OFFICIAL RULING MADE IN SHERIFF'S DEATH

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

DATE: FRIDAY, January 24, 1992                   TAG: 9201240444
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
OFFICIAL RULING MADE IN SHERIFF'S DEATH
Bristol Sheriff Marshall Honaker's death officially was ruled a suicide Thursday, a medical examiner in Roanoke said.
Honaker died of a shotgun wound to the chest, according to Dr. David W. Oxley, deputy chief medical examiner for Western Virginia.
The sheriff, who was under investigation by a federal grand jury on suspicion of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars he was paid to house federal prisoners, shot himself about 8:40 a.m. Wednesday in his office at the Bristol jail.
It was the first time Honaker had returned to his office since federal agents raided it and his home Jan. 10. He had said he would take a leave of absence until the investigation was complete.
Honaker, who resigned last week as president of the National Sheriffs' Association, controlled the operation of one of the largest federally accredited prisoner-holding facilities in Southwest Virginia.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB