Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 21, 1995 TAG: 9504210107
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
Hampton was scheduled to go on trial May 4 in Pulaski County Circuit Court on charges of aggravated malicious wounding, robbery, breaking and entering and conspiracy to rob. The charges accused Hampton of participating in the beating of Robert H. McDaniel, a Hazel Hollow Road man who was found at his house Nov. 9, 1993, lying in a pool of blood.
But Hampton decided to enter no-contest pleas Thursday, about two hours after Judge Colin Gibb rejected defense attorneys' motions to suppress statements Hampton gave police after he was caught in Greensboro, N.C., March 7, 1994. Hampton will be sentenced later.
Mike Fleenor and David Skewes had argued that Hampton's statement should be suppressed because he told Greensboro Detective Gary Evers he had smoked a marijuana cigarette earlier in the day of his capture.
And, the attorneys said, Hampton had been injured in a car wreck just before being captured in Greensboro.
But Evers and Captain Donnie Simpkins of the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office testified that Hampton voluntarily signed waivers of his rights, cooperated fully, and said he wanted to talk to authorities. They said he did not appear to be under the influence of any intoxicants.
Gary Shanks, another paroled murderer, confessed to being the one who actually beat and robbed McDaniel. Shanks, 31, was given three life terms plus 10 years in prison Monday.
Commonwealth's Attorney Everett Shockley told Gibb that Hampton and Shanks came to Pulaski County "specifically for the purpose of robbing Mr. McDaniel." Under Virginia law, Shockley said, Hampton was just as responsible for the crimes as Shanks.
Once there, they told McDaniel - who knew Hampton - that they were there to borrow something. McDaniel agreed and shut off an alarm.
Then, Shockley said, Shanks pulled out a large hammer and began beating McDaniel.
McDaniel was left for dead and money was taken from his pocket, Shockley said. Although McDaniel lived, parts of his brain had to be carved away, his skull was reconstructed and he was comatose for some time, Shockley said. He still has limited speech, has lost the use of his left arm and has to walk with a cane.
On a furlough from a Roanoke hospital to visit home, McDaniel first began to provide clues as to who might have beaten him, Shockley said. As his family was bringing him home, he became visibly upset when they drove past Hampton's residence.
A Pulaski County grand jury's indictment of Hampton on Feb. 22, 1994, for McDaniel's beating set in motion a two-week search for him, during which time he racked up charges in three states. In addition to the charges involving McDaniel's beating, Hampton was charged in West Virginia with raping a woman and stealing her car; beating an elderly Montgomery County garage owner and taking $500 from him; forcing two Maryland women to give up their car at an Ironto rest area; and abducting a North Carolina woman from her car at a Greensboro shopping center.
The Montgomery County and West Virginia charges are pending. Hampton pleaded guilty in July to the Greensboro abduction and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Hampton was paroled in 1992 after serving time for the 1975 murder of a 95-year-old Montgomery County woman.
by CNB