THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 19, 1995 TAG: 9510190366
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 114 lines
Two men who had been living in Kill Devils Hills and had drug and assault police records were charged with first-degree murder Wednesday in the shooting death of a Maryland state trooper.
Charged were Ivan Fitzherbert Lovell, 25, who listed his address as New York City, and William Smith Lynch, 21, who gave a Brooklyn, N.Y., and Altamonte Springs, Fla., address.
But Maryland and Kill Devil Hills police said the men had been staying in North Carolina recently.
Records at the Dare County Clerk of Courts office show Lovell and Lynch had both been convicted of drug-related crimes on the Outer Banks. Lovell has a three-page record that includes three counts of assault with a deadly weapon in Dare County - two in September - and trials were pending.
Lovell also has been charged in Dare County with three counts of possession of cocaine with intent to sell and two counts of selling cocaine in the past seven years.
Maryland police said they found a pound of crack and powder cocaine and some marijuana in the suspects' car. The car was registered to a Manteo woman. The cocaine carried a street value of $83,000.
Both men were denied bail Wednesday.
Lovell also goes by the name Donovan Ault, police records show.
``I keep hearing that name over and over again in law enforcement circles,'' Kill Devil Hills Police Chief James Gradeless said Wednesday afternoon. ``We believe Donovan, at least, was living in a Kill Devil Hills trailer. I think the other suspect had been staying with him.''
The shooting occurred shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday when a Maryland trooper pulled over a 1991 red Plymouth Sundance in the southbound lane of U.S. 13 on the Eastern Shore, about 30 miles north of the Virginia border. The officer, Edward A. Plank, issued the driver a speeding ticket. But when Plank asked the driver to sign the citation, the driver signed one name - then scratched it out and signed a different name, said Maryland State Police Sgt. Preston Mears.
``That made the trooper suspicious. So he went back to his car and radioed for back-up,'' Mears said Wednesday. ``When he approached the driver's side again, shots were fired from inside the car.''
The 28-year-old trooper died later that morning in a Maryland hospital. He is survived by a wife and 7-month-old daughter.
After Plank was shot, his 23-year-old partner, Dennis Lord, approached the suspects' car and fired from behind the vehicle. Lord hit the driver, Lovell, in the head and right arm.
``When the back-up trooper began exchanging shots with the suspects, they took off in their car and turned down State Route 413, near Chrisfield, Md.,'' said Mears. ``Lynch took off and went into the woods to hide. Lovell drove the car into the back yard of a house and submerged it in a pond to hide it. But about two feet of the vehicle still stuck out of the water.''
Lovell broke into the house in front of the pond and fired at the man and woman inside, police said. The man beat Lovell with an unloaded rifle, got Lovell's handgun away, and continued beating him with his own gun, Mears said. ``The homeowner beat the suspect until he was unconscious. Then he called 911,'' said the sergeant. ``I guess that guy broke into the wrong house.''
Lovell was in a Maryland hospital in satisfactory condition Wednesday afternoon.
Police recovered a .45 handgun from the house.
Late Tuesday afternoon, troopers arrested Lynch in the woods less than a mile from where the trooper was slain.
Lovell and Lynch were allegedly carrying the cocaine to North Carolina when they were stopped for speeding, police said. Officers added that Route 13 has become a major corridor for drug dealers traveling between New York and Virginia and North Carolina.
Dare County court records show that Lovell lived on Good Luck Street in Manteo, on Duck Road in Southern Shores and, most recently, on 9th Avenue in Kill Devil Hills. Lynch listed his address in local court records as California Street, Manteo.
Local court records also say that in Dare County, Lovell:
Was charged with possession with intent to sell cocaine and selling cocaine in September, 1988 but was ``convicted of a lesser offense'' after agreeing to pay a $2,100 fine.
Was charged with possession with intent to sell cocaine in September, 1988. But that case was ``dismissed by the District Attorney.''
Was charged with possession with intent to sell cocaine in September, 1992, was found guilty of the charge, and sentenced to do jail time. At the same time, he also was charged with maintaining a residence to sell controlled substances, but was ``convicted of a lesser offense.''
Was charged with two counts of manufacturing cocaine, possession of a controlled substance, selling or delivering cocaine, and two counts of maintaining a residence to sell controlled substances in May, 1993. The first manufacturing charge was ``transferred to South Carolina.'' The second was ``dismissed by the District Attorney.'' Lovell served 148 days in jail for the possession of a controlled substance and was ``convicted of a lesser offense'' on the selling or delivering cocaine charge. He was found guilty of the first maintaining a residence charge and the district attorney dismissed the second count of that charge.
Was charged with felony possession of cocaine in May 1993. But that case was ``dismissed by the District Attorney.''
Was charged with assault with a deadly weapon in May, 1995 and was facing trial in that case.
Was charged with assault with a deadly weapon on Sept. 3, 1995 and was facing trial in that case.
Was charged with assault with a deadly weapon on Sept. 5, 1995 and was facing trial in that case.
Was charged with communicating threats and second-degree trespassing on Sept. 6, 1995, and was facing trial in those cases.
Dare County court records show that Lynch:
Was charged with possession of up to a half-ounce of marijuana in April, 1995, was found guilty, and sentenced to serve jail time.
Was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon on Aug. 20, 1995, and was facing trial in those cases. MEMO: John Harper and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
KEYWORDS: MURDER STATE TROOPERS ARREST SHOOTING by CNB