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[7E-Covington-arrest]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=eea]
[TAPE#=98-48; 1:52:12]
[GRAPHIC=Legal Scales]
[**ANCHOR TAG**]
Surprise is the reaction of members of a West Virginia community, after a longtime businessman is arrested for plotting a murder 22 years ago.
In Covington, police say Carroll Eugene Humpries, and his ex-wife, Kitty (Ab-shire) Abshire Humphries hired two men to plant the bomb that ultimately killed her then-husband... Bill Ray Abshire.
She married Humphries four months after Abshire was killed.
Eric Earnhart has details.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Humpries lived]
[SUPER=03-Alleghany Co.; :04]
[SUPER=01-Arthur Elmore/Neighbor; :10]
[SUPER=@Eric1; :20]
[SUPER=01-Charles Brenner/Neighbor; :30]
[SUPER=01-Donna Goff/Waitress;]
[RUNS=1:08]
[OUT Q=EE, News 7]
((Humphries lived on a farm outside the Covington City limits, neighbor Arthur Elmore says news of the arrest surprised him.
[SOT]
[IN Q=It has, yes sir]
((ARTHUR ELMORE/NEIGHBOR; IT HAS, YES SIR, YES SIR.
WAS HE A GOOD NEIGHBOR?
OH YEA, GOOD NEIGHBOR, OH YEA.))
[RUNS12]
[OUT Q=good neighbor, yea]
Until he retired a couple of years ago, Humphries ran his insurance business from this house on West Main Street in Covington. Neighbors here were surprised to find out he's in jail.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=nice man, quiet]
((CHARLES BRENNER/NEIGHBOR; NICE MAN, QUIET. I DID SOME REPAIR ON THAT HOUSE FOR HIM AND THAT WAS ABOUT IT. HE PAID, WENT OUR SEPERATE WAYS. WAVED, JUST LIKE YOU DO IN THE COUNTRY.))
[RUNS09]
[OUT Q=in the country]
Humphries was a regular lunch customer at D & J Family Restaurant. Donna Goff says she remembers him as a patient man.
[SOT]
[IN Q=Very nice, kind]
((DONNA GOFF/WAITRESS; VERY NICE, KIND... I CAN'T BELIEVE HE WOULD DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT.))
[RUNS14]
[OUT Q=anything like that]
Humphries is being held in the Alleghany County jail without bond. An extradition hearing is scheduled for next week.
Eric Earnhart, News 7))
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[GRAPHIC=Legal Scales]
Kitty Abshire Humphries waived extradition from Maryland, and is being held in a West Virginia jail without bond.
[7Rupert-Community]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=djo]
[TAPE#=98-49]
[GRAPHIC=Bombing]
The arrest has brought back chilling memories of the bombing for some Covington residents.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Greenbrier Co., WV;]
The car bombing happened early one February morning in 1976.
Jimmy (Auhl-vis) Alvis says he was a child on his way to school when he heard a big boom.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT=19:54:21]
[IN Q=MY DAD HAD]
((JIMMY ALVIS/RUPERT OIL COMPANY; MY DAD HAD THE OIL COMPANY DOWN THERE, HE WAS IN THE BEDROOM. THE FIRST THING HE THOUGHT IT WAS SOMETHING DOWN THERE THAT HAD EXPLODED.))
[SUPER=01-Jimmy Alvis/Rupert Oil Company;]
[RUNS=07]
[OUT Q=HAD EXPLODED.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
People say windows rattled and walls shook when the blast went off.
And residents say after years of investigating, they've not heard anything on the case until this week.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT=18:21:25 - 18:52:55]
[IN Q=I THOUGHT THEY]
((ELIZABETH COUGHLIN/RETIRED RUPERT POST MASTER; I THOUGHT THEY MADE IT UP AND FORGOT ALL ABOUT IT.))
((CHARLES MUNDY/MAYOR OF RUPERT; I OFTEN WONDERED WHEN THE CASE WAS MENTIONED WHAT HAD HAPPENED BACK THEN. WE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HAD REALLY TRANSPIRED WITH STATE POLICE AND OTHER INVESTIGATING OFFICERS.))
[SUPER=01-Elizabeth Coughlin/Retired Rupert Postmaster; :00]
[SUPER=01-Charles Mundy/Rupert Mayor; :05]
[RUNS=17]
[OUT Q=INVESTIGATING OFFICERS.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Most in the close-knit community of Rupert remember Billy Ray Abshire as a "nice, friendly" man and say they've never understood his murder.
(------------)
[7-5-DeWease]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#598-28 1:14:083]
[GRAPHIC=None]
The man who went to jail for killing his wife, and then planting a bomb that disabled the prosecutor is back behind bars.
Frank DeWease had only a few months of freedom, before heading to jail again.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Washington DC/April 3;]
NEWS 7 spoke with DeWease after he was paroled.
He still denied setting the bomb that blew off the hands of then-Montgomery County prosecutor Patrick Graybeal.
DeWease even brought a model of the bomb to try to prove his innocence.
But after a few months in a D-C halfway house, DeWease earned a trip to the Arlington County jail while his parole status is reviewed.
(----------------)
[TALENT=Kimberly]
[SS=None]
Corrections officials say DeWease got drunk and threatened other residents.
[7E-Derail-Follo]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=98-55; 54:17]
[GRAPHIC=Train Crash Investigation]
Human error is being blamed for a train derailment that sparked a fire in Lynchburg last spring.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg/March 31]
Federal safety investigators say a Norfolk Southern railroad worker failed to properly set the brakes on a line of cars he was uncoupling.
65 freight cars broke free and rolled for three miles before slamming into three locomotives.
The resulting fire destroyed Lynchburg's salt storage facility and most of its snow removal equipment.
(----------------)
[7WEATHER]
[ANCHOR=KIMBERLY]
[NEWSCAST=CUTIN]
[WRITER=KMC]
[TAPE #=]
[GRAPHIC=]
Taking a look at your Thursday forecast..
Expect mostly cloudy skies today, with some light winds.
Highs in the mid- to upper-80's.
Clouds stick around overnight, with lows dropping into the mid- to upper-60's.
The extended forecast...
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[SUPER=#555; reset][7BIRTHDAYS!] 9/4/98
Friday:
Anniversary:
[SUPER=130-50th/Elmer & Evelyn Quesenberry/Christiansburg]
[SUPER=130-17/Shelley Alger/Woodlawn]
[SUPER=130-1/Briana Muse/Roanoke]
[SUPER=130-12/Ashley Martin/Spencer]
[SUPER=130-3/Eli Wade/Floyd]
Anniversary:
[SUPER=130-50th/Mr. & Mrs. Thurman Reed/Shawsville]
No Pictures:
Anniversary:
[SUPER=131-/Timmy & Annette Law/Snow Creek]
[SUPER=131-/Carol Goens/Salem]
[SUPER=131-/Doris Jewell/Lafayette]
[SUPER=131-/Raymond Radford/Salem][cutopen]
[SUPER=19-Kimberly/McBroom;][45Bomb-Arrest]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=eea]
[TAPE#=net-]
[GRAPHIC=Legal Scales]
Authorities are just now catching up with a Covington man who's charged with a fatal bombing plot made 22 years ago.
Carroll Eugene Humphries, and his ex-wife, Kitty Abshire Humphries allegedly hired two men to plant a bomb, which killed Kitty's then-husband Bill Ray Abshire in Rupert, West Virginia.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Alleghany Co.;]
Humphries was living on a farm outside the Covington City limits.
His friends and neighbors, like Arthur Elmore, say they were shocked to hear the news of his arrest.
(///////SOT////////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=It has, yes sir]
((ARTHUR ELMORE/NEIGHBOR; IT HAS, YES SIR, YES SIR.
WAS HE A GOOD NEIGHBOR?
OH YEA, GOOD NEIGHBOR, OH YEA.))
[SUPER=01-Arthur Elmore/Neighbor;]
[RUNS=:12]
[OUT Q=good neighbor, yea]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Humphries is being held in the Alleghany County jail without bond.
(------------)
[45Car-Bomb]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=djo]
[TAPE#=98-49 tc 1:45:12]
[GRAPHIC=none]
Meanwhile, the memory of the bombing incident is still fresh in the minds of people in the victim's community.
And as David Johnson found out, it doesn't appear residents will never forget.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=It happened]
[SUPER=03-Greenbrier Co., WV; :00]
[SUPER=01-Charles Mundy/Rupert Mayor; :11]
[SUPER=@David1; :30]
[SUPER=01-Jimmy Alvis/Rupert Oil Company; :45]
[SUPER=01-Elizabeth Coughlin/Retired Rupert Postmaster; 1:02]
[RUNS=1:53]
[OUT Q=West Virginia.]
(( It happened the morning of February 5th, 1976 in Rupert, West Virginia. Charles Mundy says he was at work when he heard a tremendous "BOOM".
[SOT=18:50:54]
[IN Q=WE RAN]
((CHARLES MUNDY/MAYOR OF RUPERT; WE RAN OUT ON THE PORCH AND I SAW A MUSHROOM CLOUD OF SMOKE COMING FROM RUPERT OIL AND I WENT UP THERE AND MISTER ABSHIRE WAS DEAD AT THE TIME.))
[RUNS14]
[OUT Q=THE TIME]
People say the blast rattled walls and shook windows up to three blocks away.
[STAND-UP/19:30:08]
((DAVID JOHNSON/REPORTING; WHAT PEOPLE HEARD WAS THE BOMB THAT BLEW UP BILLY RAY ABSHIRE IN HIS CAR. IT HAPPENED RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIS HOUSE, WHICH USED TO BE IN THIS ViCINITY AND HAS SINCE BEEN REMOVED.))
[RUNS10]
One man recalls the gruesome sight found by firefighters responding to the scene.
[SOT=19:54:38]
[IN Q=BASICALL WHAT]
((JIMMY ALVIS/RUPERT OIL COMPANY; BASICALLY WHAT WAS LEFT OF BILLY WHICH WASN'T MUCH FROM THE WAIST UP. I MEAN THE BOMB REALLY TORE HIM APART. THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT OF HIM.))
[RUNS11]
[OUT Q=OF HIM.]
Several people in the community say the death of Billy Ray Alvis made no sense.
They remember the former AEP employee as being a pleasant fellow.
[SOT=18:19:11]
[IN Q=HE'D JUST BEEN]
((ELIZABETH COUGHLIN/RETIRED RUPERT POSTMASTER; HE'D JUST BEEN IN THE POST OFFICE THE DAY BEFORE. SAID HE HAD SOME GOOD NEWS TO TELL ME, BUT I HAD SO MANY CUSTOMERS. SO HE SAID I'LL TELL YOU TOMORROW. IT HAPPENED THE NEXT DAY.))
[RUNS13]
[OUT Q=NEXT DAY]
And the demeanor of Kitty Abshire Humphries shortly after her husband's death was characterized as "peculiar".
[SOT=18:23:01]
[IN Q=JOLLY! JUST LIKE]
((COUGHLIN; JOLLY! JUST LIKE SHE'D ALWAYS BEEN. JUST HAPPY, LIKE NOTHING HAD EVER HAPPENED. THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN TWO TO THREE WEEKS AFTER IT HAPPENED, WHEN I SEEN HER.))
[RUNS15]
[OUT Q=SEEN HER.]
Residents say they have often thought about the case and wondered who was behind the bombing.
Now, with the arrest of Abshire's widow and her ex-husband and with their trial, which is set to begin in January, it would appear that they will finally find out.
David Johnson, News7, Greenbrier County, West Va.))
[45E-Good-Neighbor]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=THa]
[TAPE#=98-51; 1:30:00]
[GRAPHIC=none]
A rose in the name of friendship may be all the sweeter--
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Radford;]
Yesterday morning, the owners of Radford City Florist began giving away 5- thousand roses in bunches of 12 in honor of Good Neighbor Day.
There was just one catch...
Customers were asked to keep one and give the rest away as a symbol of friendship.
(/////SOT/////)
[46:33:00]
[SOT]
[IN Q=We know]
((CURTIS GRAHAM/RADFORD CITY FLORIST MGR.:WE KNOW THAT RADFORD HAS A GREAT COMMUNITY SPIRIT AND WE FELT, YOU KNOW, THAT WE WOULD HAVE A LINE OUT HERE WHEN WE OPENED THE DOOR, CAUSE, WE KNOW THAT PEOPLE WILL GO OUT AND SHARE THE ROSES WITH THEIR FRIENDS AND MAKE NEW FRIENDSHIPS HERE IN RADFORD. ))
[SUPER=01-Curtis Graham/Radford City Florist Manager; :00]
[RUNS=20 approx.]
[OUT Q=in Radford.]
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
The give-away was part of a national promotion involving F-T-D florists around the country.
(----------------)
[45WEATHER]
[ANCHOR=KIMBERLY]
[NEWSCAST=CUTIN]
[WRITER=KMC]
[TAPE #=]
[GRAPHIC=]
Taking a break from the news to check the forecast--
Expect more clouds today than we've been having, with high temperatures in the mid and upper 80s.
Skies will stay mostly cloudy tonight, with lows dropping into the mid 60s.
And looking ahead to the next four days....there's a possibility for some showers by Saturday.
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[SUPER=#555; reset][cutopen]
[SUPER=19-Kimberly/McBroom;][8Bomb-Arrest]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=eea]
[TAPE#=net-]
[GRAPHIC=Legal Scales]
MOre than two decades ago, a Covington businessman allegedly created a murder plot involving a bomb.
Now, Carroll Eugene Humphries is charged with the crime.
Humphries, and his ex-wife, Kitty (Ab-shire) Abshire Humphries allegedly hired two men to plant a bomb, which killed Bill Ray Abshire in Rupert, West Virginia in 1976.
Bill Ray and Kitty were married at the time.
She married Humphries four months later.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Alleghany Co.;]
Humphries was living on a farm outside the Covington City limits.
His friends and neighbors, like Arthur Elmore, say they were shocked to hear the news of his arrest.
(///////SOT////////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=It has, yes sir]
((ARTHUR ELMORE/NEIGHBOR; IT HAS, YES SIR, YES SIR.
WAS HE A GOOD NEIGHBOR?
OH YEA, GOOD NEIGHBOR, OH YEA.))
[SUPER=01-Arthur Elmore/Neighbor;]
[RUNS=:12]
[OUT Q=good neighbor, yea]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Humphries is being held in the Alleghany County jail without bond.
An extradition hearing is scheduled for next week.
(------------)
[8Rupert-Community]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=djo]
[TAPE#=98-49]
[GRAPHIC=Bombing]
Hearing the news of Humphries' arrest has triggered memories of the bombing for some Covington residents.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Greenbrier Co., WV;]
The car bombing happened early one February morning in 1976.
Jimmy (Auhl-vis) Alvis says he was a child on his way to school when he heard a big boom.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT=19:54:21]
[IN Q=MY DAD HAD]
((JIMMY ALVIS/RUPERT OIL COMPANY; MY DAD HAD THE OIL COMPANY DOWN THERE, HE WAS IN THE BEDROOM. THE FIRST THING HE THOUGHT IT WAS SOMETHING DOWN THERE THAT HAD EXPLODED.))
[SUPER=01-Jimmy Alvis/Rupert Oil Company;]
[RUNS=07]
[OUT Q=HAD EXPLODED.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
People say windows rattled and walls shook when the blast went off.
And residents say after years of investigating, they've not heard anything on the case until this week.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT=18:21:25 - 18:52:55]
[IN Q=I THOUGHT THEY]
((ELIZABETH COUGHLIN/RETIRED RUPERT POST MASTER; I THOUGHT THEY MADE IT UP AND FORGOT ALL ABOUT IT.))
((CHARLES MUNDY/MAYOR OF RUPERT; I OFTEN WONDERED WHEN THE CASE WAS MENTIONED WHAT HAD HAPPENED BACK THEN. WE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HAD REALLY TRANSPIRED WITH STATE POLICE AND OTHER INVESTIGATING OFFICERS.))
[SUPER=01-Elizabeth Coughlin/Retired Rupert Postmaster; :00]
[SUPER=01-Charles Mundy/Rupert Mayor; :05]
[RUNS=17]
[OUT Q=INVESTIGATING OFFICERS.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Most in the close-knit community of Rupert remember Billy Ray Abshire as a "nice, friendly" man and say they've never understood his murder.
(------------)
[8E-DeWease]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=98-56; 30:56]
[GRAPHIC=Legal Scales]
After a brief respite from incarceration, Frank Dewease is back behind bars.
Dewease served time for killing his wife and setting a bomb that mutilated the arms of the man who prosecuted him in Montgomery County.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Washington DC/April 3;]
NEWS 7 caught up with DeWease in April.
He'd been paroled from prison
[SUPER=@file;]
for the 1973 bombing that took the hands of then- prosecutor Pat Graybeal.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=24 years]
((24 YEARS OF MY LIFE WENT DOWN THE DRAIN.))
[SUPER=01-Frank DeWease/April 3;]
[RUNS=04]
[OUT Q=the drain.]
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
DeWease even BROUGHT a mock-up of the bomb to try to convince us he couldn't have set it.
(----------------)
[TALENT=Kimberly]
[SS=hold]
Now DeWease is back in jail, this time in Arlington County.
He's accused of violating his parole conditions at the halfway house.
He allegedly abused alcohol, threatened other residents, and stayed out after his curfew.
[8E-Derail-Follo]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=98-55; 54:17]
[GRAPHIC=Train Crash Investigation]
A train derailment in Lynchburg last spring is the result of human error.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg/March 31]
Federal safety investigators say a Norfolk Southern railroad worker failed to properly set the brakes on a line of cars he was uncoupling.
65 freight cars broke free and rolled for three miles before slamming into three locomotives.
The resulting fire destroyed Lynchburg's salt storage facility and most of its snow removal equipment.
(----------------)
[8WEATHER]
[ANCHOR=KIMBERLY]
[NEWSCAST=CUTIN]
[WRITER=KMC]
[TAPE #=]
[GRAPHIC=]
Before we finish the updates this morning, here's one more look at the forecast.
Mostly cloudy skies today, with highs in the mid and upper 80s.
Overnight, expect more clouds with lows falling into the mid 60s.
And the extended forecast looks wet by the time we get to Saturday, otherwise the Labor Day weekend should stay dry.
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by SS