THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 8, 1994 TAG: 9410080328
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: UPPER SOUTHAMPTON, PA. LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
A former employee of the James River Corp., apparently angry that the company fired him eight years ago, shot and killed a company executive before killing himself Friday, police said.
Robert Ellis Begley, 54, of Glen Allen, Va., walked into the company's offices at about 3:30 p.m. and told a receptionist that he needed to report a ``family emergency'' to one of the firm's executives.
Once he reached the second-floor offices, he immediately opened fire on Brenton F. Halsey Jr., 39, the son of one of the paper manufacturer's co-founders.
``It was clearly a murder-suicide,'' said Alan M. Rubenstein, district attorney of Bucks County, where the shootings occurred.
While Begley had threatened James River officials before, there is no indication that he knew Halsey or that he had previously threatened him. It appeared there was little or no conversation between the men before Begley opened fire.
``What the connection between the two men is, is not known,'' said Southampton Police Chief David C. Schultz.
Police said that several years ago, Begley spent 30 days in a Richmond, Va., jail for threatening James River executives. At the time, Begley turned himself in on the charges.
``This person had a history of mental instability,'' James River spokesman John Burke said of Begley. ``We had alerted the Richmond police. It was our belief that he was indeed a danger.''
KEYWORDS: MURDER SUICIDE SHOOTING by CNB