Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 22, 1994 TAG: 9401220229
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
Price, who had pleaded not guilty and told a jury that it was the prosecution's chief witness who shot Lester Dale Harris in December 1992, will be sentenced later in Pulaski County Circuit Court.
The jury deliberated three hours before finding Price guilty, fixing his punishment at 35 years in prison for first-degree murder with an additional two years for using a gun to commit the murder.
"I'm glad that it's over. I hope that it's over now," said Sandy Harris, Dale Harris' widow. "And I just want to try to get my life back to normal."
Price's family members said they were shocked by the verdict.
"We never in a million years expected this verdict," said Tony Price, one of Price's sons. His father accepted Jesus Christ while in jail, "and that's all that matters. He'll handle it," Tony Price said.
The jury chose to believe Alfred "Marty" Albert, an employee of Price's who testified he saw Price shoot Harris as Albert and Price were supposedly taking Harris back to his Fairlawn home.
Albert testified Price stopped his vehicle on Hazel Hollow Road near Radford, ordered Harris out and shot him with a .44-caliber Magnum.
Albert testified Price acted out of anger after Albert and other employees complained that marijuana Price had bought for them from Harris had an ammonia-like odor.
The marijuana had been sprayed with Fresca to make the marijuana appear sticky, which is an indication of potency. And seeds had been added to increase the marijuana's weight, according to testimony.
Albert said Price made him help put Harris in the river. After the men returned to Price's car, Albert testified, Price got back out, went over the river bank and fired two more shots.
Harris' body was pulled from the water Dec. 21, 1992, five days after he was shot. Harris, who had worked for the City of Radford's Water Department, was 46.
Price, 50, told the jury that it was Albert who had made the drug deal with Harris, and that Albert killed Harris because the marijuana had made a relative of Albert's sick.
But Price's version crumbled Friday when he was questioned by Commonwealth's Attorney Everett Shockley.
Shockley questioned why Price did not call police to tell them his friend had been shot. Instead, Shockley said, Price and Albert drove to a nearby gas station and bought beer.
Price said he only wanted to get home and distance himself from Albert's actions.
"And drink a beer," Shockley responded.
Shockley said Price had told detectives he last saw Harris alive after dropping him off near a garage where he saw two men in a pickup truck. The men, Price had said, were from Blacksburg and had called the shop looking for Harris, angry over bad marijuana.
Price could offer no explanation Friday, either saying he didn't recall making those statements or denying he had.
"The men from Blacksburg don't exist . . .," Shockley told the jury in his closing statement.
John Quigley, Price's attorney, argued that if Price planned to kill Harris as he gave him a ride home, he would not have taken a witness - Albert - with him.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.