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

DATE: FRIDAY, April 16, 1993                   TAG: 9304160305
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LON WAGNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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GALLIMORE HIRES RADFORD ATTORNEY

Henry County preacher Elwood Gallimore, scheduled to go on trial June 11 in Floyd County on seduction charges, has hired Radford attorney Jimmy Turk to represent him.

"He's a real nice fellow, and he's a weight lifter like me," Gallimore said of Turk, "so we ought to get along real good."

Gallimore faces three felony charges stemming from his relationship with 16-year-old Sabrina Simpkins, whom he claims to have married "in God's eyes" in November.

Gallimore has been legally married to his wife, Janice, for 26 years.

Previously, Gallimore had said he would rely on the Bible - and its Old Testament references to men who had hundreds of wives - to defend himself in court.

But at a March appearance in Floyd County Circuit Court, Judge Kenneth Devore asked Gallimore to "do me a favor and you a favor and hire a lawyer."

After meeting with Turk for an hour Thursday, Gallimore took Devore's advice.

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