Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 27, 1995 TAG: 9504270053
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The 24-year-old groom's hands were cut with a knife. His 20-year-old bride was hit in the head by a bottle. Three guests also were taken to Williamsburg Community Hospital, police said.
The bride's uncle was charged Tuesday in connection with the groom's injury. Bennie Futrell, 40, was released on $2,500 bail.
The wedding was at the Williamsburg home of the bride's father. The bridal couple were going around thanking people for coming when the fight broke out, said Kent Cowles, the groom's cousin.
``People were shocked,'' he said. ``They were just having a good time ... eating and drinking and talking.''
Kent Cowles said the couple ``seemed kind of disappointed'' when he visited them at the hospital Saturday night.
But at least the honeymoon didn't have to be canceled. Monica and Terry Cowles left for Virginia Beach on Sunday and aren't expected back until later this week.
Witnesses told police that Futrell ran into the house and grabbed a knife after an argument broke out between him and several other guests.
Futrell held the knife to the groom's throat at one point and wildly swung the knife, cutting two other people, before he ran from the back yard toward the street with a crowd from the party in pursuit, the police report says.
Futrell was lying in the grass when police arrived a little after 10 p.m. Another guest was lying about 20 feet away with a severe cut on her right arm, the police report says.
Futrell suffered a broken jaw and a dislocated shoulder in the melee, police said, but neither he nor any of the witnesses could explain how that happened. Also, no one knew who threw the bottles that injured the bride and another woman.
Williamsburg police Officer Aylwin Perkins said he received conflicting accounts about what started the brawl and hasn't determined the cause.
by CNB