ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, May 23, 1996 TAG: 9605230069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press RICHMOND
Police arrested a woman in her teens in the city's so-called ``Golden Years'' slayings of women older than 50, and investigators may travel to Texas to question a man with Richmond connections who is jailed on a charge of strangling his mother.
Richmond Police Chief Jerry Oliver declined to identify the woman because she was 15 when Caroline Cooke was beaten to death Jan. 31, 1993.
``This is one small step. ... This is just one of the homicides,'' Oliver said. ``We don't want the communities to let their guard down.''
He said robbery was the motive for the crime. Jewelry and other valuables were taken from the murder victim's home.
Detective Sgt. Phil Mangano, supervisor of the ``Golden Years'' task force, said the suspect lives in Richmond's east end and was in custody because of other crimes when she was arrested.
Although the woman is the only suspect in the 71-year-old woman's slaying, she is not a suspect in any of the other ``Golden Years'' killings, Oliver said.
Mangano said five elderly women have been slain in Richmond since the girl was taken into custody last October.
When asked about other suspects and if a serial killer could be at large, Oliver said, ``It's a constant battle between possibility and probability. ... We're trying not to limit ourselves.'' He said he could neither confirm nor deny connections between any of the other killings.
But Oliver said a member of the ``Golden Years'' task force is probably going to Tyler, Texas, to question Karl Smetana, 26, who has been charged with murdering his mother there.
``This young man in Texas, the similarities are such that we'll consider him. Based on what we know, he's got relatives in the city. He may have frequented the city,'' Oliver said.
Before moving to Texas to live with his 50-year-old mother, Margaret Hewes Lout, Smetana lived in Richmond, police said. Oliver said Smetana has not been named as a suspect in any of the slayings.
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Richmond Police Chief Jerry Oliver (left) andby CNBDetective Sgt. Phil Mangano announce an arrest in one of the "Golden
Years" slayings.