THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 9, 1997 TAG: 9701090326
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 72 lines
On April 25 of last year, the woman found a trash can carefully placed outside the front door of her Ghent home. Inside were two night lights, wineglasses, the musical score to ``West Side Story,'' music CDs, magnetic puzzles and a note from an admirer.
Six days later, someone broke into her home through a rooftop window and carefully placed the items on display. The musical score went on the piano. The night lights were plugged in. The wineglasses were placed in the kitchen. The puzzles were on the refrigerator.
The admirer was psychiatrist Tobin Jones, and his efforts to woo the young musician went terribly awry.
On Wednesday, Jones was convicted of stalking the woman and trespassing on her property, and sentenced to 90 days in jail. He also was certified for trial on felony charges of breaking and entering.
The woman testified that Jones, with whom she had sung in local opera and musical theater productions, sent her nearly 150 letters and notes over an eight-week period in his efforts to win her favor.
During the time the woman was being stalked, Jones' wife, Megan, was slain in the couple's home on Delaware Avenue. Jones is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Jan. 28 on a charge of murder in the slaying.
The musician - whose name is not being used because she is a stalking victim - learned that Jones was mentally ill and had been committed to a psychiatric facility in March, about the time he began contacting her and sending her gifts.
And when she found out in late May that he had been charged in his wife's slaying, she realized just how much danger she had been in.
``I was absolutely terrified,'' the soft-spoken woman testified Wednesday before General District Judge Katherine Howe Jones. ``I was in fear because I didn't know what he might do.''
She said she knew Tobin and Megan Jones because all three sang in local performances. Tobin Jones and the stalked woman sang with the Virginia Opera and Commonwealth Stage Company. Megan Jones often acted with the Norfolk Little Theatre.
The woman had even talked to Megan Jones and Megan's parents, telling them of the stalking, of the unwanted gifts and cards from Tobin.
A few days before Megan was killed, the stalked woman sent Tobin Jones a registered letter ordering him to leave her alone.
On May 13, Jones signed for the letter. Court papers show that's about the same time Megan was killed. The next day, the woman swore out a warrant for his arrest when he brought flowers and a CD to her home.
On May 15, Jones returned with more flowers and was arrested on stalking charges.
At the time, police had not yet discovered his wife's body.
The murder charges against Jones were delayed for months while he was treated for a bipolar disorder at Central State Hospital in Petersburg. After Jones was returned to the Norfolk jail, a judge ruled late last year that he was competent to stand trial for his wife's slaying.
Stanley Sacks, Jones' attorney, argued on Wednesday that Jones was merely an over-zealous suitor. Jones was sentenced to 60 days for trespassing and 30 days for stalking.
Prosecutor Philip G. Evans II disagreed.
``This is a man with intelligence and awareness,'' Evans said. ``He knew exactly what he was doing. He is a psychiatrist. He wanted to let her know he could do whatever he wanted. . . . It was designed to produce fear and imply his ability to do something she could not control or stop.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
TAMARA VONINSKI
The Virginian-Pilot
Tobin Jones, in court Wednesday, was sentenced to 90 days in jail in
the stalking case. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Jan. 28
on a charge of murder in his wife's slaying.
KEYWORDS: CONVICTION STALKING