THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 19, 1995 TAG: 9507190455
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
State police investigators found a hacksaw blade in the typewriter that sat outside Willie Lloyd Turner's cell - well within his reach - in Virginia's death house, sources told the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
It was the same typewriter in which Turner's lawyer allegedly found a loaded .32-caliber revolver and extra ammunition about an hour after Turner's May 25 execution.
One source, whom the newspaper did not identify in its story today, said the hacksaw blade was found well after the Department of Corrections had completed its investigation in May. Prison investigators apparently missed it, he said.
Officials refused comment, citing the ongoing state police investigation.
``We can't confirm or deny that information. We . . . don't want to get into the position of giving out evidence whether it was found or not found, at this juncture,'' Public Safety Secretary Jerry W. Kilgore said late Tuesday.
``Nothing that that man would ever do would surprise me,'' said Walter J. Walvick, Turner's lawyer. Some state officials suggested Walvick might have placed the gun he allegedly found there, a charge he has denied.
Walvick said he knew nothing about the blade inside the typewriter.
Walvick said he found the weapon and 12 extra bullets in a compartment built inside the typewriter. He had taken Turner's personal effects back to his hotel room after the execution. He opened the typewriter, which had been sealed by Corrections Department officials in packing tape, in the presence of two reporters.
KEYWORDS: MURDER CAPITAL PUNISHMENT VIRGINIA
HANDGUNS by CNB