DATE: Thursday, July 3, 1997                TAG: 9707030677

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   86 lines

SAFE LINKED TO SLAIN MAN CONTAINED PORN MATERIAL POLICE SEARCHED HIS HOME ON DAY OF DEATH; THIRD MURDER SUSPECT REMAINS AT LARGE.

On the day of Mark Pickrel's murder, police searched his apartment for evidence of child pornography, according to a search-warrant affidavit.

Police obtained the search warrant after the mother of the three suspects in Pickrel's slaying gave them a safe that may have belonged to Pickrel. It contained pornographic materials, the affidavit said.

Police apparently searched Pickrel's apartment last Thursday afternoon, hours after he was shot to death. During their search, they found a photo of one of the suspects among other items. It's not known whether that photo was pornographic.

It was unclear how the safe got to the mother's Portsmouth home. It ``appeared to have (been) taken in a burglary,'' the affidavit said.

Pickrel, 29, was the manager of Cinemark Movies 10 and served on the board of directors of the Youth Crisis Network, an agency that works with youths and families. Two brothers, ages 15 and 16, have been arrested in his shooting death. A third suspect - Richard Marron, a brother of the juveniles - is at large.

Following his murder, Pickrel's family, friends and associates portrayed him as a kind and giving man dedicated to helping children in crisis.

But a different view of Pickrel emerged from the court papers and an interview Wednesday with Lisa Garrison, a sister of the three suspects.

Garrison said the search matched what she suspected about Pickrel.

``I'm not trying to be hateful or anything,'' said Garrison, 28, who said the safe contained pornographic materials. ``But . . . everybody thinks this guy's a perfect citizen. I had to say something.''

Garrison did not say whether any of her brothers was a victim of child pornography. She also never personally saw the safe. Garrison, of Portsmouth, said her mother, Virginia Marron, told her it contained about 30 pornographic videotapes and photos. Garrison said one of her brother's best friends was in one of the photos.

Virginia Marron discovered the safe two days before Pickrel's murder and notified police later, according the court papers. She told police, who confiscated the safe and its contents, that none of the items belonged to her or her sons. Virginia Marron could not be reached for comment.

A detective stated in the affidavit that he recognized the background of some of the photos as being Deborah Court, where Pickrel lived. The detective is a veteran sex-crimes investigator who was familiar with Pickrel and the apartment complex, the warrant stated.

After obtaining the safe, police unsuccessfully tried to contact Pickrel at home and at work, the warrant stated.

According to the search warrant, an upstairs neighbor of Pickrel's said that young boys were frequently coming and going from his apartment. The same neighbor told detectives that on Thursday ``around four or five in the morning she heard a loud noise . . . she looked out and observed two young boys carrying what she believed to be a human body down the stairs.''

The warrant's evidence receipt listed some of the items recovered from Pickrel's apartment. They included:

A videotape labeled ``Blond Angel.''

Rolls of exposed 35mm film.

An advertisement for a nudity camp.

Pornographic magazines.

A photo of one of the suspects.

A baggie of what appeared to be marijuana.

Detective Dick Black, a spokesman for the Chesapeake police, would not comment on the warrant or any of the items recovered, but he said police are not investigating any links to child pornography.

``We're not investigating anything in reference to that at this time,'' Black said. ``We're proceeding with the homicide.''

He did not rule out a future investigation into pornography, however.

Garrison said her two younger brothers met Pickrel when the boys were out walking. Pickrel saw the boys, said he was too drunk to drive and asked one of them to drive his car for him, Garrison said.

After that, a relationship formed, she said. The older of the two juveniles spent a lot of time with Pickrel, Garrison said. At one point, more than a year ago, Pickrel and the boy went camping together. But after that trip, she said her brother's demeanor had changed and he would not hang out with Pickrel anymore.

``He wouldn't talk,'' Garrison said.

Garrison, who has 15 brothers and sisters, said she did not know where Richard Marron was.

``This has blown her away,'' she said of Virginia Marron, who has made frequent visits to see her sons at Tidewater Detention Home. MEMO: Staff writer Liz Szabo contributed to this story. KEYWORDS: SHOOTING MURDER CHILD PORNOGRAPHY ARREST

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