THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 30, 1995 TAG: 9509300274
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
Deborah Morris, accused of luring her elderly husband to his death in 1987, has a history of befriending older men and trying to gain control of their money or have them killed, a federal agent testified Friday.
She has tried to have at least three people killed in addition to her husband, the agent said. A federal magistrate ordered Morris held without bond, apparently out of concern for her current boyfriend, a retired military veteran.
Morris - who has not been charged with murder or solicitation to murder - was charged earlier this week with fraud and property crimes after she allegedly plotted with her brother to kill her husband to receive his retirement benefits of nearly $95,000, Secret Service Agent Darryl Daniels testified at Friday's bond hearing in federal court.
Morris apparently cannot be charged with murder unless her husband's body is found. Her husband, Eugene Bryce Morris, disappeared on May 27, 1987, after walking to a church near his rooming house to help his wife fix her broken-down car.
Deborah Morris, 45, was 37 at the time. Her husband - a World War II Navy veteran - was 73.
``I think she poses a risk to society,'' U.S. Magistrate James E. Bradberry said. ``All these crimes arise from the fact that her husband disappeared. I believe there's a connection between her control of his property and his disappearance. . . . Her present relationship seems parallel to that of Mr. Morris.''
The current boyfriend, who has lived with Morris off and on at the Buckroe Motel in Hampton for six months, said Friday he did not wish to be interviewed. Earlier this week, agent Daniels testified, Morris said in front of her boyfriend, ``He doesn't have any property worth killing over.''
Daniels testified that Morris has boasted of trying to initiate the hired killings of a boyfriend, a crack dealer and a bag lady.
Among the incidents mentioned in Daniels' testimony, which was based on interviews with witnesses:
She hired a hit man to kill a boyfriend for $1,500, Daniels said. She allegedly paid him $750 in advance, with the balance due when the slaying was confirmed. The hit man left the state with the cash, later telling investigators he never intended to kill anyone.
She gave a ``brass-knuckle knife'' to another hit man so he could kill a bag lady who had jewelry Morris wanted. She offered to split the jewelry with the killer. The hit man had a conversation with the bag lady, but never committed the crime, Daniels testified.
Morris gave yet another hit man a billy club to kill a crack cocaine dealer, again offering to split the crack and money.
Finally, and most recently, she tried to hire someone to help her get power of attorney for her current boyfriend. She had used the same tactic with her husband, who was also retired from the military.
In her husband's case, within six weeks of their marriage, Morris allegedly obtained signature authority over her husband's bank account, in which three retirement checks totaling about $1,000 were deposited monthly, according to a federal indictment returned Monday.
After she had become the beneficiary on his insurance policy and gained power of attorney, she tried to have her husband involuntarily committed to a hospital. When that didn't work, she allegedly plotted with her brother, Michael L. Russell, to kill him, the indictment said.
Russell ``told a witness several times that he shot Morris in the back of the head with a handgun and left his body in the woods for wild dogs to eat,'' agent Daniels testified Friday.
``He said it was at the request of his sister and that they would split the money. Two other witnesses . . . said Russell told them Deb buried the body.''
Russell died three weeks ago when he was mangled by a winch on a scallop boat.
Daniels testified that Deborah Morris, like her brother, was loose-lipped. She told several people Eugene was dead at the same time she was allegedly forging letters from him to the city of Newport News so retirement benefits would continue.
When a newspaper article indicated where investigators were looking for her husband's body, she allegedly said, ``They won't find his body there.''
Morris, when hiring one hit man, allegedly asked if he had the nerve to commit the crime, Daniels testified. ``She said, `There's nothing to it. Just check my track record. I had my husband taken care of,' '' Daniels said.
Morris, who has been in custody in an isolation cell, is ill, relatives said.
``She's in a suicide cell, without a doctor saying she needed it,'' said her aunt, Ann Weatherford. ``She was left for 24 hours in a paper gown in a cold room. She has laryngitis, a sore throat and cough and has had no shower for three days. They say she's in alcohol withdrawal.''
Weatherford and Morris' attorney, Kevin Shea, said Morris did not commit the crimes she's accused of. ``If they had a solid case, she'd have been charged with murder and with these solicitations to murder,'' Shea said.
Morris denied all the charges, Shea said, confirming that his client has a problem with alcohol.
``Deborah has killed no one,'' Weatherford said.
``She has a lot of trashy friends who are spreading rumors. Mr. Morris is not dead. He just left, disappeared.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Deborah Morris is accused of luring her husband to his death.
KEYWORDS: MURDER MURDER FOR HIRE ARREST by CNB