THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 30, 1995 TAG: 9506300458
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
Federal agents searched the Bloomington, Ind., apartment of murder suspect Dustin Allen Turner on Thursday and confiscated stolen military ordnance and high explosives, authorities said.
The search came on the same day Turner and another SEAL trainee, Billy Joe Brown Jr., were arraigned on charges of murder, abduction and sexual assault in the slaying of Jennifer Lea Evans. Evans was a 21-year-old pre-med student at Emory University in Atlanta.
Navy authorities and Bloomington police removed 4 1/2 pounds of C-4 plastic explosive, blasting caps, fuse igniters, boosters and smoke grenades, said Lt. Ron Hill, a Navy spokesman in Norfolk.
``That's a lot of explosives,'' a bomb expert said. ``Depending on the placement, it could devastate a house.''
The search of the Bloomington apartment resulted from information gathered during the homicide investigation, Hill said. All the materials were returned to the military.
Agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service trying to determine where the ordnance was stolen, Hill said.
Turner and Brown appeared in court Thursday afternoon and were ordered held without bail until at least Wednesday. Each was accompanied by two sheriff's deputies.
An hour after the court appearances, Evans' parents publicly thanked Virginia Beach police and Hampton Roads residents for ``trying to bring our daughter home.''
``We know that is not going to happen now,'' Al Evans said in an emotional statement. ``We want to thank the authorities who have been working night and day. They had our full confidence. They did everything they could, and beyond.''
Evans, an only child, vanished from The Bayou nightclub June 19 after being seen with the two Navy SEAL trainees. She had met them only hours earlier.
After an intense nine-day investigation that ended Tuesday with the discovery of Evans' body in a wooded area of Newport News Park, detectives charged Brown and Turner with the crime. A police source Thursday said Evans was strangled not long after leaving The Bayou.
Both men are being held in the city jail. Both are married.
On Thursday, Brown, 23, from Dayton, Ohio, appeared in court first.
His bare ankles were shackled, and his left wrist was handcuffed to a chain wrapped twice around the waist of his orange jail jumpsuit. His right arm was free.
Brown asked for a public defender. His bond hearing was set for Wednesday.
Turner, 20, appeared next, in similar restraints. His bond hearing was also set for Wednesday. Attorney Mike Ashe told the court that he was asked by Turner's family to represent the sailor, but that he had not yet filed the appropriate paperwork.
Brown has a history of violence against women, according to police reports from Ohio.
In 1990, when he was 17, Brown assaulted his 14-year-old wife in front of Huber Heights police, and then fought three officers when they tried to arrest him, according to the report. He was charged with domestic violence and three related offenses.
He earned a high school diploma in the summer of 1991 through an adult education program.
Turner - Brown's friend from SEAL Team 4 training - graduated in 1993 from Bloomington High School South. He was on the swim team.
Evans' funeral is scheduled for Saturday in Tucker, Ga., not far from where she attended high school.
``She will be remembered for her compassion, her love of life, her many interests,'' said Evans' mother, Delores. Her daughter was on the dean's list and wanted to be a doctor. ``I always respected her. She made us so proud because of all the things she accomplished in her life.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff
SEAL trainees Dustin Allen Turner, left, and Billy Joe Brown Jr.
were arraigned Thursday in Virginia Beach.
Thursday, Jennifer Evans' parents thanked local police and
residents: ``They did everything they could, and beyond,'' said Al
Evans, with wife, Delores.
KEYWORDS: MURDER SEX CRIME ARREST by CNB