DATE: Tuesday, July 8, 1997                 TAG: 9707080311

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY KAREN JOLLY DAVIS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: ACCOMAC                           LENGTH:   54 lines

MURDER SUSPECT FACES GRAND JURY HEARING IN ATLANTIC MAN'S SLAYING THE MAN'S ROBBERY AND MURDER LAST NOVEMBER STUNNED THE ACCOMACK TOWN.

Local police trailed Shawn Dewayne Chandler to Amherst County to charge him with stealing some Rottweiler puppies.

In the process of that arrest, Chandler confessed to the November murder and robbery of Atlantic businessman Lawrence Davis, officers testified at a preliminary hearing Monday.

During the hearing, General District Court Judge Robert Phillips silently read two confessions obtained by Accomack County crime investigator Donald Matthews. Then he ruled that there was probable cause to suspect Chandler of the murder and certified the case for presentation to the grand jury.

If the grand jury indicts Chandler, 20, he faces an autumn trial and a possible death sentence. Jarrett Darnell Holden, 18, is also in custody for alleged participation in the crime, and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing July 22.

Monday's courtroom revelations are the latest chapter in a tragedy that overwhelmed the tiny town of Atlantic. After Davis was killed, nearly 300 people agreed to offer as much as $14,000 for information that would lead to the arrest of the killer.

But they never had to pay, because the sheriff's department solved the crime.

On the day of the murder, investigators collected five spent .25-caliber cartridges in Davis' van, where his body was found. The crime lab in Norfolk also sent Accomack four bullets recovered from 56-year-old Davis' body.

While investigating Holden for another crime, Accomack police seized a black .25-caliber Lorson semi-automatic pistol found in his home. They submitted it to the crime lab with the cartridges and bullets. A forensics report, dated April 7, identifies that gun as one of the weapons used to kill Davis.

On April 18, investigator Matthews questioned Chandler in Amherst County and took his confession. The questioning continued on April 19.

On April 21, Chandler went to the scene of the crime with three police investigators. Chandler led them to the wallet and credit cards that he said had been stolen, then discarded in an isolated hedgerow, testified officer Gary Fox. Family and friends estimate that the murderers stole about $30 from the wallet before fleeing.

Fox said that Chandler helped police locate the second weapon, another ILLUSTRATION: Photo

If a grand jury indicts Shawn Dewayne Chandler, 20, above, he faces

an autumn trial and a possible death sentence in the killing of

Atlantic businessman Lawrence Davis. Another man, Jarrett Darnell

Holden, 18, is also in custody for alleged participation in the

crime. KEYWORDS: MURDER SHOOTING EASTERN SHORE VIRGINIA

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