The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, April 23, 1996                TAG: 9604230383
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: LEWISBURG, W.VA.                   LENGTH: Medium:   52 lines

EX-BEAUTY QUEEN IS RELEASED FROM JAIL A CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE RELEASED FORMER VIRGINIA BEAUTY QUEEN TRACY LIPPARD, 24, ON 30 MONTHS' PROBATION.

A former Virginia beauty queen was released Monday after serving seven months in the Southern Regional Jail for attacking the parents of a romantic rival in Greenbrier County.

Tracy Lippard, 24, of Newport News was taken from the jail in Beckley to a hearing in Greenbrier County Circuit Court in Lewisburg on Monday afternoon, Greenbrier County Prosecutor Richard Lorensen said.

At the hearing, Lippard was told she would be on probation for 30 months. She spoke only briefly in response to Circuit Judge Charles Lobban, then was released, Lorensen said.

``My understanding is her mother moved to Alabama, and that's where she's going,'' Lorensen said. ``But I'm not exactly sure where.''

Lippard's attorney, Paul Clay of Fayetteville, could not be reached for comment immediately.

``I just hope that she learned what she needed to learn and will go on from there,'' said Rodney Weikle, one of the people Lippard attacked.

Lippard, convicted in November 1994 of two counts of second-degree attempted murder and five other misdemeanors, had been sentenced to two consecutive one-year sentences last year and entered jail in September.

The judge earlier this year agreed to let her serve them concurrently.

During Monday's hearing, Lobban said he had meant to suspend the second year instead of having it run concurrently and had meant to add six months' probation to the 24 months she already faced. He did so Monday.

Credit earned for good behavior helped Lippard get out early, authorities said.

Prosecutors said Lippard crowned her successor as Miss Williamsburg in February 1994, then embarked on a 250-mile journey to the Lewisburg home of Weikle, his wife, Lynn, and their daughter, Melissa.

Lippard and the Weikles' daughter had been dating the same man, Todd Scott. Melissa Weikle was pregnant with Scott's child at the time of the attack and now is married to Scott.

Lippard said she went to the Weikle home to confront Scott after he didn't show up at the pageant.

Authorities said Lippard, a 6-foot blonde, cracked Weikle on the head with a hammer and pointed a gun at his wife. Weikle, a former Secret Service agent, put her in a headlock and disarmed her. by CNB