Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 20, 1993 TAG: 9302200193
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
ZELENAK INDICTED ON 2 ADDITIONAL ROBBERY CHARGES
Katina Lynn Zelenak, who was convicted Thursday of attempting to rob a Blacksburg pizza shop manager, was indicted in Pulaski County this week on two other robbery charges.Zelenak, 20, had waived a preliminary hearing on the charges in December. The indictments accuse her of being involved in two robberies last May.
The Pulaski County grand jury also indicted Paul W. Morehead, 21, on two robbery charges, one count of wearing a mask to conceal his identity and one count of conspiring to commit robbery.
Zelenak is from Christiansburg. Morehead, from Pulaski County, was charged in June with robbing Pizza Hut manager Mike Frost and another employee of $2,458 when the two were about to make a night deposit in Pulaski on May 3.
He also was charged in the May 10 robbery of Jim Duke as Duke was carrying that day's proceeds from Jim's Steakhouse to his house.
Zelenak was the only witness to link Morehead to those robberies. Frost and Duke said they could not recognize their masked assailants.
Another defendant in the Duke robbery, Brent Alan Cook, 20, has pleaded guilty to robbery, malicious wounding, conspiracy to commit robbery and wearing a mask to conceal his identity. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Zelenak said she drove Morehead to the bank where he robbed Frost. She said Cook was with them.
She said Morehead told her he was planning the robbery because he needed the money for their apartment.
Zelenak also testified against Morehead and William Ray Smith Jr., 18, of Pulaski, during a preliminary hearing Sept. 1 in Montgomery County on charges of killing Christiansburg shoe store manager Lorna Raines Crockett last June.
Crockett, 32, of Pulaski was abducted as she was making a night deposit and shot twice. Zelenak has testified that each man shot her once.
Smith and Morehead face trial in Montgomery County for capital murder, robbery and abduction. Zelenak is scheduled to be tried for murder, robbery and abduction charges on Tuesday.
Zelenak and Morehead also were charged last year by Wythe County authorities with breaking into the Fort Chiswell McDonald's restaurant.
Thursday, a Montgomery County jury deliberated less than 30 minutes before finding Zelenak guilty of attempting to rob Stuart Arbuckle, a Domino's Pizza manager making a night deposit in Blacksburg several hours after Crockett was shot.
The jury also found Zelenak guilty of conspiring to commit robbery and using a firearm to commit a felony.
Arbuckle used a cellular phone to alert police after he was approached. His call led to the arrests.
Zelenak told the jury she was forced to be the driver in the crimes by then-boyfriend Morehead. She said she was under duress and feared for her life and the lives of family members.
The jury recommended 14 years in prison for Zelenak.