ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, February 27, 1997            TAG: 9702270079
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-3  EDITION: METRO 

IN VIRGINIA

Hit-and-run injures Sen. Chichester

LADYSMITH - State Sen. John Chichester was slightly injured Wednesday when the motorcycle he was riding was struck by a car on U.S. 1 in Caroline County, police said.

Virginia State Police spokeswoman Mary Evans said three people in the 1986 Mercury Cougar that collided with Chichester's motorcycle fled the scene. Two were arrested, but the driver was still at large.

The Fredericksburg Republican and co-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee was traveling south in the early afternoon when a truck he was following signaled it was making a left turn. The senator moved into the right lane and was cut off by the Cougar turning in front of him, police said.

Evans said Chichester was thrown from the motorcycle and suffered a dislocated shoulder, cuts and bruises. He was wearing a helmet.

A juvenile who was riding in the other car was carrying $2,600 in cash and an unspecified amount of marijuana, police said. James Baylor, age unknown, was carrying a concealed 9mm pistol.

- Associated Press

Suspect confesses to rape, slaying

STUARTS DRAFT - A man accused of abducting and killing a florist confessed to the woman's rape and slaying when he was arrested, according to papers filed in Augusta County Circuit Court.

Bobby Wayne Swisher, 20, was arrested at his home early Monday and charged with capital murder in the death of Dawn Snyder. According to an affidavit attached to court documents, Swisher told authorities he raped, sodomized and killed Snyder.

Swisher, a construction worker, is being held without bond in the Augusta County Jail.

Snyder, 22, disappeared from her florist shop Feb. 5. Her body was found last week in a cornfield.

- Associated Press

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