ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, November 28, 1996 TAG: 9611290115
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C9 EDITION: HOLIDAY
DATELINE: FREDERICKSBURG
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Fourteen years after Ava DeHart was slain and her body dumped into a well, a man authorities believe was her killer was arrested in Florida.
George Christ Sparta, 57, was arrested in Jacksonville, Fla., late Tuesday or early Wednesday and charged with first-degree murder in DeHart's death.
DeHart's disappearance in July 1982 remained a mystery until private detectives hired by her sister discovered the remains at the bottom of a dry well in Orange County in August.
``Finally,'' Debbie DeHart said in an interview Wednesday with The Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg. ``I'm just relieved.''
``... We're looking forward to seeing the trial through and hopefully an appropriate conclusion, as in him in jail for the rest of his life,'' she said.
Stafford County Commonwealth's Attorney Daniel Chichester said a grand jury indicted Sparta Sept. 3, but the indictment was sealed while authorities searched for him.
Police said they believe Ava DeHart was killed at the Stafford County motorcycle shop that Sparta owned. She was the shop manager and had lived with Sparta for years, her sister said.
Chichester declined to discuss the charge or say whether other charges would be filed in the case.
The Free Lance-Star quoted unidentified sources as saying that a woman who was present when the body was dumped into the well is a key prosecution witness.
The state medical examiner's office was unable to determine the cause of death. A forensic anthropologist from the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington examined the remains last month and gave a report to Stafford investigators.
Sparta was born Christ George Patsalos in New York but began calling himself George Christ Sparta. He moved to the Fredericksburg area in the early 1970s and operated the Jokers Wild motorcycle shop in Falmouth into the 1980s.
Sparta's relationship with Ava DeHart began around 1973 when she was a 17-year-old high school student.
``She loved him. And there was a certain amount of stature in being the girl of the one who runs the Jokers Wild. Everybody knew her,'' Debbie DeHart said. Later, Ava DeHart sought shelter at her sister's house and told her Sparta had beaten her.
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB