Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 27, 1995 TAG: 9505300051
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEW CASTLE LENGTH: Medium
Family and friends rallied around Dan Richard Grigsby when he told them of his wife's disappearance last summer. Friday, it was their testimony that helped convict the former coal miner of his wife's murder.
Grigsby reported his wife, Dolly Rose Grigsby, missing July 19, 1994. In public he lamented her disappearance, publicizing it and offering a $5,000 reward. But at home, he confided in his family, telling them he had shot his wife and buried her near a Craig County cabin, according to court testimony.
During the one-day bench trial, Grigsby barely looked at the prosecution's witnesses. His hands visibly shook as he rubbed ChapStick on his lips and popped Butter Rum Life Savers into his mouth.
Defense Attorney Carl McAfee hoped to knock the first-degree murder charge down to second-degree murder. But to do that, he needed to prove there was no premeditation. A psychiatrist testified about Grigsby's fragile mental state, the numerous anti-psychotic drugs he was taking to alleviate severe depression, and his two suicide attempts.
The defense testimony depicted Grigsby as unable to control himself, so drugged that he was incapable of knowing right from wrong. But Circuit Judge Duncan Byrd Jr. disagreed, convicting the Buchanan County man of first-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
When he was convicted, Grigsby looked to his lawyer, appearing not to understand.
"He's not totally clear on what happened today," McAfee said after the trial, explaining that his client is taking several medications, including Prozac.
Grigsby faces 20 years to life in prison when he is sentenced this summer.
In the end, it was testimony from Grigsby's brother, Kenneth, and his brother's family that revealed details of the murder and the subsequent plot to dismember and hide the body.
Dan and Dolly Grigsby dropped their son off at a football camp, then drove to a cabin in the Tub Run area of the Jefferson National Forest, according to court testimony. In Dan Grigsby's truck was a pistol and some .32-caliber ammunition that Grigsby's brother had purchased for him.
Dan Grigsby led his wife on a walk through the woods, helping her over some rough terrain. He left her for only one moment, to get a soft drink from the truck - and to grab his gun. When he returned, they continued their walk.
"They came to another tree, and he said she couldn't get over it, so he helped her over," testified niece Goldena Grigsby, 21. "When they came to a third tree, he said, that's where he shot her."
He wrapped his wife's body in a green blanket, dug a shallow grave and covered her with rocks.
Several weeks later, he enlisted the help of his brother and a friend to cut up the remains and rebury parts of his wife in two locations of the Tub Run area and hide her skull elsewhere.
Last week, Kenneth Grigsby told police where the skull was buried - in the garden of their father's house. Kenneth Grigsby is charged with being an accessory after the fact, a misdemeanor.
Mickey Breeding, the friend who drove Kenneth and Dan Grigsby to the Tub Run area on three occasions, is charged with being an accessory before the fact. That charge is expected to be dismissed because of Breeding's help in the case, said Craig County Commonwealth's Attorney Thaddeus Cox.
In October, Breeding led investigators to the burial sites of Dolly Rose Grigsby. The uncovering of her remains tore apart the Pilgrims Knob community in far Southwest Virginia and angered the closest of Dan Grigsby's friends. The couple's son and daughter haven't spoken to their father since he was charged, according to friends.
"They said when their mother died, he died the same night" in their eyes, neighbor Linda Keen said.
Her husband, Gary Keen, testified against Grigsby on Friday. Outside the Craig County Courthouse, he denounced his friendship with the defendant.
"There are two precious children without a precious mother," he said. "Put that down in the paper."
by CNB