ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 9, 1996 TAG: 9610090046
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
FRANK HELVESTINE III appeared in court in a wheelchair and said he wanted a court-appointed attorney. The judge said no.
Frank Helvestine III entered Roanoke County Circuit Court on Tuesday morning strapped to a jailhouse wheelchair - a narrow seat with wheels that can unfold into a stretcher. A sheriff's deputy followed close behind with an oxygen tank.
The suspect in a 21-year-old murder case stood and edged his way to the defense table with the help of deputies, clasping his trembling hands in front of him. A stubbly beard grayed his face.
But his physical appearance belied his intellect. He succinctly answered questions about his financial status, challenging the commonwealth's attorney about the value of his house.
Helvestine wanted a court-appointed attorney.
"I consulted with [a lawyer], yes," he told Circuit Judge G.O. Clemens during his arraignment, his first appearance in court. "According to his estimate to what this might cost, I can't afford it."
As a retired Norfolk Southern Corp. machinist he gets $1,400 a month from the railroad and has been able to save $13,000, he testified. Clemens denied his request, but gave him three weeks to hire a lawyer.
Last Friday, a Roanoke County grand jury indicted the 75-year-old grandfather on charges of murder, arson and two counts of malicious wounding.
For more than two decades, police had no leads and no suspects in a pipe bomb explosion that killed a toddler. Then, several months ago, an informant contacted a Roanoke County detective. That information and physical evidence led to Helvestine, police say.
The crime occurred the night of May 10, 1975, at what is now known as North Ridge Apartments on Lancelot Lane. About 10 p.m., Barry Mask and his wife were walking with their 23-month-old daughter and a 14-year-old Salem boy. As they passed behind a parked Chevrolet Monte Carlo a pipe bomb exploded. The Masks' daughter, Carrie Ann, was hit by flying shrapnel and died from a head injury. Barry Mask and the teen-age boy, Henry Newman, were burned.
The Masks and Newman were unintended victims, authorities say. The bomb was meant for the car's owner, a white woman who was dating a black man. The woman also worked with Helvestine.
When the grand jury indicted Helvestine, he had no other criminal charges against him. His only other tangles with the law were two recent speeding tickets.
In July he was fined for going 17 miles above the speed limit.
Two days before his indictment, he was convicted of driving 42 miles above the speed limit, traveling 77 mph in a 35 mph zone. His driver's license was suspended for a year. Helvestine was not in a wheelchair when he came to court that day, Roanoke County Commonwealth's Attorney Skip Burkart said.
Helvestine is being held without bond on murder and related charges. He is the oldest inmate at the Roanoke County-Salem Jail.
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON/Staff. Frank Helvestine III, age 75,by CNBspeaks to the judge at his arraignment Tuesday. color. KEYWORDS: ROMUR