5 MEN INDICTED IN RAINBOW CASE

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

DATE: THURSDAY, January 14, 1993                   TAG: 9301140257
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MARLINTON, W.VA.                                LENGTH: Medium
5 MEN INDICTED IN RAINBOW CASE
A Pocahontas County grand jury on Wednesday indicted five men in the 1980 slayings of two women hitchhiking to a counterculture gathering in West Virginia.
Walt Weiford, a special prosecutor handling the case, said the five were each indicted on two counts of murder and a single count of conspiracy to abduct with intent to defile, Weiford said. The latter charge implies a crime of sexual nature, Weiford said.
They have been ordered to report for arraignment on Jan. 21, Weiford said. If they do not appear in Pocahontas County Circuit Court, a warrant for their arrest will be issued, he said.
Weiford said the five are:

Jacob Beard, 46, of Crescent City, Fla.

Gerald Brown, 51, of Droop Mountain.

William McCoy, 36, believed to be in the Las Vegas, Nev., area.

Richard Fowler, 40, of Gordonsville, Va.

Arnold Cutlip, 55, whose residence is unknown by police.
All were living in Pocahontas County in June 1980, when Vicki Durian, 26, of Wellman, Iowa, and Nancy Santomero, 19, of Huntington, N.Y., were slain, Weiford said. The bodies of the women were found off a remote, mountainous road in Hillsboro near Droop Mountain Battlefield, about 70 miles east of Charleston.
Both were shot several times at close range. Neither was sexually assaulted, according to a coroner's report.
Soon after the two were killed, investigators and residents in the hollows and hills of southeastern West Virginia believed they knew what happened.
But glitches in the investigation delayed any indictments, Weiford said. Recanted confessions, charges of police bullying witnesses and other problems plagued the case.
"I'm pleased that the case was finally able to be presented to the grand jury for their consideration," Weiford said.
"This is kind of a dark cloud that has hung over the county for a long time and hopefully, finally at the end of this process it will be able to come to rest," he said.
Weiford declined to discuss the case in detail.
Charges were filed against seven suspects, including the five, last April. Weiford ordered the charges dropped several weeks afterward. At the time, he said there were questions about whether state police coerced one defendant into making a false confession.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB