Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 18, 1993 TAG: 9302180257
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
JURY IN ROBBERY CASE HEARS ABOUT SLAYING
Katina Zelenak was on trial Wednesday for attempted robbery, not the murder of Lorna Crockett. But most of the evidence a Montgomery County jury heard centered around the Pulaski woman's death last June.Zelenak, 20, is one of three people charged in a series of crimes that occurred in Montgomery County on the night of June 1. Wednesday, she became the first to go on trial.
A jury likely will decide later today whether she is guilty of the attempted robbery of Stuart Arbuckle, who was at the time a Domino's Pizza manager making a bank deposit in Blacksburg.
Arbuckle foiled the robbery attempt, then followed his assailants and called police on his car's cellular phone.
Zelenak - along with Paul William Morehead, 21, and William Ray Smith Jr., 19, both of Pulaski County - were arrested and charged with attempted robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and using a gun to commit a felony.
Later, they were charged in the abduction, robbery and murder of Crockett, a 32-year-old mother of three from Pulaski County. She was abducted after making a night deposit for the Christiansburg shoe store she managed.
Zelenak is to go on trial Tuesday on first-degree murder and the robbery and abduction charges. Morehead and Smith will face capital murder, robbery and abduction charges when they are tried in March and April.
Commonwealth's Attorney Phil Keith told the jury that Zelenak was the "wheel man" for the attempted robbery of Stuart Arbuckle in Blacksburg.
But Randy Jones, one of two Blacksburg lawyers representing Zelenak, said his client was under duress that night and feared for her life and the lives of family members.
"She did in fact drive a car . . . but she was forced," Jones said.
Zelenak, 20, of Christiansburg, is expected to take the stand today to tell the jury how she was dominated by Morehead, her boyfriend at the time. Her attorneys also contend Zelenak has a history of sexual abuse and has developed multiple personalities as a way to cope.
This week's trial was expected to include all of the Montgomery County charges against Zelenak, but Circuit Judge Kenneth Devore granted a defense motion to separate the cases.
That was difficult to do Wednesday, as several statements Zelenak gave to police included information about the attempt to rob Arbuckle and the abduction, robbery and shooting of Crockett.
Keith and Skip Schwab, assistant commonwealth's attorney, introduced four different statements Zelenak gave police about her involvement, and the involvement of Morehead and Smith.
In her first statement, Zelenak told Blacksburg police the robbery of Arbuckle had been planned earlier that day after someone told them they had seen Arbuckle's car leave Domino's late at night.
Police had found Crockett's purse in Zelenak's car, but at first weren't aware Crockett had been shot. Zelenak told police Crockett "was a friend of hers that had been riding around with her the day before," Officer Sidney Conner testified.
Police also found two guns in the car, and Conner said Zelenak appeared visibly scared when police stopped the car.
In her second statement, Zelenak told Lt. Don Duncan of the Blacksburg Police Department that she was willing to give information about other robberies in the New River Valley that her boyfriend may have been involved in, according to testimony.
Papers found in the car included a target list of businesses that Zelenak told police had been given to the three by another person.
But in her conversation with Duncan, Zelenak also said she thought the talk of committing robberies was a joke and that the Arbuckle case was the only robbery Morehead had been involved in.
She also told Duncan the purse found in her car probably belonged to a hitchhiker she had picked up.
In a third statement, Zelenak said Smith shot Crockett and later attempted to rob Arbuckle.
But in a fourth statement on Aug. 18, Zelenak told police Smith and Morehead each fired a shot at Crockett.
Zelenak alternately cried and stared off into space during Wednesday's testimony, and briefly left the courtroom after becoming ill while one of her taped statements was being played.