DATE: Thursday, April 24, 1997              TAG: 9704240439

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Briefs 

                                            LENGTH:   91 lines

VIRGINIA

Central

Deaths at complex for disabled were murders, suicide

RICHMOND - The fatal shooting of two men and a woman in an assisted-care complex was a double murder and suicide, police said Wednesday.

Marc Nikolujevic, 44, of Arlington, shot his brother, Paul Nikolujevic, 38, and Paul's girlfriend, Lisa Goldburg, 38, before turning a handgun on himself, said police spokesman Bill Chorney.

Police haven't revealed a motive, but Chorney said Marc Nikolujevic left a note. Its contents weren't disclosed.

The bodies of the three were discovered about 5 p.m. Tuesday at Paul Nikolujevic's one-room apartment at Kensington Gardens, an apartment complex that provides support services for elderly and disabled people. Police believe the shootings occurred after 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Goldburg lived in Chesterfield County at Gateway Farm, a supervised residence for adults with long-term mental illnesses, said a board member of the corporation that runs Gateway Farm.

All three were shot in the head, and a handgun was found in the locked room, police said.

Neighbors said they weren't surprised by the killings. Originally built for elderly retirees, Kensington Gardens had begun to accept younger residents.

``We're in the war zone,'' said Michael Cope, who lives with his wife, Vickie, in a 75-year-old home next door to the Kensington Garden building.

Four states crack down

on cigarette smuggling

RICHMOND - Authorities from Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland on Wednesday announced a crackdown on cigarette smuggling, a longtime and lucrative practice that causes millions of dollars in tax losses.

``We're never going to eradicate it,'' acknowledged Robert L. Shepherd of the New York tax department, noting cigarette smuggling's long ties to organized crime. ``But cigarette smuggling, no matter where it starts and where it ends . . . is something we're going to fight.''

So far in the 18-month investigation, 26 people and five corporations have been indicted under Operation Butt-Out, officials said.

Seven people have been arrested, said Helen Fahey, U.S. attorney for eastern Virginia. Trafficking in contraband cigarettes carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 per count.

The smuggling has resulted in tax losses of $18 million, Fahey said.

Authorities said ``runners'' with permits purchased from the Virginia tax department legally bought large lots of cigarettes from retail warehouse stores.

Because of Virginia's low tobacco tax, a carton of cigarettes may cost as little as $11.79 in Richmond, compared with an average $21.50 in New York. The Virginia-bought cigarettes also were sold in Maryland and Pennsylvania.

It is a felony to transport more than 300 cartons of cigarettes across state lines without payment of applicable sales taxes.

SOUTHSIDE

Murder charge against

8-year-old boy is dismissed

CHATHAM - An 8-year-old boy accused of killing his stepfather was reunited with his mother Wednesday after a judge ruled that he was too young to stand trial and dismissed a murder charge against him.

Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Calvin Fowler dismissed the charge without prejudice, meaning the case can be reinstated within five years. ``The legal possibility exists, but I do not expect that to happen,'' said Glenn Berger, the boy's attorney.

The boy was not identified because of his age. He was charged with killing Bernard Rosser Jr., a parole and probation officer who died from a blow to the head in his Gretna home on Dec. 19.

Fowler barred attorneys from disclosing what evidence was presented about the boy's competency.

The boy was arrested Jan. 14, placed in a detention center for three weeks and then sent to live with his half-brother's family in Maryland.

The Roanoke Times quotes unidentified sources as saying the youngster discussed the killing with a school counselor he was seeing for classroom discipline problems. What the child said was so specific that investigators concluded he was at the crime scene, the sources said.

But Frances Rosser, the boy's mother, contends someone broke into their home and killed her husband while she and her son were traveling to visit relatives in Mississippi.

COMING UP

Today

Lynchburg: Terry Anderson, former hostage and Middle East correspondent of The Associated Press, speaks at Lynchburg College, 3 p.m., Memorial Ballroom of Hall Campus Center.

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