Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 29, 1993 TAG: 9301290312
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
MAN GETS LIFE FOR $11 MURDER
A Roanoke man should serve life in prison for killing a kind-hearted neighbor while robbing him of $11, a jury decided Thursday.Lewis Winston Draper Jr., 24, was convicted of the first-degree felony murder of Douglas Webb, a 71-year-old retired mailman known for spending his money on friends and neighbors.
Two days of testimony in Roanoke Circuit Court showed how Draper planned the robbery Sept. 3, hoping to get whatever money was left after Webb bought him a color television set.
"Douglas Webb's friendship and generosity were worth nothing to Winston Draper," Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ann Gardner told the jury in closing arguments.
"He murdered a friend for $11; it just doesn't get much uglier than that."
Draper and his cousin, Gary W. Draper Jr., both were charged last year with felony murder - killing someone in the commission of a robbery. Gary Draper is scheduled to be tried next month.
Winston Draper pleaded guilty to the robbery, but maintained he had no part in Webb's death.
Webb was suffocated in the back seat of his car, then left behind after the car was rammed into a parked tractor-trailer in Southeast Roanoke and set on fire.
After the robbery, the Drapers spent the change they took from Webb's pockets on cigarettes and junk food, testimony showed.
Defense attorney Terry Grimes argued there was no proof that Webb was killed during the robbery.
Winston Draper did not testify. He relied on a single witness who told the jury he heard Gary Draper confess to the killing, adding "Winston would go down" before he did.
Both cousins have admitted to police detective Neil Tolrud that they robbed Webb, but have implicated each other in the killing.
Draper will be eligible for parole after he serves 11 1/2 years, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Joel Branscom said. He also faces a second life sentence on the robbery charge.
Frank Roupas, Webb's former landlord, said the 71-year-old man always tried to help people like the Drapers.
"Several times he asked me for money before the first of the month because he had spent his monthly income on friends and those who told him they were hungry," Roupas said.
Staff writer Jessica Martin contributed to this story.
Keywords:
ROMUR