Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 7, 1992 TAG: 9202070172
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
DALHOUSE TORMENTOR FREE, ON PROBATION
A woman whose obsession with a Roanoke banker and his wife once led to a siege of threats and murder plots testified Thursday that she has put all that behind her.Judge Clifford Weckstein took Judith B. Williams at her word - deciding not to send her back to prison for plotting to have Warner Dalhouse and his wife, Barbara, killed even as she was serving time on similar charges.
Williams, 48, agreed to avoid the Dalhouses now that she has spent 3 1/2 years in the Goochland Correctional Center for Women on convictions in 1987 of trying to hire someone to injure them, either by throwing acid in their faces or firebombing their home.
Almost as soon as she entered prison, prosecutors say, Williams tried to solicit fellow inmates to kill the Dalhouses.
She was convicted of those charges in Goochland in December and received a suspended sentence. But she returned to Roanoke County Circuit Court on Thursday to face the possibility of her earlier seven-year suspended sentence being imposed based on the new convictions.
However, psychologists and prison counselors testified that Williams has changed from the angry and emotionally troubled woman who once claimed to be a "political prisoner" because of Dalhouse's influential position as chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Dominion Bankshares.
"I don't have any feelings; nothing whatsoever," Williams testified Thursday when asked about the Dalhouses. "I'm not angry with them . . . but I've been told so many times how unusual my case was because of them."
Although Williams was once considered such a threat that she was held without bond on the Goochland charges, a psychiatrist testified Thursday that she has since improved with treatment.
"I sincerely believe that Judy Williams is not a theat or danger to anyone in the Roanoke community, or anywhere else," prison psychiatrist Terri Callison testified.
Prosecutors have said that Williams became angry and obsessed with the Dalhouses after their marriage began to interfere with her friendship with Barbara Dalhouse. At first she just stalked the couple and plagued them with reminders of her anger, but the obsession became more serious when she tried to pay someone to have them hurt or killed.
Roanoke County Commonwealth's Attorney Skip Burkart had asked that Williams be sent back to prison or, at the least, be allowed to remain free under a restrictive and lengthy probation period.
Responding to suggestions by Williams and defense attorney David Melesco that she was treated differently because of the case's high profile, Burkart pointed out that it is his practice to ask for a revocation hearing in every case in which a probationer is convicted of new felony charges.
However, Weckstein said he was concerned about Williams having never officially been on probation, as her new charges were filed while she was still an inmate at Goochland.
"Given my druthers, I'd rather not send you back to Goochland," he said. "On the other hand, I'm the one who didn't send you back if you do something wrong."
Weckstein extended Williams' probation to 10 years, and imposed strict guidelines that include restrictions on her travel around the Dalhouse home and business. Williams also will attend counseling sessions at least once a week and continue taking medication, which includes the antidepressant Prozac.
Warner Dalhouse said Thursday that he believes probation for Williams is an "appropriate decision," even though he and his wife still have their worries.
"I'm heartened by what appears to be her new frame of mind, but I don't think anybody will know whether that can be sustained until some passage of time," he said.
Williams testified that she now realizes her family life in Roanoke is over, and that she plans to live with relatives in Danville while seeking a new start on life.
She maintained that she was never guilty of the most recent charges, but agreed to accept a plea agreement after being pressured by her Goochland attorney.
"I don't think they had a case at all, and I still don't," she said. That opinion was repeated by Callison, who said the charges amounted to "one inmate's word against another, which is very common in the institution."
Still, Williams was willing to accept the plea agreement and abide by the strict rules of probation in order to avoid going back to prison - an experience she said she does not want to repeat.
"It was a complete waste of tax dollars, I thought."
Note: photo did not run in the Metro edition.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.