THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 9, 1996 TAG: 9601090245
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
Ten months ago, 24-year-old Tracy Dawn Crafton was shot to death moments after climbing into her grandparents' van to leave a boyfriend she said had abused her.
The gunman, in the parking lot of the Zoom-In convenience store on U.S. 17 North, also shot her stepgrandfather, Ron Revering of Virginia Beach, several times before fleeing.
Weather permitting, Crafton's former boyfriend, Richard S. ``Ricky'' Hogarth, will stand trial today on first-degree murder and felonious assault charges in connection with the shootings March 8.
If convicted, Hogarth could face the death penalty. The trial is one of a handful of capital cases the seven-county 1st Judicial District has seen in recent years.
The trial had been slated to begin Monday in Pasquotank County Superior Court, but Senior Resident Superior Court Judge J. Richard Parker postponed the hearing because of snow.
Hogarth, 31, of West Main Street Extended north of Elizabeth City, had been held since summer at Central Prison in Raleigh. He was returned last month to Albemarle District Jail.
Shortly after Hogarth was arrested last March, Pasquotank County Sheriff Randy Cartwright said Hogarth had confessed. But Hogarth has since pleaded not guilty.
Lawyers on both sides have said they expect a full trial.
Sam Dixon, one of two court-appointed lawyers defending Hogarth, said, ``We haven't had any plea offers.''
Jury selection will probably begin before noon, said Assistant District Attorney Mike Johnson. Lawyers said it could take several days to seat a jury, in part because of publicity about the case.
Johnson would not comment on specific trial strategy but did say there will be ``a large number'' of witnesses, including some eyewitnesses.
The shootings and a subsequent car theft in Norfolk led police in several states on a manhunt that lasted until Hogarth was captured in a Virginia Beach car chase five days later.
Hogarth pleaded guilty April 10 to stealing an acquaintance's Acura Legend from the Ocean View area of Norfolk more than an hour after the shootings. He spent 3 1/2 months in the Norfolk City Jail on the grand larceny conviction before returning to North Carolina.
Hogarth had several brushes with the law before the shootings. He has a record of arrests and convictions for assaults in North Carolina and Florida dating to the early 1980s.
Just two days before Crafton was killed, she attempted to have Hogarth arrested on charges of beating her. A Camden County magistrate did not issue a warrant for Hogarth; he said at a later hearing that Crafton could not pin down where the reported incident had taken place.
Johnson said he expected the trial to last at least a couple of weeks.
KEYWORDS: MURDER TRIAL SHOOTING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE by CNB