Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 25, 1994 TAG: 9410250095
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Grand larceny and breaking-and-entering charges against Randall Cofske, 25, now will go to a grand jury in Roanoke County Circuit Court.
Cofske was charged along with two other men, who now are serving two-year sentences for their role in the break-in of a Catawba Valley Drive home in October 1992.
Ten handguns and about $1,200 in jewelry, appliances and other items were stolen from the house, according to Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Mark Claytor.
The guns were taken to Massachusetts and traded to an unknown person for drugs and cash, Claytor said. One of the guns, a .357-caliber Magnum, turned up the following year in New Jersey, where it was used to kill a drug detective outside a courtroom in Essex County.
Detective John Sczyrek was shot in the head as he waited to testify in a drug case, authorities have said. A man being prosecuted on drug charges was charged with murder, and his girlfriend, a court employee, was accused of smuggling him the gun.
Claytor said authorities have not been able to trace the path of the guns after they left the hands of Cofske and his two co-defendants.
Cofske, who was living on Dale Avenue Southeast at the time of the break-in, has since served time in Massachusetts for an armed robbery, which delayed his prosecution in Roanoke County on the gun theft charges.
by CNB