ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 15, 1996 TAG: 9611150074
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
Court says teen's killer must die
RICHMOND - A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld the capital murder conviction and death sentence of a man who abducted, tortured, robbed and murdered a 15-year-old boy.
Michael Carl George claimed prosecutors failed to prove he killed the boy during a robbery, an aspect of the crime that made it punishable by death. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously disagreed.
Alexander Sztanko was abducted June 16, 1990, as he rode his dirt bike near his home in Woodbridge. He was handcuffed to a tree, sexually assaulted and shocked in the groin with a powerful stun gun before he was shot in the head with a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol.
The court also rejected other claims by George, including that the introduction of evidence of sexual defilement had inflamed the jury.
- Associated Press
Skeleton found in Frederick field
WINCHESTER - State police were trying to identify skeletal remains found in a Frederick County corn field Wednesday. Virginia State Police spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell said investigators have labeled the death suspicious.
She said police were unable to determine the victim's identity, sex or the cause of death. The body was taken to the medical examiner's office in Fairfax for an autopsy.
- Associated Press
Confused burglar calls 911 for help
FRONT ROYAL - Cory Daniel Scarberry knows to call 911 when he gets in a tight spot. But the spot he got into Tuesday landed him in an even tighter spot - the Warren County Jail.
Scarberry called the emergency phone line because he had broken into the Walker Financial Services building and was unable to get out, police said. A police officer arrived and found that a rear window had been forced open.
Scarberry told police he had come in through the window, and officers suggested that he leave the same way. Front Royal police Capt. R.E. Goldizen said Scarberry had tried to leave through the door, but it had a deadbolt lock. Scarberry, 18, was being held on a charge of breaking and entering.
- Associated Press
Neglect charges dropped in drowning
SPOTSYLVANIA - Prosecutors have dropped a child-neglect charge against a baby sitter who was caring for a 2-year-old girl when she drowned in a swimming pool.
Spotsylvania County Commonwealth's Attorney William Neely said he asked a judge to dismiss the felony charge against Frances E. Brash because he could not prove she had acted with willful recklessness in the death Aug. 23 of 2-year-old Shanarra Katelyn Pryor. Brash declined to comment after a brief hearing Wednesday in Spotsylvania Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.
Brash, 40, operated Wee Care Day Care in her home. She was caring for her two children and three others the afternoon Shanarra drowned in a swimming pool there.
- Associated Press
Driving instructor killed on the job
RESTON - A 70-year-old driving instructor was fatally injured in an automobile accident while teaching a student to drive, Fairfax County police said.
Paul Jacobs of Manassas was in the passenger seat of a car that was struck by another vehicle Tuesday, police said. He died at Reston Hospital.
Jacobs was an instructor with Easy Method Driving School of Northern Virginia. His student was identified as Suhaila Ghafoori, 37, of Reston.
Ghafoori was trying to turn left at an intersection when the traffic light changed and her car was hit by another car. She and the other driver, Courtney Kirkpatrick, 18, of Vienna, were treated at Fairfax Hospital for minor injuries, a hospital supervisor said.
No charges had been filed Wednesday.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB