ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 17, 1996 TAG: 9610170022
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
The suspect in Saturday's killing of an elderly Christiansburg woman explained his bloody clothes and disheveled appearance that afternoon by saying he had been in a "fight for love," according to a court document.
Annie Lester, 87, was found late Saturday afternoon on the floor beside her bed, bloodied and clad only in nylon hose, according to court records.
The wound on Lester's chest and the large amount of blood found on James Reed's chest is consistent with sexual assault, according to the affidavit filed by police to obtain a search warrant for Reed's home. The document outlines how and why police identified Reed, 51, as the suspect. Christiansburg police investigators have released few other details of the stabbing death.
Reed was arraigned Tuesday in Montgomery County General District Court. Radford lawyer Robbie Jenkins has been appointed to represent him and a preliminary hearing has been set for Dec. 10. Reed is being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.
So far, Reed has been charged with first-degree murder. Prosecutors can seek other charges later.
An affidavit for a search warrant filed Tuesday describes the condition of Lester's home as Christiansburg police found it Saturday. Lester, the affidavit states, had a wound in her chest. Blood was on her bed, headboard and bedside curtains.
Jorge and George Eanes, who run Eanes Body Shop across Radford Street from Lester's home, said they saw Reed walking across the street from the direction of Lester's house Saturday, according to the document.
Eanes said Reed had blood on his white-beige jacket, on his socks and on his white shoes. Jorge Eanes asked Reed whether he'd been in a fight. Reed, according to the court records, said it was a fight for love.
Reed, according to the affidavit, asked to be driven to his home in the 600 block of High St.
That information led police to Reed.
Police also found partially smoked cigarettes in Lester's home, one on a stove and one near her body, according to the affidavit. Police stated in the affidavit that they don't think Lester smoked. At Reed's home, investigators seized tennis shoes, a jacket, an empty cigarette pack and other evidence.
Lester had lived alone at 810 Radford St., just down the road from her cousins, since the death of a sister two years ago. She was an active member of the Montgomery County Legal Aid Society and the county clothing bank. She also taught Sunday school at Asbury United Methodist Church. A funeral will be held at 1 p.m. today at the church in Christiansburg.
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