ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 11, 1996 TAG: 9612110047
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: MARION
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER
A Smyth County man has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of his son-in-law.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled Feb. 20 for Joseph Howard Louthen Jr., 62, who telephoned the county sheriff's office Sunday night and said he had just shot Roger Dale Thomas.
The dispatcher kept Louthen on the telephone until officers arrived, and found Thomas' body in the yard of Louthen's home in the Rolling Hills subdivision. Louthen was arrested without incident.
Thomas, 40, had been shot four times, according to the sheriff's office. His vehicle was parked in the Louthen driveway, with its engine running. The body was sent to Roanoke for an autopsy.
Louthen's wife, as well as Thomas' wife and children, were at the Louthen home when the shooting occurred, police said.
LENGTH: Short : 28 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB