THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 18, 1997 TAG: 9702180302
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANGELITA PLEMMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: 117 lines
A man convicted in 1986 of stabbing his wife 15 times and acquitted of killing a Churchland dental assistant in 1977 now stands accused of stabbing a woman to death Saturday.
The suspect, Earl Jacob Cross, 58, of Portsmouth, is missing. He is wanted in the slaying of Beatrice L. Jefferson, 38, who was found stabbed to death in her home in the 100 block of Glenwood Drive.
Police have released few details about the killing.
On Monday, state corrections officials said Cross is no stranger to the criminal justice system.
``Off and on . . . this guy has been under supervision of one sort or another for the bulk of his adult life, be it parole or full-fledged incarceration,'' said David Botkins, a state corrections spokesman.
Corrections officials say their records of Cross go back as far as 1977. But a review of Virginian-Pilot news stories shows that Cross has a violent criminal history dating to 1958, when he was charged with felony assault with a pitchfork. No details of that case were available.
In 1966, Cross was charged in three violent incidents.
In one, he raped and robbed a 45-year-old woman. In another, he knifed a 16-year-old boy and tried to rape the boy's mother at a city dump. In another, Cross robbed a pizzeria by threatening to shoot the manager. Juries convicted him of all three, sentencing him to 33 years in prison.
According to prison reports, Cross adapted readily to rehabilitation programs and pursued prison electronics, plumbing and boiler repair. He was even an aspiring playwright, who wrote three plays while in prison about child abuse, drug abuse and Easter.
When his parole came up for review in 1976, Cross presented a special case, said then-Parole Board Chairman Pleasant C. Shields in an interview a year later.
``He had 15 to 20 letters in his packet praising him and recommending that he be paroled,'' Shields said. ``Several people, including ministers who had worked with him . . . came to Richmond and spoke in his behalf.''
Cross was released from prison in 1976, having served 10 years.
One year later, he was charged with raping and slaying a Portsmouth woman. When the parole board chairman heard this, he uttered a short prayer.
``I said to myself, `Dear God, let him be innocent,' '' Shields said at the time. ``When we paroled Cross, we thought that this was a person who had changed.''
Police had found a woman's badly beaten body partly hidden under a pile of rubbish off Twin Pines Road, about a mile from her Churchland home. She was a dental assistant, wife and mother of two girls.
Cross alternately confessed and denied the killing. When Cross was arrested, a police officer testified that Cross said, ``I hope this doesn't get me in trouble like the last time.''
Police charged him with murder, rape, abduction and robbery. He was acquitted by a jury.
In 1977, he was convicted of grand larceny for stealing hams from a Smithfield meat-packing plant. He was sentenced to eight years in prison. It could not be determined Monday how long he stayed in prison.
In 1978, he was charged in Richmond for being a repeat offender and was sentenced to one year in jail. Corrections officials could not provide details of the charge.
Corrections officials said Monday that their records indicate Cross was paroled again in 1983. Again, no further details were available.
In 1984, Cross stabbed his wife, Thelma, 15 times in Chesapeake. During his trial, one witness testified that he saw Cross straddling Thelma on the side of the road, stabbing her repeatedly. When people came to help, Cross drove away.
His wife survived and later testified that just before Cross drove away, he asked her if she wanted a ride to the hospital. Thelma Cross told jurors the incident was her fault because she wanted to leave him for another man. She did not want to testify against her husband.
The couple eventually reconciled and Thelma Cross told jurors, ``The marriage is much better than it ever has been.''
Police charged Cross with malicious wounding, and a jury convicted him of unlawful wounding in 1986. He was sentenced to three years in prison.
After the trial, jury foreman Edward W. Riccio said, ``We felt like he was in leave of his senses. He really did not mean to kill his wife.''
Last year, Cross was released from Corrections Department supervision, officials said.
Now, an arrest warrant is pending. Police describe Cross as black, 5 feet 8 inches tall, about 200 pounds, with brown eyes, black hair and a scar on his nose. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Line at 488-7777. ILLUSTRATION: Earl Cross
EARL CROSS' BACKGROUND
1966: Charged with robbing Plaza Lounge Pizza House on Airline
Boulevard. Convicted. Sentenced to eight years in prison.
1966: Charged with assaulting a 16-year-old boy and trying to
rape the boy's mother. Convicted. Sentenced to 15 years in prison.
1966: Charged with raping and robbing a 45-year-old woman.
Convicted. Sentenced to 10 years in prison.
1976: Paroled from prison after serving 10 years.
1977: Police find a woman's body. Cross is charged with murder,
rape, abduction and robbery. He is acquitted.
1977: Convicted of grand larceny for stealing hams from a
Smithfield meat-packing plant.
1984: Stabs wife, Thelma, 15 times in Chesapeake. Charged with
malicious wounding. Jury convicts him of unlawful wounding.
Sentenced to three years in prison.
1996: Cross released from Corrections Department supervision and
parole.
Saturday: Woman found slain in Portsmouth. Cross is sought in her
death. He is missing.
KEYWORDS: FUGITIVE MURDER STABBING RECIDIVISM