THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 8, 1994 TAG: 9410080295
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
State police Trooper Vernon R. Richards, charged with planting five bombs in Hampton Roads this summer, also planted a .380-caliber handgun gathered as evidence during the investigation of the murder of a police officer, a prosecutor said Friday.
Hampton officer Kenneth E. Wallace was shot while sitting in his patrol car on Feb. 21.
During interviews with police after his arrest, Richards confessed to planting the handgun, Commonwealth's Attorney Chris Hutton said during a news conference Friday afternoon. Richards had found the weapon under an abandoned house at 247 Robinson Road in Hampton on March 8. Its serial number had been filed off, and the weapon was ``too mutilated for any significant comparison and was never discussed or introduced at any trial,'' Hutton said.
Other evidence gathered during the murder investigation also was found by Richards and his explosives-sniffing dog, Master Blaster, Hutton said, including a .25-caliber cartridge that was introduced as evidence in the trials of two juveniles convicted in Wallace's death.
During interviews with police, Richards said the .25-caliber cartridge was a legitimate find. The location of the cartridge was consistent with statements of defendants in the murder case.
Hutton, who appeared with state and federal law enforcement officials, also announced that Richards would be prosecuted in federal court instead of state court because ``there is a broader range of statutes in the federal system about this type of crime than we have in the state code.''
Hutton said that state charges, which carry more than 100 years in prison, would be dropped as soon as federal authorities are ready to place their equally stiff charges against Richards. Additional federal charges against Richards are likely, Hutton said.
Hutton said he did not think any of the evidence planted or found by Richards would taint the trials or convictions in the Wallace case. ``Based on what is available to me now, I have no feeling that it will,'' he said.
The two juveniles - Yancy Montae Mitchener, 16, and Eldred Acklin, 17 - have been convicted of first-degree murder in Wallace's death. A third person, Thomas Lee
Royal Jr., 26, has pleaded guilty to capital murder and has admitted to killing Wallace.
A massive police investigation into the murder of Wallace - the second of three Peninsula law enforcement patrol officers slain this year - lasted for several weeks. It involved the FBI and members of the Virginia State Police, including canine handler Richards and his dog.
Also found by Richards during the murder investigation were a .380-caliber cartridge under a bush at 227 Pocahontas Place in Hampton on Feb. 22 and a Hutton said.
Richards' connection to the Wallace case was the latest revelation to spin off from the trooper's arrest on Sept. 27.
After his arrest by Hampton police, Richards was charged with manufacturing and then planting three bombs on Sept. 13 at the Hampton General District Court building. He also was charged with planting bombs in Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach and in Coliseum Mall in Hampton earlier in the summer.
Richards and his dog found all but one of the devices.
Richards also is suspected of planting a device that he found at the Richmond Coliseum on June 10 during a Louis Farrakhan speaking engagement.
Richards and Master Blaster uncovered the device - described as a tube with wires - after Farrakhan supporters requested a search of the building. Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, claimed the device had been planted to ``silence'' him.
Meanwhile, a state police official revealed Friday that every case Richards investigated during his eight-year career as a bomb-tracking trooper is being reinvestigated.
Col. Wayne Huggins, superintendent of the state police, said he was ``unaware of any person at this time who has been charged or convicted as a result of inappropriate actions by Roy Richards.''
Also, Huggins said, a review continues of state police policies and procedures that may have allowed Richards to accumulate an inappropriate amount of state-issued explosives designed for training.
Ron Tarrington of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said reinvestigating the cases of Richards' career could be a painstaking process. Tarrington said for much of Richards' career the state police used him frequently because there were few dogs and handlers.
``Over the years, he was very busy,'' Tarrington said. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE
State police Trooper Vernon R. Richards, with his
explosives-sniffing dog, Master Blaster, confessed to planting the
gun.
by CNB