Dan and Gil Harrington visit the secluded spot on Anchorage Farm where their daughter Morgan’s remains were discovered one year ago.
PHOTO BY JEN FARIELLO

Dry grass snaps underfoot as Gil and Dan Harrington make their way across the winter-yellowed fields of Anchorage Farm, where one year ago a farmer checking fences discovered the badly decomposed remains of their daughter, Morgan Harrington. The discovery brought a tragic end to a three-month search for the 20-year-old blond beauty, who disappeared after leaving a Metallica concert at the John Paul Jones Arena.

“This is not evil land,” says the bereaved mother, kneeling on the spot her daughter’s body lay and touching the earth. “But there was an evil man or men here who killed my daughter.”

Joined by a clutch of reporters, the parents undertook their first visit to the field, and on the walk down  to the site, the 53-year-old mother clutched the arm of her husband, Dan, and cried softly amid the rolling hills nine miles south of Charlottesville.

Gil Harrington’s outpouring of emotion stands in sharp contrast to the stoic frustration she expressed both in the early days of her ordeal and again in recent months as she has learned of a powerful new tool that could assist the investigation.

With police expressing their own frustration at finding a suspect, Gil Harrington has begun speaking out about the tool, which recently helped California investigators nab an alleged serial killer. It hasn’t yet been used in her daughter’s case— not because there’s any law preventing it, but because there’s no policy regarding it at all.

Gil and Morgan Harrington.
FAMILY PHOTO

“That,” says Harrington, “is not an acceptable delay to use technology.”

The tool she’s talking about is familial DNA searching, a process by which an unidentified DNA profile— like the one investigators have obtained in the Harrington case, which linked it to an unsolved 2005 Fairfax rape— is run through the state’s DNA databank looking not for an exact match but for a close match that would identify a family member of an unidentified perpetrator and could point in the direction of potential suspects.

The method went high profile last summer with California’s so called “Grim Sleeper” case, and now law enforcement officials across the country are wondering if some of their own toughest cases might be cracked with familial DNA.

The ‘Grim Sleeper’
Beginning in 1985, Los Angeles detectives were stumped by a series of murders of women, many of them prostitutes, whose bodies were found in alleyways on the city’s southside. After a series of exposés by the L.A. Weekly in 2007, including an interview with the killer’s only known surviving victim, police feeling the heat of public pressure ran DNA of the unidentified perpetrator (dubbed the Grim Sleeper because of an apparent 14-year hiatus in killings) through the California DNA database looking for a familial connection. After linking the killer’s DNA to DNA taken from a man convicted on a felony weapons charge— a man who turned out to be the killer’s son– police homed in on 57-year-old Lonnie David Franklin Jr., and believed they’d found the killer. Franklin was arrested in July 2010 and has pleaded not guilty to 10 murder charges.

Lonnie David Franklin Jr., accused as the “Grim Sleeper,” was caught with familial DNA.
PHOTO BY REUTERS

Only one state besides California— Colorado— currently uses familial DNA searching, but Virginia, a leader in the forensic use of DNA and the first state to fully fund its DNA databank in the mid-1990s, may soon follow suit, according to Gail Jaspen, chief deputy director of the Virginia Department of Forensic Science. In fact, she says, both the Attorney General’s office and the Virginia Crime Commission have ruled that there’s no legal obstacle preventing the state crime lab from conducting such searches and releasing results to law enforcement. The reason it hasn’t already begun, she says, is that Virginia simply didn’t have the necessary technology.

“We are indeed interested in acquiring the capability to do this as expeditiously as possible,” says Jaspen.

That would be welcome news to the Harringtons, for whom the idea that any stone has been left unturned in the search for their daughter’s killer is source of pain and fear— fear that another woman will be killed by the same man, and another family forced to endure the agony they’re suffering.

“It seems like it’s getting harder now, perhaps because that protective cloaking of shock is dissipating,” says Gil Harrington. “It’s more apparent that she’s not here, her closet doesn’t smell like her anymore, we’re starting to forget what her voice was like.”

No named suspects
The Morgan Harrington case began October 17, 2009 when a disoriented Harrington left the concert alone and began hitchhiking on the Copeley Road Bridge. During the recent media tour, the lead investigator, State Police Agent Dino Cappuzzo, told reporters that a bloodhound and eyewitness accounts confirm the area around the bridge as the last place the Virginia Tech student was spotted alive.

The case has stumped investigators, and a series of revelations over the past 12 months— starting with the discovery of Morgan’s body— have provided evidence to work with but yielded no named suspects. Perhaps the most significant revelation came in July, when investigators confirmed that forensic evidence— later confirmed to be DNA— had linked Morgan’s case to a 2005 unsolved brutal rape in Fairfax. A sketch of the suspect in the Fairfax case generated dozens of new leads, but none have led to an arrest. If Morgan’s killer has a parent, sibling, or child who’s been convicted of a felony since the Virginia DNA databank was launched in 1989, her parents say, there’s a chance a familial DNA search could narrow the potential field of suspects in her case down from countless thousands to a few dozen.

Investigators say DNA evidence links this unknown man, responsible for a 2005 rape in Fairfax, to the Morgan Harrington case.
FAIRFAX POLICE SKETCH

The Harringtons aren’t the only ones eager to see familial DNA searching become a standard weapon in Virginia law enforcement’s crime-fighting arsenal— particularly in violent crimes where a predator remains on the loose.

“A lot of times when you have a convicted felon, you’ll find other felons in the family,” says Albemarle County Sheriff Chip Harding, who pushed for and helped win legislation to fully fund Virginia’s DNA databank back in the mid- ’90s after learning that 150,000 DNA samples had been collected from felons but hadn’t been entered into the databank.

Thanks to that funding, as of December 31, the Virginia DNA databank holds neary 328,000 DNA samples taken from convicted felons and those arrested for violent crimes. By the end of last year, says Harding, law enforcement officials had had 6,957 “hits”— when DNA evidence taken from a crime scene matched a DNA profile in the databank, in many cases leading to a conviction.

Harding recalls one local case that highlighted the critical importance of the databank in solving crimes. In 1999, a man broke into a UVA student’s apartment and raped her while holding her boyfriend at gunpoint. The police had no suspects, just some saliva on a beer can.

Because of a backlog of cases, it took a month for the state crime lab to finally process the DNA. And then came the “cold hit,” an event Harding calls “my most exciting moment in law enforcement.” The DNA from the apartment pointed to a man named Montaret Davis as responsible for the assault and paved the way to a conviction.

The validation process
In late December– after lobbying by the Harringtons— the state came one step closer to making familial DNA searches a reality as the Department of Forensic Science received and installed the familial DNA searching software used in Denver crime labs. Currently, says Jaspen, the software is going through a validation process to “ensure that it does what it’s purported to do and that our people are qualified to perform the searches.”

State police Special Agent Dino Cappuzzo, the lead investigator, points to the spot where Harrington’s remains were found.
PHOTO BY JEN FARIELLO

But installing software and actually using it are two different things– particularly in the Harrington case, according to State Police spokesperson Corinne Geller, who says investigators must proceed cautiously with any further DNA testing because the “amount of the evidence available is limited.” (DNA evidence is destroyed when it is tested.)

Limited DNA samples aren’t the only potential stumbling block for investigators. The use of familial DNA searches has already attracted the attention of the ACLU, which filed a legal challenge against California’s policy of collecting DNA from arrestees (as opposed to only from convicted felons).

A July 15 editorial posted on the ACLU of Southern California’s website explains the concerns about familial DNA testing.

“Whether we should expand familial searching isn’t just about the success in this case,” the editorial states in the wake of the Grim Sleeper arrest. “It’s about whether familial DNA searching is really the silver bullet prosecutors suggest, and whether privacy and civil rights concerns have been adequately addressed. The answer to both questions, for the moment, is no.”

And any use of familial DNA here in Virginia will receive similar scrutiny, says Kent Willis, head of the Virginia ACLU, who sees DNA profiling of any kind– particularly of those arrested but not convicted of a crime– as a possible slippery slope.

“First it was just convicted felons, then they moved to anyone arrested for a violent felony,” he says of Virginia’s DNA collecting policies. “We’re concerned that what may happen with familial DNA testing is that once you’ve started the process, unless you create strict protocols, that its use will continue to be expanded and expanded.” For instance, he says, “there are always calls to expand [DNA collection] to anyone arrested for felony or misdemeanor. The ultimate extension is that we should take everyone’s DNA at birth.”

Harding, however, scoffs at the notion that the system would be abused, and says he believes concerns about privacy issues with DNA are overblown— and that old school investigative practices are actually far more invasive.

“I’d argue that intrusion was at its greatest in the old days, the late 70s, early 80s, when there was no such thing as DNA,” he says. Harding, who worked for the Charlottesville Police Department for three decades before his 2007 election to sheriff, recalls following up on tips by digging into the alibis of anyone whose name came up in the course of the investigation— in some cases, hundreds of people.

By contrast, he says, “If I get a list with five or six names on it from a familial DNA search– if one is extremely close, it’s a really good lead– all I’m seeing is who in the family tree might meet the profile, then I put them under surveillance and take a sample.”

“Taking a sample” helped Charlottesville police finally catch the Charlottesville serial rapist back in 2007. After one of Nathan Antonio Washington’s victims recognized the butcher at the Barracks Road Harris Teeter as the man who’d brutalized her, police followed Washington and plucked from the trash a Burger King soda cup he’d just discarded. DNA on the straw matched the profile of the assailant who’d eluded police for nearly a decade. Washington was arrested and is currently serving four life sentences.

“It’s striking to me how isolated this is,” said Dan Harrington, surveying the secluded field where his daughter’s body was found. Harrington agrees with investigators’ longheld assertion that the person or people who took Morgan to Anchorage Farm know the property well and very likely remain living nearby.
PHOTO BY JEN FARIELLO

The ACLU’s Willis says the capture of violent criminals like Washington– and DNA’s proven ability to exonerate the wrongly convicted– make objecting to its use in criminal matters complicated. But he hopes the state will proceed with caution.

“What we want to see come out of the Virginia Crime Commission is a proposed bill that would prevent police from implementing familial DNA and would instead create a study to determine its cost, efficacy, and consider potential invasions of privacy and its impact on fairness in criminal justice system,” says Willis, stressing that the ACLU is “not opposing familial DNA testing; just arguing that the state ought to move slowly into this and know exactly what it’s doing and what the consequences might be.”

The Harringtons, however, say moving slowly when their daughter’s killer remains at large is “crazy.”

“It’s a tool and a technology that exists, and it should be in the hands of law enforcement in this state,” says Gil Harrington. “I don’t know why it would require such prodigious time.”

Correction: Special Agent Dino Cappuzzo’s last name is misspelled in the print edition of this story.–ed

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Crossfit trainer Gretchen Kittelberger supervises squats during an introductory class.
PHOTO BY COURTENEY STUART

A new gym opened its doors two summers ago riding a wave of research asserting that short-but-intense bursts of exercise trump moderate-but-longer sessions. Eighteen months later, CrossFit Charlottesville is going so strong that it has tripled its footprint in the old National Linen building on Market Street.

“It’s not for everyone,” acknowledges co-founder Kyle Redinger. “But if people make it two or three months, they never leave.”

Now, says Redinger, he’s expanding to a younger demographic, with twice-weekly fitness class for children ages 5 to 12. The concept of the kids classes, which begin January 26 and cost $69, is similar to the grown-up version: relatively intense and varied movements. But while adults may grab heavy weights, the kids classes aren’t for turning children into mini-Schwarzeneggers.

“It’s a lot more body weight, more gymnastics,” says Redinger, who notes the classes will be taught by Gretchen Kittelberger, a former collegiate gymnast who recently obtained special training and certification for the kids’ classes.

Redinger attributes the success of the adult CrossFit program to its social nature, as the workouts happen in groups with no mirrors, no TVs, and— although there’s music playing— no one plugged into iPods. And in an industry that profits from no-shows, a recent internal survey Redinger cites shows his clients (more)

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Biscuit run investor Hunter Craig and DMB violinist Boyd Tinsley joined Governor Tim Kaine a year ago at the Monticello Visitor’s Center to celebrate the state’s purchase.
PHOTO BY COURTENEY STUART

Recently disclosed details of the Biscuit Run state park deal have prompted more than public outrage— they may have prompted an investigation into the transaction that some allege was a government bailout of wealthy investors at taxpayers’ expense.

“I can tell you and therefore reassure the public that the Biscuit Run matter is being reviewed by appropriate parties,” writes Brian Gottstein, spokesperson for Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, in an email. “I cannot say any more than that without potentially compromising an investigation.”

As reported in the Hook’s January 6 cover story, “Bad Men? New numbers show spiraling costs of Biscuit Run,” the owners sold the 1,200-acre property to the state for $9.8 million in December 2009. Several months later, the Virginia Department of Taxation issued $11.7 million in tax credits, more than doubling the price. The former owners— who include developer Hunter Craig and music mogul Coran Capshaw— have appealed to the state to issue millions more.

Meanwhile, the new governor— a Republican who initially endorsed the deal— now appears to be distancing himself from something arranged by his predecessor, Tim Kaine, who heads the Democratic National Committee.

“The acquisition of this land occurred during the Kaine Administration, not this one,” writes Bob McDonnell’s spokesperson, Stacey Johnson. “This Administration was not involved in that process.”

The process, according to documents anonymously mailed to the Hook around Christmas, includes (more)

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Eric Abshire made his first court appearance Thursday in the Orange County Circuit Court. Inset: Abshire at a November 3, 2007 vigil for Justine.
PHOTO BY COURTENEY STUART/INSET BY JAY KUHLMANN

After spending nearly three weeks behind bars, accused wife-killer Eric Abshire was forced to wait seven hours past his scheduled hearing time before he was led into the Orange County Circuit courtroom at around 5pm on Thursday, January 6 for his first appearance in what appears already on its way to becoming a lengthy legal process.

Wearing handcuffs, leg shackles, and the orange-and-white-striped uniform of the Central Virginia Regional Jail, where he has been held since his December 17 arrest on first degree murder and perjury charges, the 36-year-old Abshire painted a bleak picture of his finances as he asked Judge Daniel Bouton for a court-appointed attorney.

Standing erect and speaking in a steady tone, the former dump-truck operator said he worked full-time until his arrest, and he denied having any assets, including a vehicle. His checking account balance, he said, is $120. (As previously reported, Abshire— who allegedly attempted to secure $300,000 of his late wife’s life insurance proceeds— declared bankruptcy in May 2009.)

(more)

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Carolyn Perry, 20, and “Connie” Hevener, 19, were murdered at High’s Ice Cream on April 11, 1967.
FILE PHOTO

The man who lived under a cloud of suspicion for 41 years as the main suspect in the murders of two young women at an ice cream parlor has sued the City of Staunton and as many as six unnamed individuals for more than $200 million for what he describes as decades of harassment that continued long after evidence cleared him.

A year after the 1967 crime at High’s Ice Cream, Bill Thomas was tried and acquitted of first degree murder in the death of 19-year-old Constance Hevener. However, he remained under indictment for another 40 years for the same-night killing of 20-year-old Carolyn Perry. In his suit, Thomas, who now lives in southern Augusta County, makes several shocking allegations.

Among them, he claims that the lead investigator for the Staunton Police, Dave “Davie” Bocock, knew the day after the double-slaying that Thomas was innocent and that Bocock also knew who did it: High’s employee Sharron Diane Crawford.

The suit alleges that Detective Bocock engaged in a cover up because he was romantically involved with Crawford and may have fathered more than one child with her. Surviving family members have refused DNA testing, even as relatives of the victims have pleaded for an explanation. Further, the suit states, Crawford, in a 2008 deathbed confession, told investigators that immediately following the murders, Bocock— who died in 2006— had helped her bury the murder weapon on his property.

The case rocked Staunton two years ago when the deathbed confession became known. Now, the case stands to further strain this picturesque Shenandoah Valley city because the current mayor, Lacy B. King Jr.— a 32-year police veteran and former deputy police chief— is named in the suit.

While acknowledging that Bocock was demoted (more)

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Eric Abshire and Justine Swartz Abshire on their wedding day in May 2006. She would be dead less than six months later.
PHOTO COURTESY SWARTZ FAMILY

Eric Abshire will spend the holiday behind bars, according to Orange County Commonwealth’s Attorney Diana Wheeler, who says that the fact Abshire was directly indicted by a grand jury coupled with the court’s abbreviated holiday schedule means Abshire won’t get his first day in Orange County circuit court until the new year, when he’ll be asked if he’s obtained representation or wishes to have an attorney appointed.

“The court usually hears criminal cases on Thursdays and Fridays,” says Wheeler, but because of the holidays, January 6 was the “earliest possible hearing” for Abshire, who was ordered held without bond.

Abshire was arrested and charged with first degree murder and perjury late in the afternoon of Friday, December 17 as he drove south on Route 29 near the town of Culpeper, according to Virginia State Police Special Agent Mike Jones, who’s headed the four-year investigation into the death of Abshire’s wife, Justine Swartz Abshire. “He didn’t seem surprised,” says Jones, who adds that Abshire was taken into custody without a struggle.

Justine’s parents, Steve and Heidi Swartz, have long expressed suspicion of their former son-in-law, who claimed to have found his wife’s lifeless body on a dark country road sometime after 1am on November 3, 2006, the apparent victim of a hit-and-run.

“It’s been 4 years, one month and two weeks since Justine died,” the family announced in a December 18 statement. “Instead of living with her joy and beauty,we have been forced to live with the terror of murder in our family,” they wrote. “As we take one step closer to Justice for Justine, we hope for the whole truth to come out and for justice to be served.”

The case has been the subject of intense media scrutiny that included a one-hour ABC Primetime Crime episode that aired in July 2008. Abshire, who is being held at the Central Virginia Regional Jail in Orange, has long maintained his innocence. Most recently, he did not return the Hook’s repeated calls for the November 11, 2010 Hook cover story on the case.

–Updated Tuesday, December 21 at 9:44am

Original post:

Just over four years after he claimed to have found his wife’s body on a winding country road in Orange County in the middle of the night, following what at first appeared to be a hit and run accident, Eric Abshire has been arrested and charged with first degree murder in the death of  Justine Swartz Abshire.

“He was arrested this afternoon in Culpeper without incident,” says Virginia State Police spokesperson Corrinne Geller, who says Abshire is being held at Central Virginia Regional Jail. According to a release, the arrest followed an indictment issued by a special grand jury. Abshire has also been charged with perjury.

Justine’s death– and her parents’ increasing suspicion of their son-in-law– have been the subject of intense media scrutiny that included a one-hour ABC Primetime Crime episode that aired in July 2008. Most recently, Abshire declined comment for the November 11, 2010 Hook cover story on the case.

Updated 8:10pm with perjury charge and special grand jury indictment.

Developing…

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Unshoveled sidewalks like this one on Water Street were common last winter. Officials hope the new ordinance will prevent a repeat.
FILE PHOTO BY LISA PROVENCE

No one teaches a lesson quite like Mother Nature, and last winter’s epic snowstorms revealed flaws in the city’s snow removal laws that Charlottesville officials hope have been addressed in a new ordinance approved in August.

“We absolutely think it’s going to make a difference,” says Jim Tolbert, head of the Neighborhood Planning Department on Wednesday, December 15, the eve of the area’s first snowstorm.

The old snow removal ordinance required residents and business owners to clear the sidewalks around their properties within 24 hours of the last snowflakes falling. Failure to do so was considered a crime, a Class One misdemeanor carrying the possibility of a jail sentence up to 12 months and a fine up to $2,500.

As it turned out, the threat of jail didn’t have the desired effect. After the city failed to clear its own properties, police enforcement was  practically nonexistent. Sidewalks remained impassable for weeks following the December 18, 2009 storm dubbed “Snowpocalyse” that dropped around two feet and the 18-inch February 6, 2010 “Snowmageddon.”

When police finally did begin to issue citations in February, the charges didn’t stick after judges ruled the ordinance was in violation of state law.

“Public Works did a terrible job and didn’t seem to learn lessons from the first snowfall,” says Kevin Cox, an avid pedestrian and outspoken critic of city’s handling of snow issues last year. Cox says he’s now hopeful that this is the year snow removal will finally be taken seriously in Charlottesville. (more)

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Attorney Frank Buck served as Charlottesville mayor from 1980-’88.
FILE PHOTO

Update:

The case has been continued to December 13 at 9:05am as Buck’s deep ties to the legal community have led Charlottesville District Court Judge Bob Downer to consider recusing himself. Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney Dave Chapman says he has requested that a special prosecutor be appointed in the case.

–Updated Friday, November 19 at 1:56pm

Original story:

Lots of people have imagined throttling someone. Attorney and former Charlottesville mayor Frank Buck may have acted on the impulse.

Buck was arrested on Thursday, November 11, and charged with misdemeanor assault for his role in a day-earlier incident that his legal client and alleged victim, Milton Leo John, calls “outrageous.”

According to John, a 53-year-old airline pilot, the judge and bailiffs had stepped out of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court on a recess when his attorney, Buck, began to discuss a week-earlier hearing. The topic was an old domestic abuse charge that, John says, was dismissed shortly after it was lodged and which should have already been expunged. John says he was calmly expressing his frustration over Buck’s alleged failure to press his case and presented a letter he’d sent Buck showing that he’d made the expungement request several years earlier.

John, who stands 5′7″ and weighs 160 pounds, says he began reading from the letter when his 6-foot-tall, 230-pound attorney suddenly and unexpectedly went berzerk. (more)

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Hook cover image.

Since their daughter’s mysterious death on a winding country road, the parents of Justine Swartz Abshire have made no secret about who they believe is responsible. But four years after the lifeless body of the 27-year-old school-teacher was discovered following what was initially reported as a hit-and-run accident, there’s been no arrest in the case.

That hasn’t stopped the woman’s parents from suggesting she was more likely beaten to death than hit by a car— and filing a $5 million civil suit alleging not only that Justine’s husband Eric Abshire is a killer but that he didn’t act alone.

While Abshire has long maintained his innocence and vowed to help catch his wife’s killer or killers, a bankruptcy filing shows that contrary to previous public statements that he wouldn’t attempt to financially benefit from his wife’s death, Eric Abshire did, in fact, go after some of the estimated $1.3 million in insurance money.

“His version of events is implausible,” says Justine’s father Steve Swartz, vowing to avenge his daughter’s death through any legal means available.

“The battle lines are drawn,” says Swartz.

Multiple conspirators

If Eric Abshire has long been the focus of the police investigation— and the Swartzes suspicion—the recent lawsuit offers some further insight into what Steve and Heidi Swartz believe actually happened to their daughter. In the suit, they accuse not only Eric, but also his brother, Jesse Abshire, the mother of two of Eric’s children, his cousin, and six unnamed co-conspirators.

The four individuals named “remain at the center” of a criminal investigation, the suit alleges, because they conspired with the unnamed individuals that caused the death of Justine Abshire via “unlawful actions.”

What were those unlawful actions? The suit doesn’t say, and while Eric Abshire, who appears to be representing himself, has not returned a reporter’s repeated calls for comment for this story, he has denied culpability in the past, and the attorney for brother Jesse Abshire calls the suit “without merit.”

“There are no allegations whatsoever,” says Jesse Abshire’s attorney, Lloyd Snook, essentially accusing the Swartzes of a fishing expedition.

“They filed the suit hoping that something might come out that they might be able to base their suit on,” says Snook.

But according to legal analyst David Heilberg, such vagueness is typical in the early stages of a civil action. He says plaintiffs typically “hold their cards close” early in the litigation process to avoid giving defendants a chance to craft a defense prior to depositions, in which they give sworn statements.

Eric Abshire, in white sweater, and his brother Jesse Abshire, to his left, are both targeted in the wrongful death suit.
FILE PHOTO BY JAY KUHLMANN

Indeed, on their lawyer’s advice, the Swartzes decline to share all their reasons for targeting as many as nine people in addition to the supposedly grieving widower. With painful clarity, however, they do share recollections of the days surrounding daughter’s death.

Devastation
It was the telephone call that every parent dreads. At 3am on the morning of November 3, 2006, the Swartzes were awakened at home in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Their elder daughter, a kindergarten teacher at Culpeper’s Emerald Hill Elementary School who was working toward her master’s degree at UVA, was dead, the caller told them, hit by a car sometime after midnight. (more)

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October 28 Hook cover image.

It seems like a simple question: How much will taxpayers pay to make Biscuit Run a Virginia park?

Nearly a year after the state’s under-the-wire purchase of the 1,200-acre tract that had been slated to become Albemarle’s biggest subdivision, the would-be developers and state officials appear to have successfully deflected inquiries about the value of tax credits that made the deal possible— even as the Virginia state senator who penned the legislation establishing such tax credits now calls the secrecy “disturbing.”

Meanwhile, tranquility-quashing plans remain to build 100 houses within the new park’s perimeter.

Such revelations come as sources point out that the 850-acre Panorama Farms– a recreation-ready tract owned by a family eager to protect scenic terrain from development– was passed over for the honor of becoming Albemarle County’s state park. Yet, it’s the secrecy surrounding the Biscuit Run deal that has drawn fire from both sides of the political spectrum.

“It ought to be transparent,” says State Senator Creigh Deeds, who served as patron of the land preservation tax credit system that became law a decade ago. “People ought to be able to judge for themselves whether its a good deal or not.”

In a rare occurrence during politically polarized times, conservative radio show host and former Republican city councilor Rob Schilling agrees.

“It would be one thing if the developers just decided they weren’t going to build it,” says Schilling. “But for the state to get involved, and then start wheeling and dealing behind closed doors? I don’t think that makes many people very happy.”

***

A carved wood sign marks the entrance to Biscuit Run, which for decades was the site of a weekly get-together that brought artists, musicians and others to David and Elizabeth Breeden’s home.
PHOTO BY COURTENEY STUART

Located south of Charlottesville, sprawling Biscuit Run farm was purchased in 2005 for a record-shattering $46.2 million by a group of investors called themselves Forest Lodge LLC. Publicly headed by developer Hunter Craig and including Dave Matthews Band manager Coran Capshaw and at least one member of the Dave Matthews Band, the team justified the gasp-worthy price by the promise of a 3,100-home development inside the County’s designated growth area. The plan promised— in addition to giving the developers a return— to give Albemarle $41 million in proffers (deal sweeteners such as money and roads) in addition to a 400-acre park and a permanently expanded tax base.

But as the real estate market tanked in the years following the purchase, Forest Lodge found itself shouldering an immense debt load and unable to move forward on the development. By November 2009, Bluefield, West Virginia-based First Community Bancshares alerted shareholders that the Biscuit Run loan was in “early stage delinquency” but assured that it was “adequately secured” by the large tract of undeveloped land.

Were wealthy developers about to get bailed out by high-level politicians? (more)

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Carter Mountain a week before the frenzy.
FILE PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER

Cars backed up for miles on Saturday, October 9, snaking from Route 53 onto Route 20 South and then even further— onto Interstate 64 at exit 121. It prompted the temporary closure of  Route 53. But those who assumed an accident was to blame for the traffic-stopping snarl were wrong: it was the allure of apples and the call of Carter Mountain, where the annual Apple Festival was taking place.

“It probably was one of our best attended festivals,” says Cynthia Chiles, whose family owns both Carter Mountain Orchard and Chiles Peach Orchard in Crozet.

The mountain-top business doesn’t keep attendance records, says Chiles, but she believes the possibly record-breaking turnout was thanks to a confluence of events: a perfect fall day, the ripening of popular varieties Fujis and Granny Smiths, and the fact that there was no home UVA football game to distract families looking for some bonding time at a mountain that stands 1278 feet above sea level and over 400 feet above nearby Monticello. (more)

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Zombies race past City Hall and MORE PHOTOS.
PHOTO BY JEANNE NICHOLSON SILER

When director Brian Wimer first conceived of the zombie-laden running race as a guerrilla marketing tool for his new film, Danger. Zombies. Run., he figured he might get a hundred people or so willing to don deathly makeup to run after willing victims through the streets of downtown Charlottesville.

Apparently, the director of the award-winning Mantra and other horror fare tapped an unrecognized demand for zombie-related athletic events, as approximately 500 runners, some who traveled from out-of-state, participated in the inaugural “Zombie 5K” on Sunday, October 17. They filled the streets with staggering— or sprinting— undead hot on the trail of human runners.

“Everybody had a good time,” says Wimer, who expressed relief that his biggest fear was not realized. “No one got hurt!” he exclaimed.

—-

While some might have believed that Wimer sponsored another zombie-related event the night before the race– the decidedly adult-themed “Sexy Zombie Jello Wrestling” at R2 nightclub– Wimer says he did not, but he did film it as a possible DVD extra for his film. He does hope to hold a family-friendly zombie bake sale at the City Market before the Saturday, October 30 premiere of the new film at the Paramount. (It will screen again on Friday, November 5 during the Virginia Film Festival.) (more)

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The shrine to Morgan Harrington on the Copeley Bridge (pictured here during a July birthday gathering for Morgan) was removed on October 4 to make way for a permanent plaque, which will be dedicated on October 17, the one year anniversary of her disappearance.
FILE PHOTO BY COURTENEY STUART

Christmas. Her 21st birthday. The beginning of a new school year. Over the past 12 months, Dan and Gil Harrington have marked one milestone after another without their daughter, Morgan, who disappeared after attending a Metallica concert last fall and whose remains were discovered on a remote corner of an Albemarle County farm in January. On October 17, the Harringtons will mark another grim milestone: the one year anniversary of Morgan’s disappearance.

As they have done frequently over the past year, the Harringtons will visit the Copeley Road bridge— the place Morgan was last seen alive— where a shrine grew to cover most of the southeast corner of the bridge with mementos, messages, and banners dedicated to Morgan. But while on previous visits the Harringtons have stood alone, speaking to supporters and members of the media, this time they will be accompanied by representatives of the university for a dedication of a permanent plaque that will take the place of the multi-colored memorial, whose array of photos, candles, flowers, and other mementos were packed up and sent to the Harringtons on October 4.

“Morgan’s disappearance, the hopeful search and later the heartbreaking discovery of her remains had an enormous effect on the University community,” said Patricia Lampkin, UVA’s vice president and chief student affairs officer, in a released statement about the event. Although there seemed to be a break in the case in July, when police announced that DNA evidence linked Morgan’s killing with a 2005 assault in Fairfax, there have been no significant developments announced since then. (more)

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An architect’s rendering of the controversial dug-outs at the new Woodbrook Elementary School t-ball field, built in honor of the late Carson Raymond (inset), a Woodbrook student who died last year after contracting swine flu.
PHOTOS COURTESY JOHN RAYMOND

The shock from the year-ago death of third-grader Carson Raymond moved many in the community, particularly with his parents’ ability— just days after their son’s death from swine flu complications atop a pre-existing heart condition— to comfort others by urging calm and assuring that other children were not at risk.

Today, that combination of outreach and generosity remain evident as the parents keep their son’s memory alive through the Carson Raymond Foundation, which has introduced dozens of students to t-ball through clinics and equipment scholarships and built a t-ball field at Woodbrook Elementary, which the 9-year-old attended at the time of his October 10, 2009 death.

“The Foundation is accomplishing what I was hoping it would do— getting kids out to play,” says John Raymond, citing a four-week t-ball clinic the Foundation sponsored last school year for Woodbrook kindergartners.

“The interaction with the kids, their big smiles, bright eyes when they got their certificate of accomplishment. They were jumping on us,” he recalls. “That was nice.”

Less enjoyable was the pre-construction dispute with some residents of the Woodbrook neighborhood, who expressed (more)

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With these lovelies behind you, wouldn’t you run?
PHOTO COURTESY BRIAN WIMER

Anyone who says they’ll only run if someone’s chasing them now has an opportunity to prove it.

The Zombie 5k, taking place October 17 at 8:30am, is the brainchild of filmmaker Brian Wimer and will feature two distinct groups of runners: zombies and their would-be victims, the latter of whom will get a slight head start at the race at Lee Park downtown.

“I don’t think you’d get this experience anywhere else— to look over your shoulder and see, perhaps, 100 zombies screaming and chasing you,” laughs Wimer, noting that 100 people— including serious runners from out-of-state— have already registered for the unusual experience.

“I think we’re going to have some people getting their best 5k times,” Wimer adds wryly, noting that human’s ability— and desire— to run is likely tied to our evolutionary history as hunters– or the hunted.

(more)

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The recently renovated Biltmore is one of several Corner spots participating in the event.
FILE PHOTO

Charlottesville’s first “Dinner on a Dime” kicked off with a bang on Monday, October 4, with participating eateries reporting a spike in business as wallet-conscious diners chow down with abandon— thanks to the $9.99 price for an entrée and appetizer or dessert.

“People realize it’s a good deal,” says Andrew Laurence, general manager at Enoteca wine bar on the Downtown Mall. One of the 12 local restaurants participating in the Hook-sponsored event, Enoteca reported a 30 percent increase in its Monday night business, but it’s not alone in seeing reservations swelling.

“I’ve had constant calls,” says Mono Loco general manager Alisha McLaughlin. “It probably gets people out that haven’t been to the restaurant before.”

That “nouvelle Latin” eatery on Water Street did, however, report a wrinkle in the form of some people trying to stretch the deal even further by trying to split an order. “You gotta order for however many people are eating,” urges McLaughlin.

Downtown eateries aren’t the only ones benefiting from the week-long buzz, as Maharaja in the Seminole Square shopping center also saw a “good crowd” on Monday, according to Raymond Madeira, the owner’s uncle.

The event is a sibling of sorts to Charlottesville Restaurant Week, the semi-annual smorgasbord that (more)

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