DATE: Tuesday, May 6, 1997                  TAG: 9705060247

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Briefs 

                                            LENGTH:   84 lines

VIRGINIA DIGEST

RICHMOND - U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton of Alexandria has stayed Wednesday night's scheduled execution of a man convicted of murdering a Chesterfield County car salesman.

Don Harrison, a spokesman for Attorney General Jim Gilmore, said Monday that the delay had been expected so Tony Leslie Fry can pursue appeals in federal court. The Virginia Supreme Court upheld Fry's death sentence in 1995.

Beltway's last 17 miles

announced by governor

RICHMOND - Gov. George Allen announced a $239 million highway extension Monday that will complete a beltway around the state's capital.

The proposed Route 288 connector was also a key inducement in winning a commitment from Motorola Inc. to build a $3 billion semiconductor plant in Goochland County, a project Motorola has since put on hold.

The freeway will complete a bypass route around Richmond from Interstate 95 south of the city to Interstate 64 west of Richmond. Route 288 now runs from I-95 in southern Chesterfield northwest for about 18 miles to the Powhite Parkway, southwest of the city.

The 17-mile extension would continue north from the Powhite Parkway through Midlothian and into Powhatan County before crossing the James River into Goochland near Motorola's site.

Man flees slaying scene;

Norfolk woman left dead

FORT LEE - A woman soldier from Norfolk was shot and killed Monday on this Army post, a spokeswoman for the Petersburg area base said.

The woman was shot several times about 5:30 a.m. by a man who fled in a vehicle, said spokeswoma Joy Whitmore. She identified the victim as Spc. Adrienne Burgest, 29, of Norfolk, who was assigned to the 267th Quartermaster Company.

Burgest was the mother of an 8-year-old daughter, Whitmore said.

The slaying was being investigated by military police, the military's Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI.

Contact visits barred

for death-row inmate

RICHMOND - A federal appeals court on Monday barred confidential contact visits between death-row inmate Joseph Roger O'Dell III and a member of his legal team.

O'Dell was convicted of killing Helen Schartner, a secretary, outside a Virginia Beach nightclub in 1985. He contends he is innocent.

On Monday a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer's ruling that the state violated O'Dell's right to court access by refusing to allow contact visits with Lori Urs. The appeals court said contact visits between O'Dell and Urs would jeopardize prison security because of their close personal relationship. Contact visits are those in which physical contact is allowed, but within sight of prison officials.

ALSO . . .

Richmond - Cable television thieves in Chesterfield County are being granted a six-week amnesty to have their illegal cable service disconnected with no questions asked, Comcast Cablevision has announced.

The amnesty began Monday and ends June 21. After that, Comcast says it will begin hunting down people who steal cable signals. They face up to 30 days in jail, $500 fines and restitution to Comcast.

COMING UP

TODAY

Hampton - News conference at NASA Langley on design and development of a series of small planetary exploration spacecraft, 2 p.m., H.J.E. Reid Conference Center at Langley Research Center.

THURSDAY

Richmond - State Democrats begin a two-day conference that will culminate in the nomination Saturday of the party's candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general. KEYWORDS: DEATH ROW CAPITAL PUNISHMENT EXECUTION

SHOOTING MURDER U.S. ARMY RULING APPEAL CONTACT VISIT

JOSEPH ROGER O'DELL VIRGINIA

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