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

DATE: TUESDAY, January 5, 1993                   TAG: 9301050229
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY   
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MANTEO, N.C.                                LENGTH: Short

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MURDER SUSPECT COULD WALK

When the decapitated and dismembered body of a Virginia woman washed ashore on a Nags Head beach in 1991, investigators could not determine the cause of death or where she was killed.

If they can't do it by Thursday, the Norfolk, Va., man charged in the case could go free, attorneys said.

Michael G. Dial, 36, is accused of killing 22-year-old Brenda G. Dozier, whose body was discovered on July 4, 1991.

After being held in a Raleigh prison for almost 18 months, Dial was taken to Dare County last week to attend a hearing scheduled for Thursday. His trial is set for April 12 in Dare County Superior Court.

Prosecutors said they intend to seek the death penalty and insist that they have enough evidence to show that Dozier was killed in North Carolina.

"This week's hearing will be kind of a minitrial - to see whether the case goes to trial. A lot of the evidence will come out then and some witnesses will be called to testify," said Manteo lawyer John Gladden, who is representing Dial with Virginia Beach, Va., lawyer James Broccoletti.

"The state is saying that Dial killed the woman in North Carolina. We're saying, `Prove it' - and that's what they'll have to do before the judge at the hearing," Gladden said.

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