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

DATE: SATURDAY, February 26, 1994                   TAG: 9402260153
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MAN GETS 12 YEARS FOR KILLING

Buford has been awaiting trial in the Roanoke City Jail for about 2 1/2 years - mostly by his own doing.

His trial and sentencing dates have been postponed repeatedly after Buford, 37, complained about his previous attorneys and the food served in jail.

On at least two occasions, Buford refused to come to court. He had asked to be sent directly to prison without a sentencing hearing, just to get away from the jail and its food.

"Once I get down there, ya'll can come to court and do whatever you want to," he told Roanoke Circuit Judge Clifford Weckstein. "You can just send my sentence on down to me."

In rambling letters he wrote earlier and in court Friday, Buford accused jail officials of giving him high blood pressure by serving food heavy with salt, fat and oils.

He wrote in one letter that he was unable to attend court in December because "someone put salt in my corn flakes."

A psychiatrist eventually was consulted, but Buford agreed to go ahead with Friday's hearing after being told he would be immediately transferred to another jail.

After that issue was settled, Buford seemed less concerned about how much time he would receive for the second-degree murder of David Matthew Tolson on Oct. 3, 1991.

Tolson, 28, was shot three times in the chest and once in the head after an argument at an Elm Avenue home.

Buford has admitted he shot Tolson, but said he did it in self-defense.

Tolson was a "drug-crazed, alcohol-induced monster" who had attacked both Buford's sister and mother that day, defense attorney John Lichtenstein said.

Buford said he shot only after Tolson reached for a gun - an account prosecutors disputed. Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell said a witness saw Buford chase Tolson down a sidewalk before shooting him.

Weckstein sentenced Buford to 10 years on the murder charge and another two years for a firearms offense.

When Buford pleaded no contest to the charges last year, prosecutors agreed to ask for no more than 15 years. Second-degree murder carries a sentence of up to 20 years.

First-time offenders usually become candidates for parole after serving one-sixth of their sentence; Caldwell said Buford's prior record - a conviction for attempted robbery and use of a firearm - likely will mean he will become eligible for parole after serving one-quarter of his time.

Keywords:
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