THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 25, 1996 TAG: 9607250356
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 26 lines
A California man who was arrested last month for a 1982 rape and murder on the Norfolk Naval Base was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury.
Richard H. Whittle, 38, waived extradition and was brought from California to face the charges.
Whittle said little in his initial appearance in federal court except to explain why he needs a court-appointed attorney. He has two dependents - his wife and a 9-year-old daughter - and bought a home the week before he was arrested.
The case is one of about a dozen solved by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service's cold-case squad, which re-opens old murders and applies new technology and investigative techniques.
Whittle was charged after investigators determined that DNA at the crime scene and a fingerprint on the victim's car matched Whittle's.
The evidence was collected when Pamela Ann Kimbrue's body was found in her car in Willoughby Bay in March 1982. Prosecutors plan to ask a judge for additional blood from Whittle later this week for more extensive DNA testing.
Kimbrue and Whittle were co-workers at the Norfolk Naval Base, where both were couriers. If convicted, Whittle faces life in prison. by CNB