The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, October 8, 1994              TAG: 9410080286
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   42 lines

ALLEGED DRUG KINGPIN AND KILLER FOUND DEAD OF GUNSHOT IN SEATTLE

Less than a month after his name was added to the U.S. Marshal Service's list of ``15 Most Wanted'' fugitives, alleged drug kingpin and killer Peter Michael Hall was found dead in Seattle.

Hall had been sought by federal authorities in Virginia on charges of murder and of being part of a gang conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine along the East Coast. His death was announced Thursday by Helen F. Fahey, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and John W. Marshall, U.S. marshal for the Eastern District.

Hall, 31, was shot once in the head. His body was found Saturday.

A native of Jamaica, Hall had been implicated in the May 1993 murder of Derrick C. Taylor in Dinwiddie County, Va. He also was accused of trying to run over a Hampton detective and a Drug Enforcement Administration agent with a car in Atlanta in November 1993.

Federal prosecutors in Norfolk said in March that they would seek the death penalty against Hall under the federal drug kingpin law.

Hall allegedly was part of a gang conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine along the East Coast.

``From approximately January 1989 until late 1993, the conspiracy allegedly transported large amounts of cocaine and cocaine base, commonly known as `crack,' from New York City to the Hampton Roads area,'' Fahey said.

Fahey said Hall and his cohorts used guns and ``engaged in a pattern of violent activity, including murder, assaults and threats of violence.''

Hall was the only one of a dozen defendants who had remained at large.

Eight others have been convicted and are either serving long sentences or are awaiting sentencing. Others await trial. ILLUSTRATION: Peter Michael Hall had been wanted in Virginia on charges of

murder and of being part of a crack cocaine conspiracy.

by CNB