DATE: Saturday, June 28, 1997               TAG: 9706280342

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY CINDY CLAYTON AND LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITERS 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   64 lines

MAN DRAGGED FROM HOME, SHOT TO DEATH PORTSMOUTH YOUTHS ARRESTED IN WESTERN BRANCH SLAYING.

A 29-year-old Chesapeake man was dragged from his home in Western Branch Thursday morning, taken to a wooded area a few miles away, and shot to death, police said.

The victim, Mark Pickrel, knew the suspects in his slaying - two juveniles from Portsmouth who were arrested late Thursday night, said Detective Richard Black. The motive appeared to be robbery, Black said.

Late Friday, police said they also had issued warrants for the arrest of an 18-year-old man, Richard Marron, in connection with Pickrel's slaying. Marron's last known address was in the 600 block of Mount Vernon Ave. in Portsmouth.

It was the second time in a week that someone in Hampton Roads was abducted and killed. Tiffany Woods of Norfolk disappeared on June 19 after two masked men with guns stormed her Ocean View apartment. Her body was found in a van Sunday.

Pickrel was manager of the Cinemark Movies 10, near Chesapeake Square Mall. Police did not release information about his death until Friday afternoon.

The suspects, whose identities were not released because of their ages, were being held at the Tidewater Detention Home Friday, Black said.

Each was charged with one count of murder, Black said, and other charges are pending.

Black said police think the juveniles arrived at Pickrel's apartment in the 4400 block of Deborah Court early Thursday. Signs of a struggle indicate that he was forced away from the home, he said.

It was not clear Friday what led police to Pickrel's body. Some of his belongings were recovered by Portsmouth police. Black said his car also had been recovered.

Chesapeake police found his body near an overgrown dirt path in the 2300 block of Elizabeth Harbor Drive across from a Virginia Power substation.

The street is located off Taylor Road, not far from Chesapeake Square Mall. Neighbors described the stretch of road as usually quiet. The path is not visible from the houses nearby.

``You can do most anything you want up there because it's an isolated area,'' said Hosea Carney, referring to the area across from the substation. Carney, 58, lives in one of about a half-dozen houses on the road.

``This is the first time anything has happened out here,'' said Carney, who has lived there most of his life. ``I don't want that kind of action back here.''

His next-door neighbor, Jim Tabb, said the only incident that has occurred on the street in his recent memory was a stolen car that was found by police.

Randy Hester, a spokesman for Cinemark USA Inc., said Pickrel had worked for the company about eight years.

``We're extremely saddened,'' Hester said Friday from the corporate office in Dallas. ``We've lost a member of the Cinemark family.''

Hester said Pickrel began managing the Chesapeake Square theater several years ago after running another theater in North Carolina.

``We're shocked, and right now we're very concerned about the well-being of our employees,'' Hester said. ``We have counselors on hand at the theaters.''

Pickrel's duties included training, setting show times and managing the staff. Hester said he had never met Pickrel but had spoken to him on the phone. ILLUSTRATION: VP MAP

CHESAPEAKE KEYWORDS: ABDUCTION SHOOTING MURDER ARREST

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