ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 6, 1997 TAG: 9702060072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: MARTINSBURG, W.VA.
A man police say tried to escape after confessing to shooting a Virginia drummer in a Christian band remained in jail Wednesday on murder and attempted escape charges.
Banner Catlett admitted to the shooting after he was picked up on a traffic warrant Tuesday, then tried to escape as detectives prepared to take his fingerprints, police said. He was quickly subdued.
Catlett, 21, of Hedgesville, W.Va., was held without bond at the Eastern Regional Jail, a spokeswoman said.
Catlett said he shot Andrew Mason twice in the head with a .22-caliber rifle, court records showed.
Friends said Mason, 29, a drummer in a Christian band, had moved from Virginia Beach, Va., after his brother started working as a minister in Hedgesville.
Mason's roommate, John Ashley, said he last saw Mason alive before he left for work Monday night.
He said he found Mason's body in a pool of blood the next morning on the kitchen floor of their home in the Tomahawk area of northern Berkeley County.
Police had no motive in the slaying.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Short : 34 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB