Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 20, 1990 TAG: 9003202749
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
In an order released Monday, Judge James Spencer dismissed Timothy Dale Bunch's appeal, which alleged a host of constitutional rights violations.
Bunch was convicted of the murder and robbery of Su Chacq Thomas and was sentenced to death by a Prince William County jury. The jury recommended the electric chair.
Thomas was shot in the head and then hanged from a doorknob with a scarf.
According to the ruling, Bunch and Thomas, a divorcee, had become intimate while Bunch was temporarily stationed at the nearby Quantico Marine Corps base. Soon after the murder, he was transferred to Japan.
Bunch allegedly stole a Rolex watch, diamond ring and pearl necklace from Thomas' house and then ransacked it, apparently to make it appear the slaying had been committed after a break-in.
Before returning to Japan, Bunch sold a watch similar to Thomas' at a pawn shop in Arlington. The owner of the shop reported the sale to police and Bunch became a suspect. He was arrested in Japan and sent back to Prince William County to stand trial.
His appeals have been rejected by the Virginia Court of Appeals and the Virginia Supreme Court. His appeal to federal court attacked what he said were errors in both the trial and sentencing phases of his capital murder case.
Bunch alleged, among other things, that his constitutional rights were violated by the admission of improperly obtained statements.
He said a detailed confession made to police after he returned to Virginia violated his right to legal counsel.
"Because Bunch's Virginia confession was validly admitted under the law in existence during his trial and appeal . . . this court finds that the Virginia confession was properly admitted into evidence," Spencer wrote.
Bunch also argued that evidence did not support a death sentence.
by CNB