ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 8, 1996 TAG: 9605080029
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: FLOYD
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER
A judge upheld punishments Tuesday set by two Floyd County Circuit Court juries earlier this year against David Joel Hall, convicted of killing his 18-year-old girlfriend, and Virginia Denise Lomax, convicted of shooting her boyfriend.
Virginia's 1994 no-parole law applies in both cases.
A jury decided in March that Hall, 34, should serve life plus 16 years in prison for the June 14 beating death of Ellen Marjorie Plocki and for five other charges. Judge Ray Grubbs affirmed the sentence Tuesday.
Plocki, of Austinville, was found wrapped in a blanket on a makeshift bed in a garage in Willis where she lived with Hall. An autopsy showed she died from a blood clot caused by blunt-force injuries.
Cecil Wayne Brown testified that Hall forced him at gunpoint to look at Plocki's body and promise not to tell anyone about her death.
Hall was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder and 16 years for abducting Brown and holding a shotgun on him; possessing a firearm after being a convicted of a felony; unauthorized use of a vehicle that was being repaired at the garage; and driving after being declared a habitual offender. He also was fined $1,500.
Grubbs also affirmed Tuesday that Lomax, 42, will serve life plus three years for the Aug. 4 shooting death of her estranged boyfriend, Daniel M. McPeak.
McPeak, 25, was shot in the back with a .32-caliber pistol when he visited Lomax's home several days after leaving it. Lomax told authorities that the gun accidentally discharged when McPeak swung a plastic bag full of clothes at her.
At a November preliminary hearing, a medical examiner testified McPeak died of a single gunshot wound to the right side of his back. The bullet perforated his right lung and heart before exiting his chest. The wound pattern means McPeak's back was to the gun when he was shot.
Lomax's attorney argued that that conclusion was not inconsistent with Lomax's statement that McPeak was running from her after swinging the bag of clothes.
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