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

DATE: SATURDAY, October 1, 1994                   TAG: 9410030044
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: HAMPTON                                  LENGTH: Medium

BOMB SUSPECT MAY HAVE WANTED GLORY

A state trooper accused of placing bombs in a city courthouse and two malls apparently was seeking glory for finding the devices with his bomb-sniffing dog, the prosecutor in the case said Friday.

Commonwealth's Attorney Christopher W. Hutton also said it was ``morally outrageous'' that Vernon Roy Richards, a 14-year state police veteran, would try to implicate someone else during the investigation of the courthouse bombs.

According to affidavits filed in the case, Richards is suspected of planting false evidence in the car and yard of a teen-ager who lived near the court building.

``My observation is that Richards did it in an attempt to enhance his professional reputation ... for the glory and the adulation that would come in being the person who found these devices,'' said Hutton. ``Obviously, it's pretty easy to find the devices if he's planted them.''

Richards, 41, was charged Tuesday with five counts of possession and manufacture of explosive devices and three counts of attempting to destroy the Hampton General District Court building.

Richards and his assigned black Labrador, Master Blaster, had been hailed as heroes for their role in searches that found three bombs in the court building Sept. 13 and similar devices at Coliseum Mall in Hampton on June 17 and at Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach on July 16.

Hutton said he and the assistant prosecutors knew Richards, but mainly for his arrests of intoxicated drivers while on highway patrol duties. ``We really didn't have a great deal of contact with him,'' Hutton said.

Affidavits filed to support searches of Richards' home in Hampton and his state-owned car said another trooper, Phillip Russell, had seen bomb-making components in several visits to Richards' house.

Law enforcement experts said it would not be unusual for an officer who works with a dog trained to smell explosives to keep such materials. But the items found in the searches went beyond what was necessary, they said.

Tammy Van Dame, a state police spokeswoman, said Richards worked with the agency's bomb squad but was not a member of the highly specialized unit that performs ``render safe'' operations when explosives are discovered. Among the items found in the searches of Richards' home and car:

Richards has been suspended without pay and is being held without bond in the Virginia Beach jail.

by CNB