ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, November 13, 1996           TAG: 9611130080
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-4  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG

BODIES FOUND IN TORCHED VAN

The bodies of a man and his former girlfriend were found Tuesday in a van that had been set on fire in the parking lot of The News & Advance newspaper company.

``We are investigating it as a homicide, and it certainly leads in the direction of a murder-suicide,'' police Lt. E.C. Wingfield said.

The victims were identified as Sharon Gilliam, 29, an employee of the newspaper, and Dennis Alan Oxford, 34.

Wingfield said police will not comment on the causes of death until autopsies are performed Wednesday.

A container that could have contained flammable liquid was found in the van and a note was found nearby.

``Without releasing the details, one of the two victims was upset at the other and blamed the other for some medical problems that he thought he may have had,'' Wingfield said.

Firefighters found the bodies in the 1994 Chevrolet van after they put out the fire shortly before 8 a.m., Wingfield said.

- Associated Press

LENGTH: Short :   34 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  AP. Lynchburg firefighters extinguish a fire in a 1994 
          Chevrolet van in which two bodies were found before 8 a.m. Tuesday.
KEYWORDS: FATALITY