THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 15, 1994 TAG: 9409150443
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Short : 36 lines
A retired Newport News police officer was arrested Wednesday and charged with shooting his wife during an argument more than five years ago.
James B. Ledford, 54, of the 200 block of Monticello Court in Newport News, was arrested and charged with one count of maiming. Ledford was released on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond. He was indicted by a grand jury earlier this week.
The case against Ledford was reopened recently when his estranged wife, Carol, changed her story about what happened on Aug. 12, 1989, when police answered a call that she had been wounded by a gunshot.
Carol Ledford told police at the time that she shot herself, according to Bill Roth, spokesman for the Newport News Police Department. The commonwealth's attorney's office decided not to prosecute anyone.
After the Ledfords' recent separation, Roth said, Carol Ledford came forward and changed her story, claiming that her husband had shot her in anger.
The Ledford case was reopened, and Commonwealth's Attorney Howard Gwynn presented it to the grand jury this week.
Roth said Ledford suffered a heart attack the day of the shooting. He never returned to work and eventually retired in 1990. Had he returned to work, Ledford would have been disciplined by the police department in connection with the shooting, Roth said.
KEYWORDS: SHOOTING ARREST MAIMING by CNB