Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 25, 1995 TAG: 9506260076
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE LENGTH: Medium
The defense has about two weeks to make any motions regarding the conviction and sentence.
David R. Campbell originally was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Lisa Moody, whose body was found Oct. 18. The jury convicted him of the lesser charge Friday after some three hours of deliberations and recommended the maximum sentence.
Campbell, who did not testify, had told police that on the night of Oct. 17, the 26-year-old woman left the apartment they shared to buy some alcoholic beverages. He said he got worried about her, went looking for her and found her body along the side of a street.
A woman in a neighboring apartment, however, testified that both Campbell and Moody were in the apartment as late as 11:30 p.m. Oct. 17. Another neighbor testified about hearing thumps against the apartment wall and a muffled scream.
The key prosecution witness was Ronnie Eugene Bolin, who said he overheard Campbell tell Robert Walls about manually strangling Moody. The three men were prisoners at the Wythe County jail. "It bothered me, and I had to let it out, and I had to tell someone about it," Bolin said.
The defense responded by bringing Walls from the state prison at Powhatan as its only witness. Walls denied that Campbell made any such statement to him. He also said Campbell is his friend.
Court-appointed defense attorney Roy David Warburton suggested that Bolin, who could have gotten up to 80 years for the breaking and entering and grand larceny charges against him, was testifying because of the eight months he ended up serving under a plea agreement. "It didn't come to my mind that that would help me, no," Bolin said.
by CNB