Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 24, 1990 TAG: 9003242506
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By NEAL THOMPSON NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Short
Richard Bradley Akers, 29, of Route 4, Radford, is charged with capital murder in the Oct. 18 slaying of Melanie Sue Davis, 26, who lived in Newbern.
Davis' partly clothed body was found behind a water tower off U.S. 11 in Fairlawn.
Akers appeared in General District Court for a preliminary hearing. District Judge George B. Cooley certified the charges after hearing evidence presented by Commonwealth's Attorney Everett Shockley.
The grand jury meets May 8.
Akers was being held without bond in the Giles County Jail, where he was transferred because one of Davis' relatives was being held in the Pulaski County Jail.
Akers was arrested the day after Davis' body was found. In an interview with Sheriff's Department investigators that day, Akers admitted he killed Davis with a knife.
He said he and Davis were friends and had been drinking and driving around the previous night with friends. He told the investigators that early the following morning they had "consentual sex" behind the water tower and he cut her throat. Investigators would not give a motive for the killing.
Davis' body was found the next afternoon by a man walking through the woods behind the water tower.
An autopsy performed in Roanoke determined that the cause of death was a severe laceration the entire length of the throat.
Davis lived on Virginia 611 in Newbern with her parents and her 7-year-old son, Justin.
by CNB