ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 19, 1996 TAG: 9604190055
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
STAUNTON - An Augusta County judge has sentenced Douglas W. Howdyshell to eight years in prison for the murder of his nephew.
Circuit Judge Thomas H. Wood on Wednesday upheld the recommendation of a jury that found Howdyshell guilty of second-degree murder and a firearms charge Jan. 18. He will serve five years on the murder conviction and three years for the firearms offense.
According to trial testimony, Bennie Howdyshell, 39, and three friends had been drinking beer at Douglas Howdyshell's one-room apartment. Douglas Howdyshell, 58, shot his nephew after the two argued.
Douglas Howdyshell's attorney, W. Gordon Poindexter, tried to get the verdict overturned or reduced by arguing that his client has never been charged with either a felony or minor offense - not even a traffic violation.
Poindexter said that Bennie Howdyshell had a violent past, including a conviction in 1993 for maliciously wounding a woman he kidnapped. - Associated Press Pittsylvania has 3rd rabies case this year
CHATHAM - Pittsylvania County health officials say they have a third confirmed case of rabies in a wild animal this year.
Larry Leach of the Pittsylvania-Danville Health District said a rabid raccoon was picked up a mile from Chatham this month. The raccoon had gotten into a fight with two dogs, which was unusual behavior, he said.
Leach said one of the dogs had a rabies vaccination and was kept in quarantine for 10 days. The other dog, a stray, was destroyed.
The other two animals that tested positive for rabies this year were a skunk near Chatham and another raccoon in the Java area.
The county had nine cases of rabies in 1995. - Associated Press Cocaine seized in I-95 traffic stop
DOSWELL - A routine traffic stop along Interstate 95 in Hanover County turned into a major drug bust when a state trooper discovered almost 8 pounds of cocaine and $342,000 in cash inside a car.
Trooper John Ruffin pulled the southbound car over near the Caroline County line early Wednesday for an equipment violation. After getting permission to search the car, the trooper found the drugs and money.
Two men who had been riding in the car took off as the trooper made the find. By then, state police Sgt. Randy Pearce had arrived on the scene, and Ruffin and Pearce caught one of the men.
The other got away, and police were looking for him.
State police are trying to establish the identity of the arrested man through fingerprint checks, said Special Agent Roger Rector. - Associated Press Ex-hostage recalls Iran-Contra, North
BRIDGEWATER - Former Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite, who was taken hostage in Lebanon as he worked to free Americans already being held there, almost gave up when he learned of the U.S. arms-for-hostages deal.
``Immediately, my blood ran cold,'' Waite recalled Wednesday during a speech at Bridgewater College about his role in the efforts to free the hostages and the scandal that became known as the Iran-Contra affair. ``I knew something was very badly wrong.
``I had to make the most difficult decision of my life. I had to say to myself, `Do I pull out at this point and leave the problem, or do I return and try to pick up the pieces?'''
Waite, who was on a church mission to win the release of the hostages, was kidnapped by Muslim radicals in 1989 and spent 1,763 days in captivity.
Waite said he met one of the principals in the Iran-Contra scandal, Oliver North, about a year after he was freed and told North not to blame himself. North was convicted on three felony counts in the scandal, but the convictions were overturned on appeal. North lost a Republican bid for a U.S. Senate seat from Virginia in 1994.
``I think he was glad to hear that, and I was glad to say it,'' Waite said of North. ``I fully believe he worked hard for the release of the hostages.'' - Associated Press
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