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

DATE: SATURDAY, May 8, 1993                   TAG: 9305080287
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HE WANTED NOTORIETY; KILLER GOT 50 YEARS

Reginald Lee Noel, 22, received the sentence in Roanoke Circuit Court from Judge Clifford Weckstein.

Noel had pleaded no contest earlier to killing George F. Elliott, a 31-year-old heating and air-conditioning technician from Vinton. Elliott drove into the Lansdowne housing project in April 1992 to buy drugs and was shot so fast he was found clutching a $20 bill in his hand.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Joel Branscom said a witness told authorities that Noel was "trying to make a name for himself" in an environment where gun-toting drug dealers compete for power.

Branscom had asked that Noel receive life in prison.

Branscom contended that Noel shot Elliott in the head two times as he tried to take money that was coming to him anyway as part of a curb-side drug deal.

But in testimony Friday, Noel blamed the shooting on a 16-year-old who was standing next to Elliott's van at the time.

"I was there just to watch out for him," Noel testified.

A 17-year-old - who the day before had been ordered to stand trial as an adult in an unrelated murder - testified for Noel that he saw the 16-year-old shoot Elliott.

The 16-year-old, in what prosecutors say was no great coincidence, has testified that he saw the 17-year-old kill a man in another Lansdowne shooting.

Branscom said it shows that "a relatively small number of thugs are doing most of the killing in Roanoke, because they always seem to be around when it happens."

Noel will become eligible for parole after serving about eight years in prison, Branscom said.

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