ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 25, 1997 TAG: 9704250066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
Deaths ruled as murders, suicide
RICHMOND - The fatal shooting of two men and a woman in an assisted-care complex was a double murder and suicide, police said.
Marc Nikolujevic, 44, of Arlington, shot his brother, Paul Nikolujevic, 38, and Paul's girlfriend, Lisa Goldburg, 38, before turning a handgun on himself, police spokesman Bill Chorney said Wednesday.
Police haven't revealed a motive, but Chorney said Marc Nikolujevic left a note.
All three were shot in the head, and a handgun was found in the locked room, police said.
-ASSOCIATED PRESS
Federal court rejects death-row appeal
RICHMOND - A federal appeals court Thursday unanimously rejected a death row inmate's claim that he was denied effective representation in his trial for killing a Manassas police officer.
Roy Bruce Smith was convicted in the July 24, 1988, murder of Sgt. John Conner. The Virginia Supreme Court upheld his conviction and death sentence in 1990.
A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer, saying Smith's lawyers ``reasonably chose to rely upon cross-examination of the state's own witnesses to establish his case.''
Smith shot Conner when police responded to neighbors' complaints that he fired his rifle into the air during an argument with his wife.
-ASSOCIATED PRESS
Convicted child molester's sentence to stand
HOPEWELL - A judge has denied a request to reduce the sentence of a convicted child molester profiled on the television show ``America's Most Wanted.''
Circuit Judge Robert O'Hara Jr. ruled Wednesday that a 35-year sentence imposed on George S. Slocum was appropriate. Defense attorney Joseph Morrissey filed a motion to reduce the sentence, claiming he didn't receive a trial transcript in time to prepare for a sentencing hearing.
Slocum, 52, was convicted in 1992 of sodomy and aggravated sexual battery against a boy under 13, both felonies. He posted bond after he was convicted and failed to show up for sentencing. Slocum, who had fled to Guatemala, was arrested in October when he stepped off an airplane in Miami.
Slocum was later convicted for failing to appear for his original sentencing date in March and received a five-year sentence.
Morrissey said he will ask the State Court of Appeals to review the case.
-ASSOCIATED PRESS
Teen convicted in killings to serve life, no parole
POWHATAN - A teen-ager was convicted of capital murder and first-degree murder in the slayings of two other teens in a soured drug deal.
A Powhatan County Circuit Court jury convicted Christopher O. Selby, 19, on Wednesday in the July 15 slayings of Robert Taylor, 19, and Kristal Oley, 16.
Under an agreement with prosecutors to avoid a possible death sentence, Selby surrendered his right to appeal the verdict and will get a life sentence without parole.
Oley and Taylor were fatally shot at Oley's home after Taylor failed to provide marijuana that had been paid for, according to testimony at Selby's three-day trial. The girl was killed to avoid leaving witnesses, one witness said.
Selby was one of three teens accused in the killings. The other two - Rodney Thomas Spangler, 17, and Joseph Gerald Sikes Jr., 18 - testified at Selby's trial that they reached plea agreements in exchange for their cooperation.
-ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former VWIL student indicted on sex charge
STAUNTON - A grand jury has indicted a former Mary Baldwin College student who was enrolled in the school's Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership on a sex charge.
Jessica L. Ortega-Bradford, 19, of Chester, was indicted Monday on a felony charge of receiving money for organizing a sexual performance.
Commonwealth's Attorney Raymond C. Robertson said Ortega-Bradford arranged sex acts for money. ``They had a list of prices for various things,'' Robertson said.
Ortega-Bradford and another former Mary Baldwin student, Margaret L. Barnes, 19, of Chesapeake, were convicted in March of a misdemeanor obscene performance charge.
Ortega-Bradford was given a $500 fine and a 30-day suspended jail sentence. The case against Barnes was taken under advisement for a year.
Ortega-Bradford has appealed her conviction on the misdemeanor charge, according to court records.
Mary Baldwin spokeswoman Crista Cabe said the women are no longer students at the college.
-ASSOCIATED PRESS
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