Pamela Ann Kimbrue.
KEYWORDS: MURDER RAPE EXTRADITE COLD CASE FILE by CNB