DATE: Friday, November 14, 1997             TAG: 9711140648

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   45 lines

NORFOLK HEARING DELAYED IN ABDUCTION AND SLAYING

A preliminary hearing in the murder case of Jack Lynn Autery, accused of killing Candace ``Candy'' Arnaud, was continued Thursday after a prosecutor said the cause of the woman's death had not been determined.

The state Medical Examiner's Office has not concluded how Arnaud died because her body was severely decomposed, prosecutor Damien J. Hansen told General District Judge Ray Dezern.

Hansen said the commonwealth expected to have the final medical report before Christmas.

Arnaud, 38, was missing for three weeks before her body was discovered in a rural thicket in Suffolk on Oct. 6 after Autery led officials to the site. She was last seen with Autery on Sept. 17.

She lived in the 500 block of Maycox Ave. with her husband, Chris, and two young daughters. Chris Arnaud was on a six-month deployment when his wife disappeared.

Autery, 42, has been charged with first-degree murder and the theft of Arnaud's 1989 Ford Taurus. Court records list addresses for Autery in both Norfolk and Portsmouth.

Prosecutors previously said Autery acknowledged to investigators his involvement in the case, but they did not say whether he admitted killing Arnaud.

Robert E. Frank, Autery's attorney, said he was ready to proceed Thursday. Autery previously underwent a mental examination and was found competent to stand trial, Frank told Dezern.

Frank on Thursday asked Dezern to reconsider a bond for Autery, who has remained in the city jail with no bond.

Hansen said he strongly opposed the bond because of the nature of the charges against Autery. In addition, he said evidence would show that Autery took detectives on ``a wild-goose chase'' for several days before leading them to Arnaud's body in Suffolk.

The judge denied the bond motion. Autery was returned to jail.

Chris Arnaud was in the courtroom along with Jean Sweet, Candace's mother, and several of Chris Arnaud's co-workers and friends.

The preliminary hearing will be continued on Dec. 29. ILLUSTRATION: Candace Arnaud, 38, was missing for three weeks before

her body was discovered in Suffolk on Oct. 6.

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