The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, September 26, 1996          TAG: 9609260300
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   90 lines

LOCAL DONORS STEP FORWARD TO FINANCE JONES' BURIAL THE MURDER VICTIM WAS TO RECEIVE A PAUPER'S GRAVE.

Megan Jones will receive a proper burial after all.

Wednesday, dozens of friends - even strangers - called to offer to help pay for a casket, funeral, burial and headstone for Jones, who was murdered in May.

Someone offered a family grave plot. One woman offered to pay for the funeral and to fly Jones' parents in from Oklahoma for the service.

After reports Wednesday that Jones' body had been declared ``unclaimed'' by the Medical Examiner's office and would receive a ``pauper's burial'' at state expense, the phones at state offices and the newspaper started ringing.

``There was a lot of dismay. There was a lot of concern,'' said Leslie Draper, a friend of Jones who is coordinating donations. ``It was as if this whole town turned into a community wanting to help out.''

Draper said the overwhelming sentiment was that Jones deserved better and should not have to suffer the indignity of a pauper's burial.

Jones' body has been in cold storage since it was found wrapped in rugs and sheets in an upstairs bedroom of her Delaware Avenue home. The body has been caught in a legal battle between her parents and Tobin Jones, Megan's husband, who is charged with her murder.

After Megan's family exhausted their resources, they gave up their fight for the body. However, the Medical Examiner's office - based on opinions issued from the Attorney General's office - released the body without Tobin Jones' permission, declaring Megan Jones ``unclaimed.'' Once a body is declared unclaimed, the local sheriff's department arranges for a state burial.

It is extremely unusual for a person of standing to be buried at state expense. State burials are normally provided for the homeless or those with no family to claim them. The state provides $1,875 for a cloth-covered pine casket and burial plot.

Megan Jones was involved in community theater, acting and making costumes. Tobin Jones was a prominent psychiatrist, formerly the medical director of the city's Community Services Board.

As next of kin, Tobin Jones had refused to release his wife's body, saying he wanted additional autopsy testing done. Adding to the legal quandary, Tobin Jones was recently declared incompetent to stand trial and is being held at Central State Hospital for treatment.

Tobin Jones' attorneys tried Wednesday to get a temporary injunction to stop the body from being released. Late Wednesday, Circuit Court Judge Everett A. Martin refused to grant the injunction.

``This is a matter of human decency here,'' Martin told defense attorneys. ``We're not going to keep this body indefinitely. You've had more than adequate opportunity to do any tests. It's been four months.''

Tobin Jones' attorney, Kim Shoemaker, argued Wednesday that Jones is not mentally capable of making a decision about the body and is not able to help them determine what autopsy testing to do.

The judge showed little patience for the argument when Shoemaker told him that no one had been hired to do the additional testing.

The Medical Examiner's office has kept tissue and other materials for additional private testing, and it also has determined that Megan Jones should not be cremated - as she wished - in case the body needs to be exhumed for legal reasons.

Tobin Jones' attorneys have just a few days to prepare new arguments and try again for an injunction. In the meantime, the sheriff's department will continue arrangements for a state funeral and release the body to a funeral home, probably by Friday.

By then, funding should be secured and a proper burial should be scheduled for sometime next week.

One woman, who asked that her name not be used, has come forward to offer substantial support. ``I will accept any expenses involving her burial,'' she said Wednesday. ``I will see that she gets a proper burial. I'll do whatever is necessary. . . . It's so sad. It's further abuse. She obviously was abused before, and now she's been further abused.''

Draper, Megan's friend, who arranged a memorial service attended by about 150 friends in June, said he has been uplifted by the outpouring of support from the community.

``A lady in our theater who teaches dance said all her students want to pitch in,'' Draper said. ``I even had one lady call to say, `I didn't know her, but it touched my heart and I feel compelled to do something for her.' ''

Draper said the funeral service will be very simple, with someone saying a few words by the graveside.

``Megan was a very dignified woman,'' he said.

``Given the nature of the way she died, if she can't be cremated like she wanted to, she can at least be buried with dignity.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

Leslie Draper, above, is coordinating donations for a funeral for

his friend

Photo

Megan Jones. Draper can be contacted at 627-9456.

KEYWORDS: MURDER FUNERAL EXPENSES by CNB