Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 30, 1994 TAG: 9405020176
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
ALEXANDRIA - A woman died Friday after a house fire that broke out around 5 a.m., authorities said.
The woman was identified as Lucy Jones, who was believed to be in her 60s, Alexandria Fire Department officials said.
Two firefighters sustained minor injuries fighting the fire on West Myrtle Street. One of the injured firefighters suffered from exhaustion; the other strained his back.
Firefighters searching the home found the woman unconscious. She was taken to the Alexandria Hospital and pronounced dead less than an hour later.
Fire Department officials said the only other occupant, a man, escaped uninjured.
The fire did about $100,000 in damage, officials said. Investigators said the fire was linked to careless smoking.
- Associated Press
Convicted rapist hopes that DNA evidence will clear him
LOVINGSTON - A man who has been in prison for nearly a decade, for a rape he says he didn't commit, hopes new DNA tests will prove his innocence.
Nelson County Commonwealth's Attorney Phillip D. Payne asked the state to conduct the tests in the case of Edward W. Honaker, who is serving a term of life plus 34 years.
The prosecutor requested the test on the blood samples - and other tests he would not disclose - after a prison advocacy organization did its own DNA tests that it believes exonerate Honaker.
Honaker is imprisoned at Nottoway Correctional Center for a series of crimes involving the rape of a woman on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Nelson County on June 24, 1983. He was convicted in 1985.
Payne said the victim and her boyfriend were emphatic in their identification of Honaker as the rapist.
The vehicle used in the abduction and physical evidence found in Honaker's home also linked him strongly to the crime, Payne said. The vehicle used by the rapist, for example, had a missing back seat. Honaker's Chevrolet Blazer had a missing back seat.
- Associated Press
Ship with hazardous materials catches fire in Hampton Roads
PORTSMOUTH - Fire experts examined the cargo bay of a freighter carrying hazardous materials Friday after the vessel reported flames below its deck, the second fire in Hampton Roads harbor this month.
No one was injured and none of the hazardous cargo aboard the German ship Tokyo Senator escaped, said Lt. Charles Rawson of the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office.
The Tokyo Senator was carrying zinc, lead and arsenic for a stop at the Virginia port on a voyage from Savannah, Ga., to Antwerp, Belgium, when the fire was reported late Thursday as the vessel passed through Thimble Shoals Channel.
Two weeks ago, a barge carrying different hazardous materials caught fire as the craft neared the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel. Several local, state and federal agencies were involved in fighting that blaze over two days.
- Associated Press
Newport News accountant pleads guilty to defrauding IRS
NORFOLK - An accountant who defrauded the Internal Revenue Service out of more than $1 million through his tax-preparation firm faces a maximum prison sentence of 30 years.
Rocky D. Spencer, the proprietor of Dominion Financial Services, will be sentenced July 14.
Spencer, 37, of Newport News, pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to defraud, wire fraud, money laundering and illegally structuring financial transactions to avoid bank reporting laws.
Authorities say Spencer added fictitious children to customers' tax forms, inflated the amount of their returns and pocketed the difference between the falsified refunds and those due the clients.
- Associated Press
by CNB