THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 13, 1995 TAG: 9501130506
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Police have made one arrest and recovered all three cars that were allegedly stolen from three Peninsula women who were slain in apparently unrelated incidents.
Mathew Jay Erdman, 30, was arrested Thursday and charged with killing Alecia J. Rutland, 42, of 18 Gibson Road in Hampton.
Rutland's body was found Tuesday afternoon in her kitchen when a co-worker went to check on her because she had not come to work at Langley Air Force Base.
Rutland's car, a white, 1989 four-door Hyundai, was reported stolen. Neighbors said it was seen at her home Monday afternoon but was gone early Tuesday morning.
The car was located Thursday, but investigators did not comment on its recovery or the arrest. It was unclear whether Erdman was with the car when he was arrested.
Roanoke police found a car Wednesday night that belonged to 55-year-old Sarah F. Smith of the 100 block of W. Gilbert St. in Hampton.
Smith was found dead in her living room, also on Tuesday afternoon. She had been bludgeoned to death. As in the other case, her killing came to light when a neighbor dropped by to check on her.
Police issued warrants charging Frank Johnson Lee, 32, with Smith's murder. Neighbors said Lee had recently been released from jail and had been living with Smith.
Smith's car, a 1990 tan and brown Daihatsu, was found abandoned in Roanoke County near Lee's hometown. But police have not found the suspect.
Lee is apparently on the run. Police believe he is driving a stolen 1991 black Chevrolet Camaro.
Neighbors and friends said Smith had never met Lee until she went to get him Jan. 4 at the Greyhound station in Hampton and brought him home to live with her.
It wasn't a romantic relationship, said Don Overby, a friend who had warned Smith about Lee, a career criminal who became Smith's pen pal last summer while he was behind bars. Smith was an unemployed waitress known by many as a caring woman who was quick to help others.
In the third homicide, police said Thursday that the state medical examiner had determined that Madeline Barker, 75, was strangled.
Barker's body was found Wednesday inside her home in the 700 block of Balthrope Road in the Denbigh section of Newport News. She was discovered by a police officer checking a reported burglary at the home.
Police had been searching for Barker's 1984 brown Chrysler New Yorker, unaware that it had been towed on Monday.
A Newport News Park ranger found the car in the park at about 10:45 p.m. Monday. The car appeared to have been abandoned but had not yet been reported stolen, so the ranger had it towed.
The ranger heard the description of the car in news reports Wednesday night and contacted police. Investigators have taken possession of the vehicle. <
KEYWORDS: MURDER ARREST STRANGLING by CNB