THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 10, 1995 TAG: 9507100033
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARA STANLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
The band Killroos blares, the lighting is dim, the alcohol flows and sweaty bodies are crammed together. A woman moves onto the dance floor and is instantly surrounded by men.
Not much has changed a week after the funeral of Jennifer Evans, who police say was slain and sexually assaulted by two Navy SEAL trainees she met at The Bayou. The twentysomethings there and at many other area nightspots are still looking for a good time.
``Hi. I'm Brian,'' a man screams in a woman's ear.
``Hi, Brian. Are you a Navy SEAL?'' she jokingly asks.
Brian laughs, pulling her closer as they dance.
There are many potential Jennifer Evanses out there every night. Young adults out on the town hope to meet that special someone. A someone who would never hurt them.
``It's a story that I hear over and over again,'' said Nancy Brock, executive director of Response-Sexual Assault Support Services in Norfolk. ``It probably happens 100 times safely to every one time it is dangerous.
``Part of me says that if women did all of the things to protect themselves, nobody would get together. That's the scary thing.''
It's a game of Russian roulette. You never know, she said.
But for the practiced eyes of police officers who investigate sexual assaults, trouble is rarely so random.
``You can pretty much sit back and see where there is going to be a problem,'' said L.E. Hockman, a Norfolk investigator, of the bar scene.
Police say many victims are acquainted with their attackers; they are not complete strangers.
The man Jennifer Evans met that night probably ``seemed like a nice guy,'' Brock said.
No statistics are kept locally, but reports from Virginia colleges show that more than 85 percent of sexual-assault suspects on state campuses are either an acquaintance, friend or boyfriend of the victim.
``A lot of times people seem to be too trusting,'' said Bob Manzione, a Virginia Beach sex-crimes detective. ``A guy's not going to tell you if he's a rapist.
``When you first meet him he may look like Prince Charming . . . but on a total stranger, you really are taking a chance.''
At The Bayou, men and women who have just met still scribble phone numbers on bar napkins. And they still - as Evans was last seen doing - walk hand-in-hand into the parking lot.
There is a touch of immortality about these young adults. Maybe they haven't learned to worry enough.
In Norfolk and Virginia Beach, the average sexual assault victim is a woman aged 22 to 23, police figures show. And more sexual assaults occur on Saturdays and Sundays in the two cities than on any other night of the week.
More than 25 percent of rapes and attempted rapes reported in Virginia Beach in 1994 and so far in 1995 occurred near the Oceanfront or Chesapeake Beach, police data show. About 15 percent of rapes and attempted rapes in Norfolk occurred near Ocean View.
Evans, 21, an Emory pre-medical student visiting Virginia Beach, went to The Bayou with friends on a Sunday night. She apparently thought she could trust Dustin A. Turner and left with him. Her body was found in a Newport News park June 27, eight days after she had vanished.
Turner and his roommate, Billy Joe Brown Jr., were charged in her death.
``When you meet someone (at a club) there is no reason to go off with that person alone,'' Hockman said. ``There is not enough time to learn all of the things you want to know about that person.''
The best thing a young woman can do to protect herself when she goes clubbing is to limit her vulnerability, the detectives and Brock said. Go with friends, stay with those friends, know your surroundings and don't drink to the point that control is lost, they said.
Manzione's advice is ``to trust your instincts. If you have a gut feeling that something is wrong with a person, leave him.''
Follow those instincts, he says - and resist one: the temptation to trust a stranger. Somehow the right instincts failed Jennifer Evans that night. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Jennifer Evans
KEYWORDS: MURDER by CNB