Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 2, 1994 TAG: 9408020115
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
``It was a hate crime, a race-motivated hate crime,'' said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Bondurant.
Adam L. Blackwell, 31, of Waynesboro, was accused of violating the civil rights of his new neighbor, Lorie Jean Strother.
The indictment, which was made public Monday, alleges that Blackwell set fire to Strother's shed because she is black.
The five-count indictment also charged Stanley E. Smith, 20, and Donald L. Bridge, 23, with perjury for allegedly lying to the grand jury investigating the crime.
Bondurant said the men were attending a cookout near Strother's home near B Street on July4, 1992, when Blackwell and Smith decided to douse the shed with gas and burn it. The flames melted the building's plastic siding, but did not burn it to the ground.
Bondurant said they then tossed large firecrackers on the woman's back porch, beat on the windows and yelled, ``Burn, nigger, burn, nigger.''
Everyone at the cookout ran into the woods when the police were called, Bondurant said.
Bondurant said a black doll with its arms pulled off had been tossed on Strother's porch before that incident.
Blackwell was the only one charged with civil rights violations, Bondurant said, because Smith was a minor at the time and it is difficult to charge a juvenile in federal court.
The perjury charges against Blackwell and Smith stem from testimony they gave when the grand jury began hearing evidence in March.
Blackwell faces 16 years in prison and a $350,000 fine. Smith and Bridge face five years in prison and fines of $250,000.
by CNB