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

DATE: FRIDAY, July 21, 1995                   TAG: 9507210043
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: CHARLESTON, W.VA.                                LENGTH: Short

COURT ORDERS NEW HEARING IN RAINBOW SLAYINGS CASE

The state Supreme Court has ordered a new hearing for a man convicted of killing two women traveling to a 1980 counterculture gathering but stopped short of overturning the convictions.

Jacob Beard alleged numerous errors in his first-degree murder convictions for the shootings of Nancy Santomero, 19, of Huntington, N.Y., and Vicki Durian, 26, of Wellman, Iowa.

The women were hitchhiking to a gathering of the Rainbow Family counterculture group in Pocahontas County when they were killed. Beard was convicted in June 1993 and is serving two life sentences without parole.

Beard said he was granted immunity while talking to authorities, but prosecutors used his statements as evidence.

In a 5-0 ruling written Wednesday by Justice Margaret Workman, the court said prosecutors must prove that evidence against Beard came from other sources. If they did, the convictions will stand, the court said. If not, the convictions could be overturned.

- Associated Press

by CNB