THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 23, 1996 TAG: 9602230439
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
For more than 14 months, the murder and sexual assault of 29-year-old Renee Wilkes remained a mystery to Newport News police investigators. They were especially puzzled by one clue found at the scene.
Bleach had been poured onto Wilkes' body in what police believed was a crude attempt to remove physical evidence that might link the sex crime to the criminal.
Instead, that's how police on Thursday said they linked Larry D. Green, 30, of the 2200 block of Jefferson Avenue to Wilkes' murder on Dec. 15, 1994, and two similar strangulation killings of women in Newport News. Investigators declined to describe Green's personal life.
Another murder victim, whose body was found Feb. 5, was found with alcohol poured into her body. Police said it was an attempt to disguise physical evidence.
Investigators first linked Green to the February slaying of 31-year-old Helen Mary Katherine Mewborn while questioning him this week.. They then suspected that Green killed Wilkes because liquid had been poured into her body, too.
Before the questioning was over, police were convinced that Green had killed three women, and tried to erase evidence in two of the slayings with the liquids he thought would wash away seminal fluid.
``The perpetrator might have been watching a little bit too much TV,'' said police Maj. Alan Chertok. ``Enough to learn a little about DNA. Enough to get himself into further trouble.''
Police called a news conference Thursday to announce that Green had been charged in the Wilkes and Mewborn deaths. They said he also was charged with killing 75-year-old Eva Ida Gray on Jan. 9.
Green is being held in the Newport News City Jail without bail.
Police, however, stopped short of calling Green a serial killer. They said the pattern of the three killings does not fit a serial profile.
``This one doesn't even come close,'' he said.
For one thing, there is a big gap between the first and the second killing. Also, Chertok said, the races of the victims are not consistent, another characteristic of serial killings. Mewborn was white, Wilkes and Gray were black.
But that won't stop investigators from reviewing all unsolved sexual assaults in the city to see if Green might be linked to them, said Lt. Lynn Pearson, who is charge of major crime investigations.
Pearson also said police will review one unsolved murder investigation - the Aug. 26, 1995 murder of Evonne Diggs - to see if there is evidence Green might be involved.
Green came to the attention of police when a Feb. 20 sexual assault victim identified him. The woman told police that Green attempted to strangle her after she refused to have sex with him. She passed out and then escaped when she regained consciousness and struggled to free herself.
During questioning Wednesday about the assault, Green admitted to police that he had sex with Mewborn on the night of her death and remembered having his hands around her neck before running from the house.
Police then searched Green's residence in the 2200 block of Marshall Ave.
Police would not say if Green confessed to all three of the murders.
Green was charged with capital murder and rape in the death of Wilkes; murder and attempted robbery in the death of Gray; and murder in the death of Mewborn. A possible sexual assault charge also is possible in the death of Mewborn pending additional forensic tests.
Police said that Green knew or was at least acquainted with all of the victims, including the sexual assault victim who escaped and later identified him. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Newport News police suspect Larry D. Green, 30, in three killings
within the last 14 months.
KEYWORDS: RAPE SEX CRIME MURDER ARREST by CNB