ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 23, 1996 TAG: 9610230079
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
Murderer gets stay of execution
Karynne Sheldon
SALUDA - Christopher Thomas, sentenced to death for killing his girlfriend's parents, has won a stay of his scheduled execution today.
Thomas, 23, was granted a stay by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema of Alexandria to pursue federal appeals. Lawrence Woodward Jr., a Virginia Beach attorney appointed by the judge to represent Thomas, said Monday he has until Feb. 21 to file an appeal of the death sentence.
Thomas was 17 when Kathy and J.B. Wiseman II were shot to death in 1990. Authorities said the Wisemans had tried to keep their daughter, Jessica, away from Thomas.
Jessica Wiseman, then 14, also was convicted of the murders. But she was tried as a juvenile and was put into state custody until no later than her 21st birthday, which is next July.
- Associated Press
Search for missing girl continues
MANASSAS - Police, trained searchers and volunteers scoured woods for a second day Tuesday, looking for a missing 2-year-old girl.
Karynne Sheldon apparently wandered away Monday morning while her mother answered a telephone.
``If anyone does have her we'll give you anything you want,'' the child's mother, Danielle Sheldon, said Tuesday. ``Just please bring her back.''
Police have no reason to suspect the child was abducted, but are not ignoring that possibility, Prince William County Police spokeswoman Kim Chinn said.
``That's always been there,'' Chinn said Tuesday. ``That idea has never left us.''
Karynne was last seen wearing light pink jeans, a white turtleneck with flowers and pink tennis shoes, police said.
Her father, Scott Sheldon, said the friendly, curious child could well have followed an animal into dense woods near the office where her mother works.
About 100 people and eight search dogs looked for the child Monday afternoon and early Tuesday. Three helicopters, including one equipped with heat-sensing equipment, also participated.
Danielle Sheldon said the child disappeared while she went inside a house where she works as an office manager for a home-based construction company.
Sheldon said the child was alone for about three minutes.
- Associated Press
Boy, 16, charged in toddler's beating
BOYDTON - A 16-year-old boy, accused of severely beating a toddler when she refused to cry, will be tried next month.
A Mecklenburg County grand jury indicted the boy Monday on a charge of aggravated malicious wounding. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Two other children were found guilty earlier this month. A 13-year-old boy was convicted of aggravated malicious wounding and an 11-year-old girl pleaded guilty to assault and battery. They will be sentenced Oct. 30 in juvenile court.
The attackers and the 3-year-old child, who was beaten July 25, are relatives.
Police said the victim was bitten repeatedly and beaten with hands and a belt. She finally lost consciousness when her head was slammed into a wall.
The toddler underwent several surgeries after the incident, including one in which doctors removed part of her brain.
The 16-year-old's trial is scheduled to start Nov. 20.
- Associated Press
3 at school exposed to TB, tests show
GLOUCESTER - Two students and one adult showed positive for exposure to tuberculosis in tests conducted at Gloucester High School after a teacher was found to have the disease, authorities said.
In all, 229 students and more than 200 adults were tested last week and Monday. The three who tested positive will be given chest X-rays to determine if they have the disease.
Most likely, they don't, said Phillip Winter, director of the local health district. A positive skin test indicates only the presence of TB antibodies, which would be present if the body had successfully fought off TB bacteria, he said.
The teacher whose infection prompted the precautions has been certified by health officials as no longer contagious. School officials have refused to identify the teacher, who was placed on leave.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Karynne Sheldon.by CNB