Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 1, 1994 TAG: 9411010101
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GALAX NOTE: LEDE LENGTH: Medium
But Gammon, 42, lay dead inside the trailer, and his wife, Rebecca Easter Gammon, 28, was seriously wounded by gunshots. Gammon's sons, by two previous marriages, are charged with capital murder in his death.
The sons were arrested early Monday in Henry County after a chase that ended when the car in which they were riding came up behind a tractor-trailer and ran off U.S. 220 into a ditch.
William Spencer ``Willie'' Gammon, 20, who was driving the car, was charged with capital murder, attempted capital murder, two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony, and robbery. He was transported from Henry County to the Carroll County jail in Hillsville, where he is awaiting an arraignment tentatively scheduled for Friday.
The same charges were placed against 16-year-old Chris Gammon, who is being held at a regional detention center in Christiansburg.
Willie Gammon also faces charges in Henry County of failing to stop for police and reckless driving.
Carroll County Sheriff R.D. Carrico said a neighbor called 911 at 1:38 a.m. Monday and reported hearing shots from the Gammon home. Authorities found Gary Gammon, a mechanic, dead in the home, located on a gravel road just outside Galax. Rebecca Gammon was taken to Twin County Regional Hospital in Galax, and later transported in critical condition to Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Her condition had improved to serious by Monday night, but she remained in intensive care.
Carroll County authorities broadcast a statewide message, with emphasis on Patrick and Henry counties, for law officials to be on the lookout for a blue Ford Probe owned by Gary and Rebecca Gammon.
Shortly afterward, Patrick County deputies spotted the car just west of the Patrick-Henry line on Service Road 57. They tried unsuccessfully to stop the car, which was pursued on service roads until it encountered other officers waiting on one of them.
The car then emerged from the service roads onto U.S. 220 South, where it was clocked at speeds up to 120 mph, before it ran up behind the tractor-trailer and went off the road. The two half-brothers were arrested about 3:12 a.m., 1.5 miles from the North Carolina border.
Neighbors along Bedsaul Hollow Road seemed stunned Monday afternoon by what had happened. One of them said she had heard that Willie Gammon had lost his job and been told by Gary and Rebecca Gammon, with whom he had been living, that he would have to leave.
A young woman who lives nearby said she was a friend of Chris Gammon's and that he told her in a recent telephone conversation that he and Willie would be leaving soon and moving to Martinsville.
Carrico said that Willie Gammon told him he was on probation for a misdemeanor assault-and-battery charge.
A note on one of the trailer's doors, written on lined paper torn from a spiral notebook, read: ``Gone to Martinsville. Be back Tuesday. See ya. Gary, Becky, Chris, Willie.''
Neighbors speculated that whoever fired the shots assumed that both Gary and Rebecca Gammon were dead, and that the note was an attempt to delay discovery of the bodies.
Inside, a pool of dried blood marked the middle of a blue living room carpet. Three playing cards, a plastic soft-drink bottle, a partly crushed can and a neck brace that Gary Gammon at times wore were on the floor. Rebecca Gammon's denim jacket was on the sofa.
The Gammons' wedding license, dated June 6, 1988, stood on a chest in the room.
A tiny gray dog cowered in a large chair, growling softly whenever someone approached. Sandra Clark, a neighbor, finally coaxed it into coming with her. Clark said she also would be taking care of another dog, several cats and the goldfish belonging to the Gammons.
Staff writer Lisa Applegate contributed information to this story.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB