ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Monday, January 1, 1996                TAG: 9601020097
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-5  EDITION: HOLIDAY 
DATELINE: SPRINGFIELD

MURDER CHARGE BROUGHT

A neighbor of a boy found dead in an icy pond has been charged with first-degree murder in the slaying.

James ``Buck'' Murray, 44, was arrested Saturday afternoon.

According to a medical examiner's preliminary report, Jonathan Hall, 13, died from multiple stab wounds. His body was discovered in a storm drainage pond Thursday. The boy had been missing since Dec. 16.

Fairfax Police Capt. David J. Lubas said Murray, a woodcutter, was an acquaintance of Jonathan's. Lubas would not say what police think was the motive in the slaying and would not release other details, saying that it would jeopardize the police investigation.

``I'm glad they caught him before we did,'' said Jeffrey Hankey, Jonathan's uncle. The boy's family had criticized police for initially classifying Jonathan's disappearance as a runaway case.

- Associated Press

LENGTH: Short :   29 lines
KEYWORDS: FATALITY