THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 18, 1994 TAG: 9411180431
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LEWISBURG, W.VA. LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
A beauty queen characterized herself as ``another Lorena Bobbitt-Amy Fisher'' and carried a pistol stolen from a Virginia couple when she went to kill a romantic rival and her family, prosecutors said Thursday.
Teresa Dixon, formerly an inmate at the Greenbrier County Jail with Tracy Lippard, testified that the former Miss Williamsburg, Va., seemed unconcerned about charges filed against her.
``She didn't find it serious at first. She said she was going to be another Lorena Bobbitt-Amy Fisher,'' Dixon testified.
``She was going to kill her family and then, in turn, after killing them, she was going to burn the place to cover up what she had done,'' Dixon said.
Also, David Griffin and his live-in fiancee, Amy Allen, of Chesapeake, Va., testified that their loaded, 9 mm pistol was stolen after Lippard came to their home for a small social gathering in December 1993.
Griffin and Alley said they kept the pistol between the mattress and box spring in their bedroom. Griffin said they had told no one where the gun was kept.
Prosecutors say Lippard, 23, a 1993 runner-up for Miss Virginia, stole the gun and brought it with her to kill her ex-boyfriend's lover, Melissa Scott, and her parents, Rodney and Carlynn Weikle, of Lewisburg.
Lippard is charged with three counts of attempted murder and malicious wounding, and weapons violations. She faces up to 39 years in prison if convicted.
Griffin said Lippard came to their home once with her then-boyfriend, Todd Scott. Griffin and Alley testified Lippard was distraught and went upstairs to lie on their bed and use the telephone.
Prosecutors say Lippard found a telephone number and address for the Weikles in Scott's possession at the party.
Griffin and Alley identified the silver-plated, wood-grip pistol as theirs.
The defense claims Lippard bought the pistol at a store for $400 and kept it only for self-defense.
Prosecutors say Lippard, a 6-foot blonde, crowned her successor as Miss Williamsburg on Feb. 26, then armed herself with the pistol, a butcher knife, a hammer and lighter fluid and drove to the Weikle home the next day.
Lippard's attorney, Paul Detch, said Lippard planned to confront Scott and, if he rejected her, to slash his tires and pour lighter fluid on his car.
Melissa Scott, 24, was eight months pregnant by Scott at the time and neither she nor her parents knew Lippard, police said.
The Scotts were married in August. They and their 7-month-old daughter live with the Weikles.
Another witness, Gary Powell Sr. of Lewisburg, testified that Lippard parked in his yard behind the Weikles' home during the weekend before the attack.
Powell said he became suspicious when he saw Lippard driving around the neighborhood, and he grabbed a baseball bat and walked toward her car. She drove away and, Powell said, he followed her.
He said he shined his car lights on Lippard and she stopped, got out and approached him.
``She said, `I don't like people who follow me,' '' Powell testified.
Powell said he replied: ``I don't like people who park in my yard.''
Powell said Lippard told her she was looking for ``Ronnie'' Weikle and was going to a party at the home, but she gave an incorrect address.
Powell said he went home and only called police after reading later news reports about the alleged attack.
Dixon, who was in the Lewisburg jail on marijuana charges, had testified Lippard told her she intended to ``cut the baby of Melissa out of her and flop it on the table.''
Detch asked if she was talking to authorities about Lippard to get her own sentence reduced.
``Yes, sir, I was,'' she said.
However, she said authorities refused to reduce her time and she later pleaded guilty to trying to bring marijuana into the jail.
County Prosecutor Richard Lorensen said Lippard hit Weikle twice in the head with the hammer after she complained of car trouble and he let her into the house. The former Secret Service agent put her in a headlock and pinned her to the floor with his wife's help after she pulled out her gun, he said.
KEYWORDS: TRIAL ATTEMPTED MURDER by CNB