THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 4, 1994 TAG: 9406040248
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: D5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: 940604 LENGTH: BOYDTON
Joseph Savino, awaiting execution for the 1988 robbery and murder of a Bedford County man, became the third death-row inmate in less than three years known to have obtained drugs.
{REST} Authorities were unable to find out how Wayne K. DeLong obtained the cocaine he used before killing himself last year or how another Mecklenburg inmate got the heroin he used to kill himself in 1992.
An investigation is being conducted to determine how Savino got his heroin and syringe, Warden Charles Thompson said. Prison officials would not comment before the investigation on whether the overdose was a suicide attempt.
The warden said Savino was sent to the Greensville prison in Jarratt for security reasons.
After being found in his cell the morning of May 26 and taken to a local hospital for treatment, Savino was sent back to the prison until Thursday, when he was moved to Greensville.
In spite of intensive supervision, death-row inmates determined to harm themselves can still do so, said Ronald Angelone, director of the state Department of Corrections.
``There are 150 different ways,'' Angelone said.
In letters last year, Savino attacked what he said were poor conditions at the Mecklenburg prison. Department of Corrections officials have denied that allegation.
The death-row section of the maximum-security prison has been under especially tight restrictions since DeLong's suicide last June, one month before he was to be executed for the 1986 murder of a Richmond police detective. DeLong got drunk on prison-made liquor, injected himself with cocaine and then hanged himself.
Six corrections officers were disciplined after DeLong's death, but the Corrections Department said none was involved with getting him the cocaine.
Savino pleaded guilty to the Nov. 29, 1988, robbery and capital murder of Thomas McWaters, a retired engineer with whom Savino lived on a 200-acre estate in Bedford County.
Gerald T. Zerkin, Savino's lawyer, visited his client Wednesday at Mecklenburg.
``Physically he seems to be fine,'' Zerkin said. ``I think the only problem right now is the toll on his mental health and the conditions'' in the prison.
Savino's appeals are still pending and no execution date has been set.
by CNB