Cops: Man Who Killed Hikers Strikes Again

Va. Man Who Murdered 2 Hikers In 1981 Charged With Shooting 2 More On Appalachian Trail

(AP)  A convicted murderer is suspected of shooting and wounding two men on the Appalachian Trail a few miles from the spot where he killed two hikers in 1981, authorities said.

Randall Lee Smith, 54, will be charged with two counts of attempted capital murder, grand larceny and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, Lt. Ron Hamlin of the Giles County Sheriff's Office said Thursday.

Smith was taken to a Roanoke hospital after police said he crashed a pickup truck belonging to one of Tuesday's shooting victims while being followed by a state trooper. Investigators said Smith was in stable condition Thursday and being guarded by deputies.

Smith was released from prison in 1996 after serving 14 years for the deaths of two social workers from Maine who were hiking the Appalachian Trail. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

Police have not released the names of Tuesday's shooting victims, but friends and family identified them as Sean Farmer, 33, of Tazewell, and Scott Johnston, 37, of Bluefield. A hospital spokesman said Johnston was in serious condition. Friends said Farmer has been released.

State police said a 2000 Ford Ranger driven by Smith ran off the road and overturned after a trooper pulled up behind it Tuesday night. They had been asked to be on the lookout for the truck, which belongs to Johnston, after the shooting.

On Thursday, authorities removed the crime scene tape that had cordoned off a 28-mile stretch of the trail during their investigation, and hikers began trekking through.

"Man, I'm out here having the time of my life," said Nathan Adcock, 31, of Asheville, N.C. "And then somebody's out there shooting."

Although the trail was reopened, investigators were still trying to find clues in the case, including a campsite where Smith may have stayed in the two months since he went missing from his home near Pearisburg, about 50 miles west of Roanoke.

[ronrobbie]

I say the rabid killer was probably given 14 years for killing 2 people because he was white. When are we going to own up to the inequities in our so called criminal justice system. If a black man had committed those murders he would have been given the death penalty. This system works to put the poor and disenfranchised and the minorities in jail sometimes for minor or nonviolent offences. They are then scarred for life by these sentences and the criminal records and once they are released cannot find a job or function in the society and by this the criminal injustice system perpetuate itself. Oj was given many years for trying to "get his stuff back". The young black football player was recetly given 2 years for carrying a loaded firearm yet right wing extremists can go to town hall meetings with automatic weapons displayed openly. Where is the justice in all of this.

[milesbrown49]

Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated."

Hahahaha! That''''''''s royal. Gen. Ydmgoras Fuentes was a CIA creation and had US weapons and money to do that killing.


Posted by Nancy_Naive at 06:47 AM : May 11, 2008
______________________________________________________

I am curious too as to what point you are making. Gen. Ydmgoras Fuentes was president from 1958 till 1963 when he was overthrown in a coup. What did he have to do with the murders???? What is your point????

Also I want to say that gun control was enacted in the US in 1968 in answer to the Black Panther movement. The Black Panthers who exercised their rights to bear arms were considered by the FBI to be the number one enemy by J. Edgar Hoover the director of the FBI. Gun control would not have stopped this nut. Guns are merely a tool. If that man was going to attempt to kill someone to steal or what ever his passion, he would have found a way.

atlanta30326, I am no fan of the NRA, they go too far the other way. Neither am I a fan of someone who tries to talk around facts to make their point. You are right about Saddam, but you forgot to mention that it was HIS faction that had the weapons. Also, Hitler%u2019s brown shirts didn%u2019t give up theirs, but my grandfather had to give up his hunting rifle.

[algoresarse]

So does life without parole.

Regards,


Posted by Nancy_Naive at 06:42 AM : May 11, 2008
+ report abuse

***************

which does not work..each and every year these death row inmates tend to murder us again (financially)..care to donate some of your money for your cause???

thought so..

[algoresarse]

Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated."

Hahahaha! That''''s royal. Gen. Ydmgoras Fuentes was a CIA creation and had US weapons and money to do that killing.


Posted by Nancy_Naive at 06:47 AM : May 11, 2008
+ report abuse
*************

and?? i miss your point..all those mayan killings are justified because it was a cia creation blah blah blah?? or are you just being a typical bleeding heart liberal who seems to derail the issue..

[jackp32]

There is no such thing as life without parole. State governors and/or parole boards have the power to commute all sentences. When a death sentence is carried out, that is finality. At any time during a life without parole sentence, that person''s sentence may be commuted so that the inmate becomes eligible for parole or is immediately released. During the Bill Clinton pardon scandal, he could have issued a pardon, or commutation of sentence for Tim McVey. If the price had been right like it was with other cases, he may have done it.

[atlanta30326]

Yikes! This board looks like it has been taken over by a bunch of NRA skinhead militia men. Numbers get very skewed and twisted.


MYTH:Gun ownership is a protection against political tyranny.
TRUTH: Private ownership of guns was very common under Saddam Hussein''s regime. It certainly didn''t protect the Iraqi people against political tyranny. Gun ownership was legalized in Germany in 1928, five years before Hitler rose to power. Despite the claims of pro-gun activists, gun ownership did nothing to stop a tyrant like Hitler from seizing power. In 1938, Germany''s gun laws were relaxed except in the case of Jews. Although the gun lobby has tried to associate racism with gun control, white supremacists have often praised the Nazis for being pro-gun and have opposed gun control. An example of that is this quote: "If you register your gun with anybody, you''re a nut! When the conspiracy comes for your firearm, give it to ''em like this grand dragon is going to - right between the eyes." -Klu Klux Klan (Richmond Times- Dispatch, July 5, 1967)

[rhs648]

corrected

dome200q - Even horrifying facts such as those which you posted are unlikely to change the minds of anti-gun proponents. They do help the rest of us understand why con-control laws are dangerous.

[rhs648]

dome200q - Even *********** facts such as those which you posted are unlikly to change the minds of anti-gun proponents. They do help the rest of us understand why con-control laws are dangerous.

[downsteamjim]

Capital punishment prevents repeat murders.