Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 13, 1991 TAG: 9103130335
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By Associated Press
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium
"This just doesn't happen in one year, much less in one weekend," said Jeanna Hawkins, a 17-year-old senior. "This is so freaky."
On Saturday, 16-year-old Shawn Novak was arrested and charged with capital murder in the deaths of two elementary school youngsters who lived in the same neighborhood as Novak.
On Sunday, the body of 18-year-old David Paul Ross was found near an isolated dirt road in Southampton County. He had been stabbed to death. An arrest in the case was made in Texas early Tuesday.
Police said the crimes were not related. Ross was a senior at First Colonial, which has 1,600 students; Novak is a sophomore.
The two events were not announced at the school Monday, but talk among students spread quickly. "It was a weird day," said Jean Cowan, a 15-year-old sophomore.
"Both things were a major topic," said Adam Casey, a 17-year-old senior. "They spread throughout the school."
Students who know Novak described him as quiet and average but with some strange habits, including talking to himself.
He is charged with the slayings of 9-year-old Daniel Geier and 7-year-old Christopher Scot Weaver. The boys' bodies were found March 5 in a wooded area adjacent to the neighborhood where they had disappeared while riding their bicycles about 24 hours earlier. Their throats had been cut.
A hearing will be held March 28 on a motion by Commonwealth's Attorney Robert Humphreys to try Novak as an adult. Juvenile Court Judge Frederick P. Aucamp ruled Tuesday that reporters can attend portions of the hearing, which normally would be closed because of the defendant's age.
Ross, meantime, was described as a talented artist who liked surfing and crusing the oceanfront resort strip in his car. That was where he was last seen alive Saturday night.
Capt. K.W. Francis of the Southampton County sheriff's office said a drifter wanted in Ross' death was arrested in Brookshire, Texas, about 30 miles west of Houston.
Francis said Dana Rex Foster, 38, was taken into custody and a 1986 Camaro owned by Ross was recovered by Texas authorities. A warrant issued Monday night charged Foster with capital murder, armed robbery and grand larceny of an automobile.
Joe Garcia, chief of police in the Texas town of about 3,000 residents, said an officer ran a check on the car while it was parked at a truck stop and discovered the vehicle was being sought by Virginia authorities.
Foster was arrested about 12:45 a.m. when he walked back to the car from the truck stop. He did not resist arrest, Garcia said. He was being held in the Waller County jail and was expected to waive extradition, the chief said.
by CNB