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

DATE: TUESDAY, April 3, 1990                   TAG: 9004030721
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

POLICE FAILED TO DETAIN TEENS AT MURDER SCENE

Several hours before the bodies of Larry W. Walker, 42, Emily B. Walker, 40, and their 17-year-old son, Larry Edward, were found March 26 in their home, two Henrico police officers questioned two teen-agers parked outside the Walker home, Police Chief Richard G. Engels said Monday.

Christopher M. Palmer, 16, and Jackie Lynn Kulp, 14, gave the officers false names and said they were waiting for Kulp's mother to pick her up, Engels said.

"I think the police work that was done Monday morning could have been better," Engels said.

Palmer, Kulp and Steven E. Rea, 16, were arrested Saturday in Goochland County west of Richmond after a five-day search. Each of the teen-agers has been charged with three counts of capital murder in the shooting deaths of the Walkers.

The three appeared Monday in Henrico Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, where Judge Robert J. Smith ruled that the state has sufficient evidence to detain them.

Engels said the officers were sent to the Walker home at about 5:30 a.m. March 26 after Hanover County sheriff's officials told Henrico police that Larry Edward Walker's Chevrolet Camaro had been spotted at a construction site on Virginia 612.

The officers found Palmer and Kulp sitting in front of the Walker house, Engels said. He said the officers also spotted a rifle in the car.

"They were very stable, very cool in their comments to the officers," Engels said.

The bodies were found later that morning by a neighbor. Police say they believe the killings took place the previous day.

Engels said robbery was the apparent motive in the killings. He said statements obtained from the three juveniles indicate that the victims were shot for an undisclosed amount of cash.

"During the interview process, some statements were obtained and it has been determined that the motive of these homicides appears to be robbery," Engels said.

Commonwealth's Attorney James S. Gilmore III said he will seek to have Rea and Palmer tried as adults, in which case they could receive the death penalty if convicted of capital murder.

However, Kulp is too young to be tried as an adult, he said. The minimum age at which a defendant can be tried as an adult is 15.