Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 14, 1995 TAG: 9501160063
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS AND STAFF REPORTS
DATELINE: DANVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Frank Johnson Lee, 32, was captured after a resident called police to report seeing someone matching his description near Fairgrounds Plaza, Danville Police Chief Neal Morris said.
Danville police arrived at the site and arrested Lee after he attempted to flee, Morris said.
Lee is charged with bludgeoning to death Fran Smith, 55, of Hampton after she picked him up at the Hampton Greyhound bus station Jan. 4, the day he got out of prison. Neighbors and friends said Smith had never met Lee, a career criminal who became her pen pal last summer, until she brought him home to live with her.
Authorities said Lee took Smith's gold Daihatsu with the personalized tag FRAN 90.
Wednesday morning, Lee showed up in Roanoke. After picking up some of his things from Denise Moran, a former girlfriend, he left Smith's car at Wheels Inc., a Williamson Road used-car lot. Lee took a black Chevrolet Camaro out for a test drive and never came back, police said.
In 1990, Roanoke Circuit Judge Roy Willett sentenced Lee, a Craig County native, to eight years in prison for obtaining merchandise by false pretenses, uttering and attempted uttering - that is, presenting a forged document to receive money.
A year later, Lee wrote to Willett asking that the court re-evaluate his sentence. He said he had earned his general equivalency diploma and hoped to start a "service-type business" from three inventions he had made.
He also enclosed a lengthy "Contract/Promissary Note" in which he promised to provide the state, among other things, plans for generating income for the prison budget, reducing unemployment and helping take care of the homeless - if he was paroled.
Smith was released last week on mandatory parole because he was within six months of completing his sentence.
According to the Newport News Daily Press, his adult criminal history dates to 1984, when he received a five-year sentence for possession of stolen property and petty larceny.
by CNB