Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 7, 1995 TAG: 9502070054
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Paul David Thompson and David Thomas McKeone, who met while doing time in a West Virginia prison two years ago, already are back in custody for crimes they committed together after being paroled.
Thompson, 25, could face the death penalty if convicted of killing Virgie Green, a Roanoke woman who took him and McKeone into her Woods Avenue home shortly before she was found bludgeoned to death.
A grand jury in Roanoke Circuit Court indicted Thompson on charges of capital murder, robbery, possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and grand larceny, according to Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Greg Phillips.
McKeone, 27, was indicted on charges of first-degree murder, robbery, possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and grand larceny, Phillips said.
A woman who was with the two men during the time Green was killed has not been charged, and may end up testifying against them.
Green was last seen by her children Oct. 25, one day before her 44th birthday. One week later, after she was reported missing, her body was found in the trunk of a blue Buick, wrapped in blankets, with two green trash bags pulled tightly over her head. An autopsy showed she died from a blow to her head with a blunt instrument.
A ring had been taken from her finger, and tools and appliances were missing from her home.
Several days later, Thompson and McKeone surfaced in Clearwater, Fla., where they beat a 67-year-old man and stole his car.
They finally were arrested in Texas.
They were convicted this month of trying to kill the Clearwater man, William C. Smith. Both men pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder and carjacking in the Nov. 1 incident, according to Assistant State Attorney Doug Ellis.
McKeone, who actually hit Smith, was sentenced to 14 years; Thompson received a 12-year term.
According to Ellis, the two men were taking turns attacking people, and it was McKeone's turn when they approached Smith.
Ellis said Thompson told police: ``I didn't hit him, because it wasn't my turn. If I had hit him, he would have been dead.''
The two ex-convicts also are suspects in the killing of a West Virginia man.
Harold Lee Jones, 63, of Marion County, W.Va., was beaten to death with a metal rod last August as he worked in his woodshed. His car was stolen.
Phillips said that West Virginia authorities have agreed to wait until the prosecution is completed in the Green case in Roanoke before they proceed with any charges against Thompson and McKeone.
Both men have agreed to waive their right to fight extradition to Virginia from Florida.
Smith was in a coma after the attack, and authorities say it was only through luck that Thompson and McKeone are not suspects in three homicides instead of two.
``They really thought they killed me,'' Smith told the Tampa Tribune in January. ``But I'm too dog-burned tough for them.''
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by CNB