ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, June 21, 1996                  TAG: 9606210061
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: B-3  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DAVID REED ASSOCIATED PRESS 

ANTI-GAY BIAS CONSIDERED AS MOTIVE IN HIKER DEATHS

Attorney General Janet Reno assured a homosexual rights group Thursday that investigators are considering anti-lesbian bias as a motive in the slayings of two campers at Shenandoah National Park.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force said in a letter to Reno on June 7 that members thought investigators had disregarded the possibility that the double homicide was a hate crime.

``From the outset,'' Reno responded, ``investigators have been exhaustively examining all evidence, following all leads and pursuing all motives, including the possibility that the crime was motivated by the sexual orientation of the victims.''

Park rangers found Julianne Williams, 24, of St. Cloud, Minn., and Lollie Winans, 26, of Unity, Maine, on June 1 with their throats slashed at a primitive campsite near the Appalachian Trail.

Investigators have said the women were not robbed. They described the killings as an isolated incident, but declined to say what evidence led to that conclusion.

Melinda Paras, director of the task force, said that information prompted speculation among gay activists that the murders were anti-lesbian hate crimes.

``The fact that it happened before contributed to our fear,'' task force spokeswoman Tracey Conaty said.

Stephen Roy Carr was sentenced to life in prison for killing one woman and wounding another near the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania eight years ago, and he acknowledged that he shot the women because they were lesbians.

Unlike attacks based on race, Reno said crimes motivated by sexual orientation can not be prosecuted as hate crimes under federal law. She said the FBI has joined the investigation because the killings happened on federal land.

``In addition, sentences in federal prosecutions may be enhanced if the crime was motivated by the sexual orientation of the victim, pursuant to authority passed under the 1994 Crime Control Act,'' Reno wrote.

More than 100 Park Service employees and FBI agents are working jointly on the investigation, along with volunteers from the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club and the Appalachian Trail Conference.

Park Service spokesman Bob Miller said this week that they have no suspects and haven't been able to narrow the scope of the investigation.

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