Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 30, 1994 TAG: 9408300081
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DIANE STRUZZI and LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITERS NOTE: lede
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Dr. David Oxley, deputy chief medical examiner for Western Virginia, confirmed that a preliminary autopsy showed both William B. Hodges, 41, and his 11-year-old daughter, Winter, had been shot. But he would not elaborate on whether the shots were fatal.
Oxley said autopsies were scheduled today for the other two victims, Hodges' wife, Teresa, 37, and their 3-year-old daughter, Anah.
The fire broke out about 5 a.m. at the Hodgeses' two-story brick residence at 232 E. Virginia Ave.
If police suspicions prove true, these would be the first murders this year in the Roanoke Valley.
Details were sketchy as Vinton police combined their efforts with Virginia State Police. Throughout Monday, investigators swarmed the area looking for clues to the cause of the fire and the deaths of the family members.
Friends say they last saw the Hodgeses early Saturday, after they returned from an Amway meeting in Charlottesville. William Hodges, a former postal worker, was a representative of Amway Corp., a product sales company.
Two years ago, Hodges was convicted of misappropriating postal funds. At the time of the fire, he was soon to enter prison to begin serving a six-month term.
Lisa and James Ransom, who were business associates of Hodges', said they last saw the couple about 3 a.m. Saturday as they returned together from Charlottesville.
The Ransoms returned to the Hodgeses' home Sunday night, but no one answered the door. A basement light was on, and the answering machine was turned off - both of which were unusual for the family, James Ransom said.
Taped to the porch door was a note that appeared to be written by Teresa Hodges, Lisa Ransom said.
The note said that "they had an emergency and would be back late Sunday or early Monday," Lisa Ransom said. At the time, the Hodgeses' two vehicles were parked in their front yard.
"We didn't think nothing of it," Lisa Ransom said.
In fact, the only indication that something was wrong came several hours later. Neighbor Mark Price said his dogs began to bark wildly about 4 a.m.
One neighbor said she smelled smoke just before dawn.
"I saw flames coming out from the bottom floor," Sheila Fowler said. "It looked like it was coming out of the basement. It appeared to be burning for a long time, because the top floor was burned, too."
Not long afterward, Fowler said she saw police dogs tracking in the Hodgeses' back yard and up an embankment that leads to Poplar Street.
At a news conference at the Vinton Municipal Building Monday, police Chief R.R. Foutz said the four deaths were being investigated as a "multiple homicide." He also described the fire as suspicious.
While police had not identified Teresa Hodges as the fourth victim, Oakey's Vinton Chapel listed her in a newspaper obituary.
In 1991, while William Hodges was working as a clerk at the Vinton post office, he was accused of taking $4,664 from his register during two months. A routine audit found that Hodges was not recording customer purchases in a computer.
"At work he was a nice fellow," co-worker Kevin Dillon said. "He was polite and everything, but he was just taking money out of the till."
Hodges maintained his innocence through trial and an appeal to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which on Aug. 3 denied his request, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Ramseyer. Lawyers said Hodges was expected to begin serving his sentence within a month to six weeks of the appeals court's ruling.
Hodges was terminated from the Postal Service in March 1993, although he had not worked since 1991.
The Hodgeses had lived on Virginia Avenue for more than a decade, and nearby residents described them as good neighbors and a close-knit family.
"They were good people, as far as I know," said neighbor Milton Clark. "They were always good to us."
Friends and co-workers say Hodges was a certified scuba diver and a pilot, and spent much of his time selling Amway products out of his house. Teresa Hodges was a homemaker.
The day she was found dead, Winter Hodges was to start her first day as a sixth-grader at William Byrd Middle School.
Word of the deaths had not reached the school Monday, Principal Steve Lonker said, but officials were prepared to offer counseling when students returned today after learning of their schoolmate's death.
"We have a crisis team that will come in today, if we have any students that have a need for that," Lonker said.
Winter Hodges was previously a pupil W.E. Cundiff Elementary School, where principal Jackie Glover said she won friends as easily as she did a spelling bee last year.
"She was a wonderful student," Glover said. "She was a sweet little girl, and she made many friends."
Authorities ask that anyone with information about the case call 983-0617.
Keywords:
ROMUR FATALITY
by CNB