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

DATE: FRIDAY, February 3, 1995                   TAG: 9502030070
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLAND                                LENGTH: Medium

BROTHER'S NOT GUILTY, BUT HE'S STILL NOT FREE

A Giles County jury acquitted Buchanan of the Oct. 21, 1993, murder of Claudine Waddle. The jury also found him not guilty of robbery and arson in connection with her death.

But Buchanan went back to the Bland County Jail on Wednesday evening because of an outstanding warrant for receiving stolen property, said Sheriff Melvin Cox.

Buchanan, 49, was released to Bluefield, W.Va., authorities Thursday morning, Cox said.

Buchanan also faces a charge of violating his parole from a theft conviction in Florida.

Jimmy Turk, one of Buchanan's lawyers, said the parole violation charge was entered based on the charges Buchanan faced in Bland County. The Florida charge involved the theft of a lawn mower Buchanan believed belonged to him, Turk said.

Also Thursday, Turk elaborated on his comments published in Thursday's newspaper.

Turk had said Wednesday that the crimes Buchanan was accused of were so severe that a jury could have felt pressure to find him guilty of something.

``These jurors did not let that happen,'' Turk said Thursday.

``The decision was the only thing that the jury could do if they followed the law and applied the law to the facts'' of the case, Turk said.

``They came to the only just and fair conclusion.''

Waddle was stabbed in the throat and robbed of jewelry and other items before her home was set ablaze.

William James ``Jim'' Buchanan, Fred Buchanan's brother, was found guilty in September of first-degree murder and robbery in the death of Waddle, 77. A Bland County jury sentenced him to two life terms in prison.