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

DATE: SATURDAY, June 17, 1995                   TAG: 9506200045
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

NO EARLY RELEASE FOR EX-OFFICER

A former Lexington police officer convicted of killing his wife in 1990 will not be released early from prison despite a claim that he had undergone a religious conversion.

Jerry Knick had petitioned Rockbridge County Circuit Judge George Honts III for a reduction or suspension of the balance of his 10-year prison term.

Knick says he had a religious conversion in prison. He now serves as a trusty and an assistant to the chaplain at a correctional facility in Albemarle County.

In ruling against Knick's release, Honts commended him for his "positive response" to incarceration.

But the judge said Knick's conversion alone is not enough to reverse the will of two separate juries, who recommended that Knick serve a 10-year prison term for killing his wife, Lisa, in 1990.

A Rockbridge County jury convicted Knick in August 1991. That verdict was overturned by the Virginia Court of Appeals, which said testimony that Knick had threatened his first wife with a gun should not have been allowed.

The second trial was held in Winchester in 1993; the jury convicted Knick of second-degree murder.

Prosecutors said Knick shot his wife in a rage over marital problems after finding her at the couple's home with a fellow officer.

The defense argued that Knick accidentally shot his wife after she grabbed his gun. His attorneys said he had pulled the gun to scare his wife.

Honts said his decision not to release Knick early is bolstered by the fact that the Parole Board twice has denied him early release.

by CNB