ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 1, 1995 TAG: 9512010036
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
Dorothy Palmer was asleep in the bedroom of her Salem home May 1 when she was awakened by a faint noise.
She opened her eyes and saw a man going through her jewelry box.
Palmer, 72, lay still in her bed, hoping he would go away.
When the burglar realized he wasn't alone in the room, he aimed a flashlight at Palmer's face, then fled - taking about $15,000 of jewelry, credit cards and other valuables with him.
The pounding of her heart kept her awake the rest of the night.
"I thought I was going to have a heart attack before it was all over with," Palmer recalled Thursday - the day the man who broke into her house was convicted of 10 burglary charges in Salem Circuit Court.
Coleman Archibald Stigall III, 35, of Salem, pleaded no contest to the charges as part of a plea agreement. Judge G.O. Clemens found him guilty of all 10 charges.
Commonwealth's Attorney Fred King dropped two other charges as part of the agreement.
Stigall, given the nickname "Steal it all" Stigall by Roanoke prosecutors, has been convicted of burglarizing 15 homes in Roanoke, Roanoke County and Salem between May 1 and June 1.
Stigall pleaded no contest in all three jurisdictions.
In June, he was sentenced in Roanoke to nine years in prison. Salem and Roanoke County will hold a joint sentencing in January after a pre-sentence investigation. Stigall faces about 200 years for the charges in Salem alone, King said.
Pawn shop records and fingerprints led to his arrest - but not before he had taken about $100,000 worth of merchandise in the monthlong crime spree.
And when you talk to the victims of those burglaries, they'll tell you that money isn't the only loss.
"It makes you feel uncomfortable in your own home," said William Wooding, whose Northwest Roanoke home was burglarized by Stigall 12 days after Palmer's.
Wooding lost between $3,000 and $5,000 worth of belongings, including a videocassette recorder and several pieces of jewelry.
But he says his family has suffered emotionally more than financially.
His 9-year-old daughter, Ashley, couldn't sleep for many nights after the burglary.
A jewelry box filled with family heirlooms was taken from her bedroom.
"It makes me angry when I see my little girl looking under the bed and in her closet" before she goes to bed, Wooding said.
The Woodings have lived in their home for about 12 years. The threat of burglary "had never crossed our minds" in their friendly neighborhood, where everyone looks out for each other, he said.
Now, Wooding makes an extra trip around the house before going anywhere just to make sure all windows are locked. And he no longer forgets to turn on the burglar alarm.
"It's a feeling you really never get rid of," he said.
Wooding says police called him several times and asked for him to identify some items they found at a pawn shop that could have been his family's. But Wooding didn't bother. He didn't even claim the items on his insurance.
"We just wanted to forget about the situation," he said.
Craig Lukezic lived in Richmond six years and was never affected by crime. But one year after he moved to "little old Salem," his house was burglarized.
He lost some stereo equipment and his wedding ring, but they were found at a pawn shop.
Stigall's fingerprints were found in his home.
Lukezic, an archaeologist who now lives in Roanoke County, said the burglary was just a reminder to him that material things aren't the most important.
"He goes through all this and causes so much havoc for what he probably could have gotten from a minimum-wage job," Lukezic said.
No motive for Stigall's burglaries has been disclosed in court.
Stigall's attorneys, Jonathan Apgar and David Lawrence, said Thursday that they probably will ask for inpatient drug treatment.
Court records show that Stigall has been convicted previously of drug-related charges.
LENGTH: Medium: 79 linesby CNB