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

DATE: SUNDAY, November 6, 1994                   TAG: 9411070066
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM STAFF WRITE|
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

2 SOUGHT IN DEATH ARRESTED

The flight of two West Virginia men wanted for questioning about the beating death of an Old Southwest Roanoke woman, as well as for carjacking and the beating of a man in Florida, came to an end early Saturday in Amarillo, Texas.

Paul David Thompson, 26, of Whitesville, W.Va., and David McKeone, 27, formerly of Morgantown, W.Va., were apprehended about 2:30 a.m., according to Amarillo police and the Raleigh County, W.Va., Sheriff's Office. No other details of the arrest were available. Thompson and McKeone were being held by Amarillo police pending extradition to Florida.

A Roanoke police detective arrived in Amarillo Saturday night, Amarillo police said.

Maj. J.L. Viar of the Roanoke Police Department would not comment on the arrest.

Roanoke police have been looking for Thompson and McKeone since the body of Virgie Green, 44, was found Tuesday bludgeoned and stuffed in the trunk of her car behind her home at 421 Woods Ave. S.W. An autopsy said she died of a blow to the head.

Green was reported missing by her daughters Oct. 28, three days after she was last seen. Thompson and McKeone, who reportedly had been staying with Green, disappeared about the same time.

Also missing were Green's car and pickup truck. The car, a blue Nissan, was found in the parking lot of a Franklin Road convenience store. The Dodge Ram pickup turned up in Grafton, W.Va., where it had been sold.

Authorities think Thompson and McKeone left Roanoke by bus Oct. 26 accompanied by Sherry Sprouse, 27. Amarillo police said the two men had a woman with them when they were arrested, but would not confirm her identity.

A nationwide search for the two men began Friday when the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office in Florida issued warrants for Thompson and McKeone for carjacking and attempted murder. They are wanted in connection with the beating of William Smith of Clearwater, according to Sgt. Greg Tita. Smith, who was beaten on the head with a blunt object, was hospitalized in critical condition, and his 1991 Toyota Camry was stolen.

Tita said Roanoke detectives provided fingerprints of the men they wanted to question, which matched those left by Thompson and McKeone.

Thompson and McKeone, who served time together at the Huttonsville Correctional Center in West Virginia, also are wanted in that state for burglary and parole violations, according to a Roanoke police news release.

Texas is one of the places to which Tita believed the two men would head, based on information deputies gathered.

The Associated Press contributed information to this story.

Keywords:
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by CNB