DATE: Wednesday, August 20, 1997            TAG: 9708200424

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   57 lines

STATE OFFICIAL BACKS FEDERAL SLAYING INQUIRYBUT HE SAYS THE STATE SHOULD BE FIRST TO PROSECUTE TWO IN BLACK MAN'S DEATH.

Virginia's attorney general on Tuesday called for a federal investigation of the burning and decapitation of a black man, but said the state should get the first crack at prosecuting the case.

Garnett ``G.P.'' Johnson was doused with fuel and burned alive in a remote area of Grayson County on July 25. His severed head was found near his body. Two white men have been charged with murder.

The NAACP, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Congressional Black Caucus have ci hcalled for a federal investigation of whether the slaying was motivated by racial hatred.

A witness, Hazel Louise Anderson, told The Associated Press she heard one of the men threaten to burn Johnson on a white cross. The men also pinned Johnson down and stripped him of his watch, she said.

``If the allegations are true, there is no doubt in my mind that racism, as well as robbery, were motivations in this murder and that Mr. Johnson's civil rights were violated,'' state Attorney General Richard Cullen said in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno.

Cullen said requests for a federal investigation ``are appropriate under the terrible circumstances surrounding this case,'' but added that the state murder charges should be tried before any federal prosecution begins.

``As you are aware, any federal prosecution should be held in the ready if state convictions on the murder charges are unsuccessful,'' he wrote.

U.S. Attorney Bob Crouch said in a telephone interview from his Roanoke office that federal officials intend to cooperate with the state.

``Certainly nothing that is pursued on the federal level will be handled in any way that interferes with state efforts,'' he said. ``We all share an interest in seeing that justice is done, and that will remain our primary goal in this regard.''

Crouch said the FBI's preliminary report on the Johnson slaying should be finished in about a week.

The report will go to the Justice Department's civil rights division, and federal law enforcement agencies will then decide what action to take.

Cullen said in an interview that he decided to support a federal investigation because ``it was the right thing to do.''

The Johnson killing, he said, ``was one of the most despicable and vile things that I've encountered in law enforcement.''

Johnson, 40, was burned alive and beheaded after a night of drinking with four white acquaintances, investigators said.

Authorities have charged Louis J. Ceparano, 42, with capital murder and robbery.

Emmitt Cressell Jr., 37, is charged with first-degree murder and robbery.

A preliminary hearing for Ceparano and Cressell has been scheduled for Sept. 2, but Ceparano's lawyer has asked for a postponement.

Ceparano is being held in the Carroll County jail without bond. Cressell is being held in the Grayson jail and has a bond hearing scheduled for Aug. 26. KEYWORDS: LYNCHING MURDER VIRGINIA

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