
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 6, 1990                   TAG: 9003061931
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Shenandoah bureau
DATELINE: BUENA VISTA                                 LENGTH: Short

POISONED FATHER DIES; SON CHARGED

A teen-ager was charged Monday with poisoning his father, who died March 1 in a Charlottesville hospital.

Samuel Higgins, 48, of Buena Vista was poisoned Feb. 23, said Rockbridge County Sheriff F.M. "Freddie" Spence.

He said Higgins, who was put on life support systems, died a week later of edema herniation - a swelling of the brain impairing blood flow.

"His 17-year-old son has been charged with the murder of his father," Spence said Monday afternoon. "The means of his death was poisoning."

Higgins was poisoned with methanol, according to Spence.

The sheriff declined to go into detail about the alleged killing, saying it is under investigation. He also declined to say where the teen-ager got the methanol.

Methanol, obtained through the distillation of wood, is used as a fuel, solvent and antifreeze, and in the manufacture of formaldehyde.

The boy - who was arrested and charged Monday morning - is being held at a detention center. Spence did not disclose the location.

The boy's name also was not released.

by CNB