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Volume 87 25* Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Warren, North Carolina Wednesday, June 6, 1984
Number 23
A South Hill, Va. wrecker operator tows a stolen
prison van from the playground at Mariam Boyd
Elementary School's playground early Friday
morning, hours after six death row inmates used it
to escape from a maximum-security prison near
Boydton, Va., 25 miles north of Warrenton. The van
was discovered here at 1:30 a. m. Friday by
Warrenton Police Officer James McCowan and
touched off the largest manhunt in Warren County
history. (Staff Photo)
A Virginia bloodhound handler and his dog follow
the trail of at least one of the escaped convicts on
Saturday morning. This particular hunt, one of
scores conducted by more than 200 officers through
out Warren County, was begun following the discov
ery of a stolen prison guard jacket believed left by a
fleeing escapee near the home of Sam Cheek south
of Warrenton on Highway 401. (Staff Photo)
Lawmen Occupy Warren Buildings
By HOWARD JONES
Six extremely dan
gerous prisoners—es
capees from Virginia's
death row compound in
neighboring Mecklen
burg County, Va. —
rolled into Warrenton
aboard a stolen prison
van late last Thursday
night and the town
hasn't been the same
Motorist Had A Close Call
Shortly after midnight
Thursday, Andrew Lee
Davis was returning
home from his job at
Maria Parnam Hospital
in Henderson when two
men ran toward his car
as he drove down Main
Street in Warrenton and
called to him. His
response was not
unusual for a driver in
the rural, friendly town.
"I thought they might
be somebody I knew, so
I stopped," Davis said.
Davis, 33, immediate
ly recognized that the
men were strangers, but
not in time to prevent
one man from jumping
into the front seat while
the other jumped in the
back seat.
The men were two of
six escapees from a
Virginia maximum
security prison in Boyd
ton who had fled to
North Carolina and
were to be the subject of
a massive manhunt
throughout Warren
County before dawn.
Davis said the con
victs instructed hin* to
begin driving out of
town and inquired about
whether he knew how to
get drugs.
Davis indicated he
became suspicious when
the men told him they
would go as far as he
would take them.
"We were getting to
the outskirts of town,
and I was scared," he
said. "I figured if they
were going to hurt me,
they were going to do it
where there were still
houses around, so I
stopped."
Davis stopped his car
and managed to wrestle
free of his abductors,
but not before having a
knife pulled on him.
As he tried to get out
of the car, the two men
grabbed him and in the
ensuing struggle, Davis
was able to free himself.
When he fell to the
ground, the two men
jumped from the car
and fled, Davis said.
"Evidently they were
scareder than I was," he
commented. After the
incident, Davis said he
went to a nearby house
and called police.
A homemade knife
was found by officers in
Davis' automobile.
Davis, who is married
and the father of four
children, said it "passed
through my mind" that
he might be killed, but
he did what he had to.
since.
Neither has the coun
ty, as search teams
have crisscrossed the
normally quiet farming
country, bringing appre
hension to residents
unused to the sight of
armed men patrolling
with dogs and the
sounds of helicopters
hovering overhead.
The intense manhunt
has been at the root of
most conversations
when as many as two
persons have gathered,
and at least two
buildings in Warrenton
have been affected as
never before.
They are the Warren
ton Lions Den, where a
command post was
established early
Friday morning and the
John Graham Middle
School gymnasium,
where elite teams of law
enforcement officers
trained to recover
prisoners have been
headquartered.
The number of per
sons at each place has
(Continued on page 8)
Search Is Continuing
For 4 Escaped Killers
Big Reward
Is Offered
An extensive ground
and air search for four
convicts believed in
volved in more than a
dozen deaths in Virginia
entered its sixth day
today, centered in
Warren County but
spreading into neighbor
ing counties as a re #ard
of $10,000 per escapee
has produced a steady
stream of possible sight
ings daily.
The manhunt, largest
ever undertaken in
Warren County, began
shortly after 1:30 a. m.
Friday when a stolen
van was found on the
edge of the playground
at Mariam Boyd
Elementary School. In
side, lawmen said, had
been six men — five
blacks and a white —
who fashioned an
ingenious escape plan at
the maximum-security
prison near Boydton,
Va., 25 miles north of
here.
mL-i _t « J
X licit pidil outtccucu
when the six death row
inmates overpowered a
dozen guards and two
nurses, robbed them of
some $600, and tricked
guards into letting them
have the prison van.
From the prison, a
spokesman for the
Wan-en County Sheriff's
Department said, the
van headed north, then
abruptly turned south
and headed directly to
Warrenton. Following
its discovery, hundreds
of law enforcement of
ficials headed into
Warrenton, some from
as far away as Ashe
ville. Police and
National Guard helicop
ters joined in the search
at daybreak, jarring
many residents from
sleep at early light.
Teams of highly
trained prison guards
and law enforcement of
ficers began combing
the area, and a com
mand post was estab
lished at the Lions Den
on the Warren County
Fairgrounds.
Soon came the sight
ings which were to send
search teams into every
area of the county.
Reports were received
of vehicles in Afton
(Continued on page 8)
Handouts Carry Sketches
Of Death Row Escapees
Although two of six
death row prisoners who
escaped from a Boyd
ton, Va. maximum
security prison last
Thursday were cap
tured within 24 hours,
law enforcement of
ficials were still faced
with the task of dissemi
nating information
about the remaining
four to the public both as
a warning and for iden
tification purposes.
The Federal Bureau
of Investigation has
printed a total of 16,000
fliers on the four con
victs who as of press
time still remained at
large. These fliers have
been distributed
throughout Warren and
neighboring counties.
The information given
below on James and
Linwood Briley, Willie
Leroy Jones, and Lem
D. Tuggle, Jr. was con
tained in the fliers. In
formation of Earl Clan
ton, Jr. and Derrick
Lynn Peters, who were
apprehended without
incident Friday after
noon at Willoughby's
coin-operated laundry in
Warrenton, was ob
tained from law enforce
ment officials.
J. BRILEY — James
Dyral Briley, 27, was
convicted in the October
1979 robbery and shoot
ing deaths of Harvey
Wilkerson, 26; and Judy
Barton, 23, and Harvey
Barton, 5, in their Rich
mond, Va. home. Briley,
who has a brother living
in Martin County and an
aunt living in Durham,
is black, 6-3 and weighs
180 pounds. Another
brother, Anthony, is
serving several life sen
tences for murder in
another Virginia prison.
L. BRILEY - Lin
wood Earl Briley, 30. is
the brother of James.
He was convicted in the
September 1979 robbery
and shooting death of
John H. Gallaher, a
Richmond disc jockey.
He is 5-9,170 pounds and
has a medium brown
complexion. Linwood
and James were sen
tenced to death for their
part in 11 murders tied
to a gang they led which
terrorized Richmond in
the 1970s.
JONES - Willie Le
roy Jones, 23, was con
victed in the May 13,
1983 slayings of two re
tired storekeepers —
husband and wife — in
Charles City Va. and the
burning of their home.
He is black, 6-0, 160
pounds.
TOGGLE - Lem D.
Tuggle, Jr., 32, was con
(Continued on page 8)
Television cameramen Use a Warren County roadside Satur
day moraine " > search for four escaped convicts from Vir
ginia's death row is concentrated on the outskirts of Warrantor
TV press eorerafe •# tie eveat to believed to be the moit intense
everhere. (StnHPtolo)
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