ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 6, 1996 TAG: 9603060040
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN
Blacksburg and Montgomery County authorities are still searching for a man who witnessed the Dec. 5 abduction of Alexander DeFilippis.
After the preliminary hearing of three people charged with abducting and killing the 22-year-old Virginia Tech student, police renewed their efforts to find the witness, who could provide valuable information about how the abduction unfolded.
Because the abduction occurred near exam and semester break, authorities at first thought the witness could be a student who left for home and didn't know what had happened.
But three months after the killing, the witness still hasn't come forward.
DeFilippis' roommate told police a man who had been on the outside pay phone at the Hethwood Xpress came inside the store to warn him his buddy was in trouble.
The witness could either help the prosecution of the trio who have been charged, or bolster the defense of one of the men.
Two of the three people charged have said Benjamin L. Lilly, 27, was the man who decided to abduct, then kill, DeFilippis. Lilly's statement to police is that he was picked up sometime later by his brother, Mark Anthony Lilly, 20, and Gary Wayne Barker, 19, while hitchhiking.
The charges against the three will be considered by a grand jury in April.
The witness can contact the Blacksburg Police Department at 961-1150 or the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, 382-2951.
LENGTH: Short : 37 linesby CNB