THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 4, 1996 TAG: 9607040547
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 62 lines
Six weeks after Megan Jones was found murdered in her Delaware Avenue home, her parents have given up their court battle to claim her body.
Ken and Jean Pope say they have spent thousands of dollars in legal fees and suffered emotionally in their efforts to recover her body so they could fulfill her wish: that she be cremated and her ashes spread in the Atlantic Ocean.
Megan Jones' husband, Tobin Jones - charged with his wife's murder - has refused to sign next-of-kin release papers because he believes she committed suicide. Jones wants additional drug-testing done on his wife's body, which is being kept at a local funeral home.
``We're just going to let him do what he damn well pleases,'' said Megan's stepfather, Ken Pope, in a telephone interview Wednesday from his Oklahoma home. ``Her soul left her body a long time ago. She's had two memorial services. What can we do? We're not going to spend any more money fighting him when there's nothing to fight over.''
A Norfolk judge was to have ruled Wednesday morning whether to release the body. However, the parents withdrew their court petition before the hearing took place.
A letter to the court from the family's attorney, Philip R. Farthing, said the family was ``tired, very discouraged about what has occurred . . . and weary of carrying on what has been a very distasteful battle.''
``Dr. (Tobin) Jones has put this family through a considerable amount of turmoil over this issue,'' the letter continued. ``He continues to demand this and that, saying he wants all these tests performed on her remains, so we'll let Dr. Jones dispose of Megan's body when he is ready.''
There may have been a delay in the release of the body because of a clause in the state law saying a body could be retained until after an investigation was complete. However, it is not known how the judge would have ruled Wednesday.
Pope said the family was no longer concerned about any future decisions about the body.
``If they want to run another autopsy and if they want to pay for it, let them run it,'' Pope said. ``As far as we're concerned, the body is nothing but a collection of . . . atoms. What they do with the body and when they decide to have it cremated is strictly up to them.''
Pope said a June memorial service in Megan Jones' hometown of Wagoner, Okla., was held at an Episcopal church. Jones' two brothers wrote and read a touching eulogy, Pope said, for family and close friends. A service was also held last month in Norfolk by friends of Jones at the Norfolk Little Theatre. MEMO: CASE UPDATE:
EVIDENCE SOUGHT: Search warrants indicate they still are seeking a
murder weapon and trying to match a key on Jones' key ring to the
locked room where Megan's boy was found.
HEARING POSTPONED: Jones' preliminary hearing was postponed from July
10 until Sept. 4. EVALUATION GRANTED: Jones' attorney's request for a
mental competency evaluation was granted - over Jones' protests that he
doesn't need one. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Tobin Jones, right, believes his wife, Megan, left, committed
suicide. He wants additional drug-testing done on her body before it
is released. by CNB