THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 20, 1994 TAG: 9412200329
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUNE ARNEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
Teenager Marvin Owens, charged with capital murder in the shooting deaths of four people last summer, says another man killed three of them - and a police 911 tape may help back up his story.
The way Owens tells the story, he accidentally shot his cousin, dropped the gun and called 911. A man named Derrick then picked up the gun, pointed it at Owens and told him to get out. Owens cut short his 911 call and saw Derrick shoot another of his cousins, Thelma Harper. As Owens ran out of the house, he heard more shots.
Owens is accused of killing his grandmother, half-brother and two cousins in a house on Seaboard Road in July in one of two quadruple slayings in the city last summer.
In a statement to police that lasted more than seven hours, Owens said that, after he accidentally shot his cousin, Clifton Harper, and placed a call to 911, Derrick walked into the room and pointed a gun at him. Owens told the operator he had made a mistake and hung up the phone.
Killed were Harper; Evelyn Ward, Owens' 63-year-old grandmother and one-time legal guardian; Thelma Harper, his cousin; and 14-year-old Robert Ward, Owens' half-brother.
According to the transcript of the 911 tape, this was the conversation on July 22, the day of the shooting. The call was made from the house where the shootings took place, in the 2300 block of Seaboard Road:
Communications officer: ``Virginia Beach Police Fire and Rescue. Hello.''
A male caller: Dialing phone number.
Communications officer: ``Hello.''
The caller: ``Hello.''
Communications officer: ``This is the Virginia Beach Police Department, you've dialed 911.''
The caller: ``I'm sorry. I'm sorry.''
Communications officer: ``No problem.''
The caller: ``I meant to dial 411.''
Communications officer: ``OK.''
In his statement to police, Owens, 16, said: ``I told her, I said, uh, I got the wrong number. I said I meant to dial 411, as soon as he got up, as soon as he came in there, so I put the phone back down.''
Police have been unable to locate the man named Derrick, whose last name Owens did not know. On Monday, B. Thomas Reed, one of Owens' attorneys, persuaded a judge to appoint an investigator to help find Derrick, who is believed to be a drug dealer from New York.
Circuit Judge Robert B. Cromwell Jr. ordered the court to provide defense attorneys with $2,000 to pay for the search. The lawyers plan to hire a former FBI agent.
In his statement to police, taken shortly after the crime, Owens admitted shooting Harper: ``I'm man enough to say I did it. I didn't do it on purpose. It was an accident, and that's what it was, is an accident.''
Owens faces two counts of capital murder, three counts of first-degree murder, four firearms charges and one count of robbery. If convicted, he could be sentenced to death. Prosecutors say they plan to pursue the death penalty if Owens is convicted of capital murder, arguing that the murders were vile and that Owens is a future danger.
Owens' case was transferred from juvenile to adult court in October.
The next court hearing is scheduled for Jan. 18 to hear a motion for suppression of evidence. The trial is set for March 13.
The shootings occurred in a yellow, one-story house where the relatives lived.
At least three of the victims were killed without struggling or trying to flee. That led detectives to believe the victims knew their killer and were comfortable around him.
KEYWORDS: MURDER 911 by CNB