THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 29, 1997 TAG: 9701290499
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 87 lines
CENTRAL VIRGINIA
Ex-FBI agent was mentally unstable, his attorney says
MANASSAS - A former FBI agent accused of trying to kill his wife was a desperate shell of a man tormented by inner demons and the humiliation of knowing his wife left him for a woman, his attorney said Tuesday.
Years of undercover work shattered Eugene Bennett's mental health, and left him incapable of the devious scheme prosecutors say he wove to kill Marguerite Bennett, attorney Reid Weingarten said.
``This is a cry of desperation of a very sick man,'' Weingarten said on the first day of Bennett's trial on attempted murder, abduction, bomb-making and other charges.
Authorities contend Bennett plotted for months to kill his wife, collect $1 million in life insurance and leave the country with their two young daughters. Police arrested Bennett last June 23 when he allegedly took his wife's minister hostage and used the man as bait to lure her into a darkened church.
Bennett pleaded innocent by reason of insanity. His lawyers say Bennett suffers from a split personality and blackouts.
Airport smoking targeted
RICHMOND - A doctor who said he had an asthma attack after walking though the smoking area at Richmond International Airport has petitioned the U.S. Department of Transportation for relief from airport smokers.
Dr. Dwain L. Eckberg wants to use the Americans with Disabilities Act to protect travelers with respiratory problems from smoke.
At the Richmond airport, travelers must pass through the smoking area to get to the gates.
Transportation Department officials said a ruling on Eckberg's request will follow a public comment period, which ends Thursday.
Lotto ticket nearly trashed
RICHMOND - A Newport News man has claimed the $4.9 million Lotto jackpot of Sept. 28 after finding the winning ticket in some old lottery tickets he was preparing to throw away.
Calvin Ruffin told Virginia Lottery officials he found the tickets a couple of weeks ago and decided he better check them against the winning numbers. The numbers 13-24-26-27-30-31 matched the winning Lotto ticket.
Ruffin purchased the ticket at a convenience store in Hampton. He received his first check Tuesday for $165,265, after taxes.
$60 million in grants
RICHMOND - Virginia will receive more than $60 million in grants for employment and job training programs from the U.S. Department of Labor.
The grants are for the period July 1, 1997, to June 30, 1998. The money is intended to serve job-seekers, dislocated workers, disadvantaged adults and at-risk youths.
Included in the funding is $13.6 million for a summer employment program for low-income youths between 14 and 21.
SOUTHSIDE
Gas line blows in church
DANVILLE - A gas line exploded in a church while a group of senior citizens was hearing a lecture by a city firefighter on fire safety. No one was hurt.
About 40 people were attending the lecture Tuesday at Keen Street Baptist Church when the explosion occurred.
``I had just started to smell it, and before I could get to that point and tell them it smelled like there was a gas leak in the building, we heard it and saw the fire,'' said firefighter Shelby Irving, who was giving the lecture.
ALSO. . .
According to a study by Reynolds Farley of the University of Michigan, Danville and Charlottesville are among the 15 least segregated cities in the country. The cities are graded on a scale with 100 meaning white people live on blocks only with whites and black people on blocks only with blacks. Both cities scored 45.
COMING UP
TODAY: Richmond - The Wilder Symposium Panel on Public Policy Challenges moderated by former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, 7 p.m., VCU Medical Sciences Building, 1225 E. Marshall St. Leesburg - Retrial for David Allen Moore, charged with killings of two men in 1994, 9 a.m., Loudoun County Circuit Court. Manassas - Bennett trial continues, Prince William Circuit Court, 9 a.m. MEMO: Compiled from the Associated Press