Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 12, 1994 TAG: 9401120262
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Michael Scott Hairston was in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court for a preliminary hearing.
He is accused of killing Judith Cook on Dec. 13 at a Windsor Avenue apartment they once shared, according to Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Wanda DeWease.
Cook, an employee at a Roanoke nursing home, was stabbed in the back eight times and struck on the head nine times with a baseball bat.
After hearing testimony from police Detective R.W. Thompson, who took a statement from Hairston, Judge Philip Trompeter certified the case to a grand jury.
Hairston, 26, admitted killing Cook, 40, but said it was in self-defense after she grabbed a kitchen knife during an argument, Thompson testified.
The first-degree murder charge now goes to a grand jury.
In his statement to police, Hairston cited several reasons for his fight with Cook: an argument about Christmas shopping, a dispute involving his ex-wife, and Cook's efforts to have him move out of the apartment.
After the fatal argument, Hairston told police, he took a shower and changed out of his bloody clothes before leaving Cook's body on the apartment floor. He later apparently told a relative about the killing. The relative called police, who found Cook's body in the apartment about 3:30 a.m.
Keywords:
ROMUR
by CNB