THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 1, 1994 TAG: 9409010533
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOE JACKSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for a 25-year-old Norfolk man accused of the drug-related slaying of two men in an Ocean View motel last year.
Richard Earl Wilson Jr. of the 2700 block of Azalea Garden Road was indicted in December on charges of capital murder, first-degree murder and two counts of use of a firearm.
He was charged with the slayings Oct. 30 of John Whitehead, 24, who was living in the Ocean Shore Inn, and Tracey L. White, 27, of Brooklyn, N.Y.
Their bodies were found in Whitehead's room. White was slumped next to musical instruments while Whitehead was found dead on a bed.
Each man was shot once in the head with a handgun, court records show.
During opening arguments Wednesday, prosecutor Ron Batliner told the jury that the double slaying was drug-related.
Wilson allegedly was smoking crack-cocaine with two married couples on the night of Oct. 29. White entered and sold one of the drug users more crack, which they then used, Batliner said.
Batliner told the jurors that at least one witness would testify to hearing Wilson say he shot the victims.
``Them two. . . got two to the head,'' Wilson allegedly said in the early hours of Oct. 30. ``They had to go.''
A few hours later, a housekeeper found the bodies of the two men.
Wilson has consistently maintained his innocence and has turned down previous offers of a plea agreement, family members said. On Monday, Pat Dickey, one of Wilson's attorneys, told the jurors that someone else killed Whitehead and White.
``The evidence is strong that others were in the area. . . who had a motive to kill these two,'' Dickey said. At least one man was seen arguing with White before the killings, and someone was heard to tell White, ``You're not going to do this to me again,'' Dickey said.
Evidence would show that the two were killed by someone ``much larger'' than Wilson, who is about 5 feet 8 inches tall, Dickey said.
KEYWORDS: MURDER TRIAL by CNB