ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 11, 1996 TAG: 9604110029
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
Benjamin Lilly pleaded not guilty to capital murder and eight other charges Wednesday in Montgomery County Circuit Court.
The charges stem from the Dec. 5 slaying of Alexander DeFilippis, a Virginia Tech student who was abducted outside a Blacksburg convenience store as he waited for a friend and was later shot and killed.
Lilly, 28, of Riner could face the death penalty if convicted of the capital murder charge.
"I strongly feel that I need a jury trial," Lilly told Judge Ray Grubbs when asked whether he preferred a bench or jury trial.
After Grubbs granted that request, he asked Lilly if he had any questions.
"Could you explain to me how a jury trial works?" Lilly responded.
Grubbs briefly explained that the jury would determine whether he was guilty or innocent, then upheld a June 17 trial start date that had previously been agreed to by the prosecution and defense lawyers.
Earlier this week, Lilly's younger brother, Mark Anthony Lilly, 20, and friend Gary Wayne Barker, 19, also were arraigned on eight charges each, including being principals in the second degree to the murder.
Mark Lilly and Barker face life sentences - not the death penalty. Barker's case is set to go jury trial May 16. Mark Lilly's jury trial is set for June 4.
That's because Virginia's "triggerman" statute stipulates that only the person who actually committed a slaying can face the death penalty. But co-defendants can be charged as principals in the second degree to capital murder.
Each of the three men also faces charges of robbing two Giles County convenience stores after DeFilippis was killed. Last month, a Floyd County grand jury returned indictments charging the trio with breaking into an Alum Ridge home the night before and stealing guns and other items.
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