Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 4, 1993 TAG: 9304040223
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
ATTACKS PUT HORSE OWNERS ON THEIR GUARD
Horse owners are hiring security guards and carrying weapons after arson fires and random shootings killed several animals."We've gotten right paranoid," said Virginia Howard, 27, whose family owns the 800-acre Meadowville Farm in the pastureland and woods of central Fauquier County. "I don't feel the trust I used to feel."
Since arsonists killed five thoroughbreds and destroyed eight barns one night about two weeks ago, Howard and her neighbors in the county have become cautious and angry.
The burnings, all of which occurred within about two hours, came a few weeks after 14 cows and a pony were killed in a series of nighttime shootings.
No one has been charged in any of the incidents, but authorities have questioned several people and say they believe the incidents could have been the work of disgruntled farm workers.
The reward for information about any suspects in the crimes was increased to $30,000 last week. But Fauquier Sheriff Joseph Higgs said residents are so angry he's afraid an innocent person, wandering the back roads after dark, might be shot before authorities can solve the case.
The horses lost in the fires were valued at more than $150,000, and the barns and equipment probably were worth more than $400,000, police said. - Associated Press