Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 12, 1994 TAG: 9410120092
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A Lynchburg woman whose body was found in the trunk of her car in Roanoke last month will be counted as the city's first murder victim of the year, said Major J.L. Viar. According to state law, if a murder site cannot be determined, the jurisdiction where the victim was found must take responsibility for the case.
A medical examiner's report showed that Pamela Gail Ramey died from asphyxiation. But investigators do not know where she was killed.
While this year has remained relatively quiet for city police, September was volatile. On Sept. 18, police shot and killed a Floyd County man after a two-hour standoff where he had repeatedly brandished a gun.
Nine days earlier, police found Ramey's body in the trunk of her red Mitsubishi, which was parked in a lot at Fifth Street and Marshall Avenue Southwest. Ramey was found partially clothed, her body wrapped in a sleeping bag.
An autopsy showed that Ramey's death could have been caused by smothering, lack of oxygen from being confined in the car trunk or a gentle strangulation. She had no injuries to her neck or throat.
Police have not been able to determine who drove her car to Roanoke. But investigators' prime suspect was Ramey's ex-boyfriend, John William Jackson.
Ramey was reported missing from Lynchburg Sept. 6 after she failed to show up for work. The same day, Lynchburg police questioned Jackson. In his possession were some of Ramey's jewelry and her pager. He reportedly asked officers, "How much time can I get for this?"
When an investigator asked if Ramey was in the area, Jackson replied, "She is not close by here."
Jackson then struck an officer and fled, leading police on a chase into Bedford County, where he abandoned his car and ran into woods. A farmer found Jackson dead the next day, strangled by a shoelace that was tied to a fence.
Roanoke's last murder occurred Dec. 13, 1993, when Judith D. Cook, 40, was stabbed in the back and hit in the head repeatedly with a baseball bat at her Windsor Avenue Southwest apartment. Her boyfriend, Michael Scott Hairston, pleaded guilty to her murder and is serving a life sentence.
Cook was one of 11 murder victims in Roanoke last year. That was the second-lowest homicide total since 1979, when there were nine. Over the past 10 years, Roanoke has averaged 14.5 slayings a year.
Ramey's is the fifth murder in the Roanoke Valley this year. The first slayings occurred Aug. 29, when rescue workers found the four members of a Vinton family dead in their home. Investigators have yet to solve the Vinton murders.
Keywords:
ROMUR
by CNB