Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 3, 1993 TAG: 9303030043
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE LENGTH: Short
2 IN TENN. FIGHT EXTRADITION
Two Memphis, Tenn., men charged in the deaths of an elderly Martinsville couple are fighting extradition from Tennessee, but the Martinsville police chief said the maneuver is "just a formality.""I don't know why," Chief Dave J. Edwards said Tuesday. ". . . I guess it's because they think it'll take longer to get back here. Well, we'll get them back."
Extradition is the process of delivering a defendant to the state where he is accused of committing a crime.
Johnny Mosier, 25, and Lawrence T. Joshlin, 28, both are charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of James and Evelyn Merritt.
The Merritts were found in their home by police Feb. 18, their bodies tied and bound with duct tape and an extension cord. A preliminary autopsy showed the Merritts had died of dehydration, asphyxiation or exposure.
Chief Doug Woods of the Shelby County, Tenn., Sheriff's Office said Mosier turned himself with his attorney Monday afternoon.
Joshlin was arrested Friday and is scheduled to appear in Shelby County General Sessions Criminal Court for a bond hearing Thursday.
Jerry Humphreys, a Virginia State Police special agent working in Memphis, said Joshlin and Merritt are suspects in other states for "flimflams."
Martinsville police said they think Joshlin and Mosier may have been the two con artists who in September persuaded the Merritts that their chimney was about to tumble, charged them hundreds of dollars for shoddy repair work and then stole more than $1,000 from their house. The Merritts reported the incident to police, but no one was arrested.
Keywords:
FATALITY
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.