THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 11, 1995 TAG: 9508110202
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Now that Thomas Smolka's murder conviction has been overturned, the parents of the victim - his wife, Betty Anne - fear he may try to regain custody of his three children.
The children have been raised by Betty Anne's parents in Virginia Beach for the past four years, since Thomas Smolka's arrest.
``They're happy here. They get along real well. We love them like our own children,'' said Betty Anne's father, Willis Stephenson, 66, a retired bank executive.
Stephenson and his wife, Betty, 64, were shocked Thursday morning when they learned of the appeals court's action.
Stephenson was one of Thomas Smolka's chief accusers. He publicly accused his son-in-law of murder several weeks before criminal charges were filed. On Thursday, he said he strongly disagreed with the appeals court's 30-page ruling.
``I felt the evidence was pretty overwhelming,'' Stephenson said.
He said he and his wife are already preparing for a custody fight with Smolka over the children: Jeff, 15; Katherine, 13; and Molly, 7.
``We don't have any reason to think Tom won't want to get his children if he is finally adjudicated a free man,'' Stephenson said. ``We're trying to prepare for that contingency.''
The children are ``getting along fine,'' playing sports and getting good grades at school, he said.
In a written statement, the Stephensons' attorney, John Y. Richardson Jr., said his clients will fight any effort by Smolka to regain custody.
``Betty Anne's family will continue to do everything in their power to insure that the children of their daughter are financially secure and remain in a safe and suitable environment,'' Richardson wrote. ``They will vigorously oppose any attempt to remove the children from their custody, where they have been continuously since the tragic and brutal murder of their daughter.''
Richardson asked the press and public to respect the family's privacy and ``refrain from any intrusion.''
``They sincerely appreciate both the public's and the media's sincere compassion and consideration for the loss of their daughter and respect for the family and the children's privacy shown them since the death of Betty Anne, and trust it will continue,'' Richardson wrote.
For a while in 1991, the children's custody was in doubt.
The children remained with their father for four months after the murder. Smolka moved with the children to his boyhood home in Delaware soon after the killing.
In September 1991, two months after the murder, Betty Anne's father filed two lawsuits against Smolka. One accused Smolka of killing Betty Anne and sought $10 million in damages. It is still pending in Norfolk's federal court.
The other lawsuit sought custody of the children. When Smolka was arrested, police took the children from him and gave them to Betty Anne's parents.
Stephenson said the children have not heard from their father since his conviction, but they do get birthday cards from their parental grandmother in Delaware.
``We need everybody's prayers. We need lots of prayers,'' Stephenson said. ``These children, we want what's best for them.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Willis Stephenson
KEYWORDS: MURDER SHOOTING CONVICTION
APPEAL by CNB