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

DATE: FRIDAY, February 22, 1991                   TAG: 9102220501
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

WOMAN ACCEPTS PLEA BARGAIN IN SLAYING CASE

A 42-year-old woman described by a prosecutor as being "emotionally and physically abused for years" pleaded guilty Thursday in Botetourt County Circuit Court to second-degree murder.

Jane A. Ford of Route 1, Eagle Rock, shot her husband, an invalid, six times with a .22-caliber pistol while he was lying in bed last September, Botetourt County authorities said.

But Commonwealth's Attorney Buck Heartwell said Lewis C. Ford Sr., 46, had emotionally and physically abused his wife for years.

Although the abuse did not give Ford a legal justification for murdering her husband, it was the critical component in Heartwell's decision to agree to a plea bargain in which Ford pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and using a gun to commit a felony, he said.

In summarizing the evidence against Ford, Heartwell said there had been an argument in the Fords' home the evening of Sept. 1. During that argument, Lewis Ford berated the couple's teen-age son and tried to pressure him into getting out of the house and joining the Army, Heartwell said.

Also during that argument, Lewis Ford threatened his son, telling him "he was going to blow him away," Heartwell said. Ford was not armed when he made the threat, however.

Within an hour after the argument, Jane Ford got one of her husband's guns and shot him, Heartwell said.

Lewis Ford died in a Roanoke hospital Sept. 6. His wife initially had been charged with malicious wounding.

Jane Ford is scheduled to be sentenced April 30 after Judge George Honts hears a background report. She is free on $5,000 bond.

by CNB