THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 4, 1996 TAG: 9610040519
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 87 lines
Not long after a 41-year-old man was robbed and shot to death Sept. 8, the case became a stone-cold whodunit.
No witnesses. No evidence. No suspects.
There was nothing to help homicide Detective Al Byrum determine who stole Edward Purnell Jr.'s wallet and then shot him down just outside his apartment.
But four days after the slaying, police officer Amy L. Robertson had stopped a suspicious car and arrested the driver for carrying a concealed weapon. Three weeks after that routine traffic stop, a ballistics test said the gun Robertson confiscated was the murder weapon.
On Wednesday, detectives arrested the suspects. Investigators charged three Chesapeake men with robbery and murder.
On Thursday, police released the details of their investigation.
One of the men charged was driving without a license in a car with a rejected inspection sticker and had the murder weapon with him.
The car was in an empty parking lot long after business hours when Robertson noticed it on Sept. 12. And when Robertson approached in her police cruiser, the nervous driver pulled away.
She stopped the car and arrested the driver, who lied about his name. A lab report later showed the gun Robertson confiscated was the weapon that killed Purnell.
The Chesapeake men charged with murder and robbery are:
The car's driver, Solomon Lee Midgette, 18, of the 400 block of Acorn Grove Road.
Alfonso Lorenzo Bailey, 25, of the 100 block of Hodges Road.
Raymond L. Minter, 23, of the 2700 block of Townhouse Lane.
Byrum, the homicide detective, credited Robertson with getting the evidence needed in the difficult case.
Just after 2 a.m. on Sept. 8, Purnell returned to his apartment after visiting a nearby convenience store. Soon after he got out of his car, several people confronted him. Gunfire erupted and Purnell collapsed in the parking lot. Someone took his wallet. Purnell died shortly afterward.
The suspects are being held without bail. Their preliminary hearings are scheduled for Oct. 17.
VIRGINIA BEACH - Not long after a 41-year-old man was robbed and shot to death Sept. 8, the case became a stone-cold whodunit.
No witnesses. No evidence. No suspects.
There was nothing to help homicide Detective Al Byrum determine who stole Edward Purnell Jr.'s wallet and then shot him down just outside his apartment at St. Bernard Square.
But four days after the slaying, police officer Amy L. Robertson had stopped a suspicious car and arrested the driver for carrying a concealed weapon. Three weeks after that routine traffic stop, a ballistics test said the gun Robertson confiscated was the murder weapon.
On Wednesday, detectives arrested the suspects. Investigators charged three Chesapeake men with robbery and murder.
On Thursday, police released the details of their investigation.
One of the men charged was driving without a license in a car with a rejected inspection sticker and had the murder weapon with him.
The car was in an empty parking lot long after business hours when Robertson noticed it on Sept. 12. And when Robertson approached in her police cruiser, the nervous driver pulled away.
She stopped the car and arrested the driver, who lied about his name. A lab report later showed the gun Robertson confiscated was the weapon that killed Purnell.
The Chesapeake men charged with murder and robbery are:
The car's driver, Solomon Lee Midgette, 18, of the 400 block of Acorn Grove Road.
Alfonso Lorenzo Bailey, 25, of the 100 block of Hodges Road.
Raymond L. Minter, 23, of the 2700 block of Townhouse Lane.
Byrum, the homicide detective, credited Robertson with getting the evidence needed in the difficult case.
Just after 2 a.m. on Sept. 8, Purnell returned to his apartment after visiting a nearby convenience store. Soon after he got out of his car, several people confronted him. Gunfire erupted and Purnell collapsed in the parking lot. Someone took his wallet. Purnell died shortly afterward.
His killing left behind his wife, a son, a daughter, two step-sons, three-step-daughters and two grandchildren.
The suspects are being held without bail. Their preliminary hearings are scheduled for Oct. 17. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Solomon Midgette
Raymond Minter
Alfonso Bailey
KEYWORDS: MURDER by CNB