
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 9, 1994                    TAG: 9406090477 
SECTION: LOCAL                     PAGE: D3    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: 940609                                 LENGTH: VIRGINIA BEACH

GO-GO SLAYING SUSPECT WAS ON PROBATION FOR DRUG FELONY IN N.C.

{LEAD} The go-go bar bouncer accused Tuesday of robbing and killing his boss and then setting the bar on fire was on probation for a felony drug conviction in North Carolina.

Reginald J. Gilbert Jr., 29, of the 500 block of Hyde Park Road in Norfolk, was placed on five years supervised probation May 26, 1992, after he was caught in Gilford County, N.C., with marijuana, records show.

{REST} He was convicted of possession with intent to distribute, a North Carolina Department of Corrections spokesman said Wednesday.

David Siler, a local probation and parole officer, said Gilbert was under supervision in Norfolk. Felons who want to live in neighboring states can sometimes have their supervision transferred, Siler said.

As a felon, Gilbert was not allowed to own or possess a gun.

He is being held in jail without bail in Virginia Beach in the slaying of Edward Brooks Hamilton, 55, the manager of J.B.'s Gallery of Girls in the 600 block of South Military Highway.

Police said Gilbert robbed the bar of an undetermined amount of money, shot Hamilton in the head and started the fire Monday to cover the crimes.

As fire destroyed the bar, Gilbert joined a group of tearful employees who had gathered in a nearby parking lot. At one point, Gilbert approached a police officer and asked what was going on.

Several firefighters narrowly escaped injury when parts of the burning building began collapsing around them.

Gilbert has been charged with capital murder, robbery, arson, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a felon. If convicted, he could be sentenced to die in the state's electric chair.

{KEYWORDS} MURDER FIRE ARSON ROBBERY SHOOTING

by CNB