Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 16, 1995 TAG: 9505160120
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BRISTOL LENGTH: Medium
Three weeks ago Linda Elizabeth Branham, 31, ended her relationship with her husband, Calvin Grant Branham, 35, according to police.
Linda Branham and her two children, ages 3 years and 7 months, continued to live at their home while Branham moved out.
Police said Branham broke into the house Monday morning and waited for his wife to return.
The couple's children were with relatives when Linda Branham returned from her night-shift job just after 7 a.m. Police Detective Kevin Corbett said she found her husband standing in the den with a sawed-off rifle.
``He disrobes her, binds and gags her with silver duct tape, then pours alcohol [tequila and whiskey] all over her,'' Corbett said.
The detective said Branham used leather belts to tie his wife to a wrought-iron rail in the den of the home just above a stairwell, chopped off her hair with scissors, slashed at her face and breasts with a straight razor - causing superficial wounds - then doused her face, back and chest with scalding water.
About 3 p.m. Branham called police, telling the communications officer there had been a minor domestic dispute at the residence but there was no need for police or emergency medical crews.
``But the dispatcher heard what sounded like whimpering in the background, and officers were dispatched anyway,'' Corbett said.
As officers approached the house, they heard a gunshot.
Corbett said they found Linda Branham bound to the railing and her husband sprawled across a bed in the den, suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. Nearby, police found a sawed-off .22-caliber rifle and a spent shell casing.
Branham died before he arrived at Bristol Regional Medical Center.
Linda Branham was admitted to the hospital and was in fair condition Monday night.
Keywords:
FATALITY
Memo: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.