ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, July 13, 1996 TAG: 9607150071
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
Judge: 'No' to Upton's bail request
ALLEGAN, Mich. - In slow, slurred speech, a Virginia college president admitted killing his wife because ``she was demanding a great number of things that weren't feasible,'' according to a tape recording played Friday.
The recording of John Upton's phone call to a 911 emergency operator froze the courtroom, especially two rows of friends and relatives who looked down or cried as he described Kathleen Upton's death at their summer home last week along Lake Michigan.
The tape was played by Allegan County Prosecutor Fred Anderson, who opposed a request by Upton's attorney, Frank Stanley, to set bail in the case.
On the tape, Upton said he struck his wife in the head with a piece of wood, but ``she seemed to survive all right.''
``I suffocated her until she couldn't breathe,'' Upton said. ``I had become exasperated over the constant demands.''
``There are individuals who have said they would literally stake their lives on his reputation,'' Stanley said.
The judge, however, was not moved. As Upton was led from court, his son Steve said: ``Hang in there, Pop.''
- Associated Press
Baby sitter pleads guilty to murder
SUFFOLK - After listening to the prosecution's case against her, Tomika S. Weaver pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder in the beating death of a 2-year-old girl in her care.
Suffolk Circuit Judge Westbrook J. Parker accepted the plea Friday and ordered her to jail to await a pre-sentence report Sept. 5. She faces five to 40 years in prison.
Weaver, 20, had been charged with the first-degree murder of Chenelle D. Foreman, who died Sept. 7 after repeated blows caused internal injuries, including a ruptured liver. She had been the child's baby sitter.
- Associated Press
Gov. Allen appoints new administrators
RICHMOND - Gov. George Allen on Friday appointed Ronald L. Tillett as the state's new secretary of finance.
He replaces Paul W. Timmreck, who served in the Cabinet post under both Allen and Democratic Gov. Douglas Wilder. Timmreck announced his resignation July 3.
Tillett has served as treasurer since June 1993 and deputy treasurer from 1987 to 1993. He also has been an analyst for the General Assembly's House Appropriations Committee and served on the staff of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.
Timmreck will become vice president of finance and administration at Virginia Commonwealth University effective Aug. 1.
Allen appointed Susan Dewey to replace Tillett. Dewey has been deputy treasurer since June 1993 and has worked for the Department of Treasury since 1982.
Among other administration officials who have left well before Allen's term ends January 1998 are Secretary of Health and Human Resources Kay Coles James, Superintendent of Public Instruction William C. Bosher Jr., and Frank Atkinson, the governor's top lawyer.
- Associated Press
Cullen won't run for attorney general
RICHMOND - Former U.S. Attorney Richard Cullen has announced that he won't run for the Republican nomination for attorney general in 1997 and will return unspent campaign funds to supporters.
``As much as I love public service and know that I would love being attorney general, I don't enjoy being a politician,'' Cullen said Thursday. ``I didn't want this to be the whole, sole focus of my life. A run for public office today is just all-consuming. I concluded I didn't want that.''
Cullen had a campaign office in Chesterfield County and a full-time staff of four.
- Associated Press
Firefighters say they're shorthanded
ARLINGTON - Seven months after state safety officials scolded Arlington County for leaving fire trucks shorthanded, the situation is still dangerous, the firefighters' union says.
``We don't have the adequate numbers of people when a house is on fire to do our best and pull people out of the fire,'' said Michael Staples, president of Arlington's Professional Firefighter Association, which represents 250 of the department's 270 firefighters.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS ATTORNEY GENERALby CNB