THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 8, 1996 TAG: 9602080434
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
A decade-old murder case may have been solvedWednesday after police arrested a man suspected in the brutal slaying of Angela James, police spokesman Larry Hill said.
``This doesn't happen very often because the older a case gets, the harder it is to solve,'' Hill said. ``But it doesn't go away.''
James, 33, was shot to death on Jan. 17, 1986, after she and two companions left a beauty salon in the 600 block of Nicholson St. They were placing items in her car when a man approached, fired multiple shots from a pistol and ran.
James was hit several times in the back, police said. No one else was shot. She died about three hours later at a hospital. With no one talking to police, her killer remained at large.
``Recently a witness, after being scared for the past 10 years, came forward with information,'' Hill said.
Norfolk detectives Donnie Norrell and Glen Ford took that information and interviewed several people again, including one person in Texas.
Four witnesses had died since the slaying. But Norrell and Ford had enough to keep digging, Hill said.
``In this case they got just a little bit of information. . . just enough to get them going,'' Hill said. ``They were persistent enough to make a case.''
On Dec. 6, 1995, they went before a grand jury, getting an indictment against Robert Lee Davis for murder and use of a firearm in a felony. However, he was still at large.
A Crime Line tip led police to Davis, 47, who was found about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday hiding behind a door in a home in the 600 block of W. 29th Street. He did not put up a fight, Hill said.
Crime Line tips assisted investigators in solving nearly 700 cases last year, Hill said.
KEYWORDS: MURDER SHOOTING ARREST by CNB