Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 24, 1990 TAG: 9004240554
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A trial date for Strickler was set for June 18 in Staunton. Henderson is still at large.
The indictments were issued more than three months after Whitlock, a James Madison University student from Roanoke, was found dead in a wooded area near Waynesboro.
"We're relieved," said Ed Whitlock, Leann's father. "But they said they were going to do this, so we weren't surprised."
Plus, he said they still have to go on trial.
The murder charges against Strickler and Henderson have been long expected and long delayed.
Both men have been suspects in the killing since Whitlock disappeared last January in Harrisonburg.
Both previously had been charged with abduction and robbery in connection with the case.
But additional indictments were delayed, pending the results of forensics tests.
"There are still some being done, but we've got most of them back now," said Augusta County Commonwealth's Attorney A. Lee Ervin.
There was further delay because prosecutors had to move the case and charges from Harrisonburg - home of JMU - to Augusta County, where Whitlock's body was found.
Meanwhile, Strickler has remained in jail, first in Rockingham County and now in Augusta County.
He was arrested the week following Whitlock's disappearance after being spotted in the car she was last seen driving.
Henderson, who goes by the nickname "Rebel," is still at large and police say there are no leads on his whereabouts.
A third person, Donna Kay Maddox Tudor, faces grand larceny charges in the theft of the car, which belonged to Whitlock's boyfriend.
Tudor, 26, of Craigsville was arrested with Strickler, but has since been released from jail on bond.
According to a police affidavit, she said that one of the men told her he "messed that nigger up real bad" and "he broke its neck."
But in her statements to police, Tudor seemed to contradict herself about who made the statements.
She first said the racial slur and claim of breaking Whitlock's neck came from Strickler. Then she said Henderson made that claim to Strickler, according to the affidavit.
Tudor is likely to be called as a witness in Strickler's trial.
In addition to capital murder, Strickler will be tried on the abduction and robbery charges at his June trial, Ervin said.
It was reported earlier that he would face trial on those charges May 30.
Authorities have said they believe Whitlock was the victim of a crime of opportunity, in which the suspect or suspects happened upon her by chance while trying to break into cars at a Harrisonburg shopping mall.
Strickler has admitted he was at the mall the day Whitlock disappeared, according to the same affidavit that quoted Tudor.
He also admitted "coming into possession" of the car she was driving, the affidavit stated.
Both Strickler, 24, of New Market, and Henderson, 33, of Frost, W.Va., have been described by police as drifters.
Reports have placed Henderson back in West Virginia and in Nevada. Authorities also suspected that he may have fled to Florida.
by CNB