Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 6, 1990 TAG: 9007060723
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
James S. "Pete" Ware is charged with murder during the commission of a robbery in the indictment returned this week by a Roanoke grand jury.
He could face the death penalty if convicted.
Ware, 24, is accused of killing Ophelia Laverne Wiley in May during a robbery in her Hanover Avenue home.
Police found Wiley bleeding to death in a downstairs hallway after her son leaped from a second-story window and ran for help.
Ware fled to Kansas following the killing and was apprehended after he could not afford the toll for an off ramp on Interstate 70.
Authorities said Ware admitted taking items from the house during an interview with a Roanoke detective at the Charlotte, N.C., airport following his arrest.
Wiley's purse and some laundry money were missing from her house, authorities said.
According to police, Ware went to Wiley's home the morning of May 17 while the woman's husband was at work and got into an argument with her after she asked him to leave.
Wiley's husband, Walter, testified at a preliminary hearing that his wife did not approve of his social relationship with Ware, a relative.
Authorities said they believe Ware slashed Wiley, a mother of two, then ran to a nearby housing project. Wiley's 2-year-old son was asleep in the house when her 8-year-old son ran for help.
Police said Ware hitched a ride to Covington with an unsuspecting motorist, then stole his van.
He later ditched the van in Mount Vernon, Ill., and stole another car before fleeing to Kansas, authorities said.
He remains in Roanoke City Jail awaiting a Sept. 24 trial date in Roanoke Circuit Court.
by CNB