DETECTIVE SAYS MAN ADMITTED SLAYING HIS WIFE

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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 15, 1992                   TAG: 9201150288
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
DETECTIVE SAYS MAN ADMITTED SLAYING HIS WIFE
A Roanoke County man admitted to police that he shot and killed his wife during an argument about their pending divorce, a detective testified Tuesday.
After hearing the testimony, a judge in Roanoke County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court found there was probable cause to support a murder charge against Willard Coon Hall.
Hall, 54, is charged with murder and use of a firearm in the death of Phyllis Jean Hall, 46.
Police were called to a shooting at a home on Summer View Drive in north Roanoke County the morning of Dec. 4.
Detective K.W. Kern testified that he later spoke to Willard Hall, who had fled the house and was at a relative's home in Roanoke.
Hall said he was upset about the divorce and had taken a gun from his truck and shot his wife, Kern testified.
Phyllis Hall was struck in the chest and died several hours later at Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
Hall has been held without bond since he was arrested, but Judge John Quigley set a bond of $250,000 after Tuesday's preliminary hearing. Commonwealth's Attorney Skip Burkart had objected to a bond, citing the nature of the case and mental evaluations that indicate Hall may be a suicide threat.
The case now goes to a grand jury that meets in February.
Keywords:
ROMUR

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB