Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 29, 1995 TAG: 9501310119
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WINCHESTER LENGTH: Medium
A commuter returning home Monday evening found the emaciated, nude body of Valerie Smelser in a Clarke County ravine.
Her mother, Wanda, and her mother's live-in boyfriend, Norman Hoverter, reported to Woodstock town police last Sunday night that when they stopped at a gas station, Valerie went to the bathroom and never came back.
Hoverter eventually said that ``the statements made at the Woodstock gas station and all that were just a ruse,'' Clarke County Commonwealth's Attorney Geoffrey W. Cole told the newspaper.
Police charged Hoverter, 49, and Wanda Smelser, 42, on Thursday with first-degree murder.
Authorities have declined to say whether Hoverter or Smelser have confessed to killing the girl. They are scheduled to appear Tuesday in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court for a bond hearing. They have not entered a plea and are jailed pending the hearing.
Public defender William A. Crane was appointed Friday to represent the couple, who cannot afford to hire a lawyer.
Authorities said Valerie was killed at her home in Middletown in Frederick County. Her body was left in the wooded ravine near the Shenandoah River the same day.
Lawrence R. Ambrogi, the Frederick County prosecutor, said Valerie suffered a ``tragic and cruel death'' that may have been preceded by years of neglect and abuse.
An autopsy showed that Valerie died either from a blow to the head, hypothermia, or a combination of the two. Valerie weighed just 51 pounds, about 20 pounds below normal weight for her age.
by CNB