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

DATE: FRIDAY, July 20, 1990                   TAG: 9007200444
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

DEATH PENALTY FOES STAND VIGIL IN ROANOKE PLAZA

Death penalty abolitionists held a candlelight vigil Thursday night at Lee Plaza in Roanoke to protest the execution of Richard T. Boggs.

The 14 participants held candles as they stood in silent sympathy for Boggs' family, whom they also called victims.

"The Boggses are feeling very alone tonight. . . . There are so few people who are mourning with them," said Amnesty International member David Nova.

The vigil was sponsored by Amnesty International USA, Plowshare Peace Center and Southwest Virginians Against the Death Penalty.

Faye O'Dell, Amnesty Southwest Virginia Area coordinator, said the group also mourned Treeby M. Shaw, 87, Boggs' victim, in their silence.

The quiet was broken by crowds only blocks away at a restaurant's "Ms. Hawaiian Tropic" contest. While the group dispersed noisily down the street, the group at Lee Plaza remained still.

"It's wrong to kill somebody to prove that killing is wrong . . . I think a human life is very valuable," said Plowshare member Kermon Carter.

by CNB