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

DATE: THURSDAY, February 7, 1991                   TAG: 9102070404
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: PEARISBURG                                LENGTH: Short

PLEA DEAL EXPECTED IN SLAYINGS

Richard Lee Myers Jr., charged with two counts of capital murder in the 1989 killing and burning of two men in Giles County, is expected to plead guilty and receive five life sentences Monday in Giles County Circuit Court, his attorney said Wednesday.

By accepting a plea agreement, Myers will avoid a possible death sentence. He will be eligible for parole after 30 years.

Myers, 28, who lived in the Hollybrook section of Bland County, is charged with two counts of capital murder, one count of arson and two counts of robbery.

Myers is charged with killing Dale Russell Lambert, 30, also of Hollybrook, in May 1989 while the two men were drinking in a remote section of the Jefferson National Forest in Giles County.

Myers is accused of shooting Lambert in the head with a shotgun, stealing his car keys and wallet and then burning his body.

Myers also is accused of shooting Ralph Randall Lester, 32, of the White Gate section of Giles County that same day at Lester's home and then burning the house down with Lester's body inside.

by CNB