THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 13, 1996 TAG: 9609130560
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUNE ARNEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 46 lines
Police have released drawings of tattoos worn by a man they are seeking in connection with an attempted sexual assault last weekend, the details of which bear striking similarities to a string of unsolved killings.
The suspect has a tattoo on his right forearm of a dagger with a snake around the blade. He has an eagle tattoo on the upper left side of his chest.
The attack occurred shortly after the suspect offered a ride to a man walking in the Berkley neighborhood of Norfolk about 8 p.m. Sept. 6. The driver agreed to take the man to another location in Norfolk, then asked if they could make another stop first.
The victim agreed but soon found himself parked on a secluded dirt road in the Bowers Hill area.
The driver tried to force him to have sex, and a fight broke out. The victim escaped, and the driver was last seen driving his van on Route 58.
The driver was calm, polite and conversational until he tried to force his victim to have sex, police have said.
Police are not saying whether they believe the suspect in this case is linked to a series of unsolved killings in which the bodies of nude men have been found in isolated areas in and around Chesapeake since 1987.
Ten of the 12 victims of a suspected serial killer were strangled. Two others may have been strangled, but the bodies were too badly decomposed for authorities to be sure.
The suspect is white, 33- to 37-years-old, 5 feet 10 inches tall, 185 pounds with a medium complexion. He has straight blond to brown hair, hazel eyes and a thick mustache.
The suspect was driving a late 1970s or early '80s brown Ford Econoline van. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
[Sketch]
Description
Tattoos
Vehicle
Whom to Call
[For complete copy, see microfilm]
KEYWORDS: SEXUAL ASSAULT ASSAULT SERIAL KILLER SUSPECT by CNB