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

DATE: TUESDAY, April 18, 1995                   TAG: 9504210032
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: PULASKI                                LENGTH: Medium

SHOCKLEY WILL GO FOR IT

Everett P. Shockley, Pulaski County's commonwealth's attorney, will seek re-election in the fall.

Shockley, a Republican, was first elected in 1979 when he narrowly defeated A. Dow Owens, a 16-year incumbent. Owens went on to become a Circuit Court judge and retired last year.

"My campaign slogan then was `A Voice for the Victim,' and it will be the same again this year," Shockley, 43, said in a news release announcing his run for a fifth term. "People are disgusted and many times frightened by the criminal activity that exists even in rural Southwest Virginia. Law-abiding citizens want the courts to be tough on criminals and, if re-elected, I will continue to be their spokesman in getting that message through for them."

Shockley gained statewide recognition when he successfully prosecuted Steve Epperly for the 1980 murder of Gina Hall, a Radford University student whose body has never been found. It was the first time in Virginia that anyone had been convicted of murder without a body, a confession or an eyewitness. Epperly was denied parole last year.

In 1983, Shockley returned to office when he defeated Democratic challenger Woody Lookabill, who is now Circuit Court Clerk and has switched to the Republican party.

Shockley is known for a wiretap investigation which resulted in the prosecution of many large-scale drug dealers from several Eastern states. Most of them received lengthy prison sentences.

Last year, Shockley obtained life sentences for two men charged with a drive-by shooting of a Dublin man who was shot in the face as he drove to Radford on U.S. 11.

Pulaski County Republicans and Democrats both will meet May 15 to nominate candidates for constitutional officers and Board of Supervisors.

Shockley is the only announced candidate for commonwealth's attorney.

Michael Barbour, chairman of the Pulaski County Democratic Party, said several lawyers have expressed interest in running for the Democratic nomination for commonwealth's attorney, but nobody has made a decision.

Keywords:
POLITICS

by CNB