Article

1976

Events that took place in Fairfax County in 1976:

January

• The Fairfax County Police Department opens its West Springfield and Mason District Stations.^[1]
• January 3 – Fairfax County Police Officer Joseph Connery saves the lives of four people when he discovers an early morning fire at the house at 6502 Fort Hunt Road in the Penn Daw section of Alexandria.^[2]
• January 7 – 46-year-old Herbert C. Hunter is shot and mortally wounded by 17-year-old John Costanzo during a botched robbery by Costanzo and 18-year-old James Allen at the Hunter Motel at 8100 Loisdale Road in Springfield. Hunter dies of his injuries at the Alexandria Hospital three weeks later, on January 28.^[3][4][5]
• January 20 – 22-year-old William S. Javage pleads guity to second-degree murder for running over 44-year-old Wilfred D. Derepentigny in Annandale on October 4, 1975.^[6]

March

• March 6 – 36-year-old Dennis Gildea, 22-year-old Patrick T. Marcil, 19-year-old Richard H. Morefield, Jr., and 23-year-old Edward Nakpodia are shot and killed at the Roy Rogers restaurant at 6227 Little River Turnpike in the Brighton Mall Shopping Center in Alexandria during a robbery by James L. Breeden. Nakpodia's 22-year-old wife Julie is shot as well, but survives her injuries.^[7]
• March 7 – 36-year-old truck driver Edward Brown, Jr. kills his estranged wife's parents, 82-year-old Louis J. Roberts, Sr. and his 60-year-old wife Cora, as well as his wife's brother, 32-year-old son Louis, Jr. by shooting each of them in the head with a shotgun at their home at 14201 Darkwood Drive in Centreville.^[8][9]
• March 16 – 35-year-old Leroy H. Baker is convicted of murder for shooting 35-year-old Aaron Johnson at a crap game in the Lincoln Park area of Fairfax on November 29, 1975. Baker is also convicted of involuntary manslaughter for shooting 26-year-old Henry F. Greene.^[10][11]
• March 20 – Arthur F. Goode, III kidnaps 11-year-old Kenneth Dawson from Falls Church, then takes the boy to Tysons Corner, where he sexually assaults and strangles him.^[12]
• March 22 – A ground breaking ceremony is held for the new Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.^[13]
• March 22 – 25-year-old Walter D. Banks is killed when 33-year-old Ronald L. Dodson settles a dispute over a woman by shooting him four times at 2804 Sherwood Hall Lane in the Mount Vernon area of the county.^[14][15]
• March 27 – A 10-year-old boy from the Northern Virginia Training Center for the Mentally Retarded, on a field trip to Mantua Elementary School, somehow manages to get past the seven-foot stockade fence surrounding the swimming pool at the nearby home of former Fairfax County Police Captain Olin F. Sanders at 3603 Kirkwood Drive in Fairfax and drowns.^[16]

April

• April 21 – 17-year-old Joe Webb, Jr. drowns while swimming in Lake Barcroft in Falls Church.^[17][18]
• April 21 – 20-year-old Bruce Chase drowns while swimming in Woodside Lake in McLean.^[17]

May

• May 5 – 17-year-old John Costanzo pleads guilty to first-degree murder for shooting 46-year-old motel owner Herbert C. Hunter during a botched robbery at his motel in Springfield on January 7.^[19]
• May 22 – The Reston District substation of the Fairfax County Police Department opens in a rented space in a business park in Reston.^[20]

June

• June 4 – Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Barnard F. Jennings sentences 17-year-old John Costanzo to 30 years in prison for fatally shooting 46-year-old motel owner Herbert C. Hunter in Springfield on January 7.^[21]
• June 13 – 28-year-old David L. Hogan concludes an argument with 30-year-old Harry S. Wilkerson and 25-year-old Clifton H. Banks by shooting both men with a RG 14 .22 caliber pistol in a parking lot at 1060 Alabama Drive in Herndon. Wilkerson is mortally wounded, and dies about two hours later at the Fairfax Hospital.^[22]
• June 21 – 38-year-old Assistant Richmond City Manager Leonard L. Whorton is selected as the new Fairfax County Executive. His appointment is approved by a 7-2 vote by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, with only supervisors James M. Scott and Alan H. Magazine voting against Whorton's taking the post.^[23]

July

• July 2 – 23-year-old Robert E. Knight is killed in Reston when he crashes his motorcyle into a stop sign on Wiehle Avenue.^[24]
• July 18 – 22-year-old Donnie L. Edwards is fatally shot by Francis A. Anglim at Brown's Chapel in Reston. Edwards is taken to Fairfax Hospital, where he is pronounced dead.^[25][26]
• July 28 – 18-year-old William M. McGinty is sentenced to 20 years in prison by Judge Arthur W. Sinclair for the rape and murder of Anita Cunningham on August 26, 1975.^[27]

August

• August 15 – 19-year-old Jason J. Caporaletti is killed when he crashes his car into several trees near the intersection of Telegraph Road and Old Telegraph Road in Alexandria. Caporaletti is taken to the Alexandria Hospital, where he is pronounced dead.^[28][29]
• August 17 – 31-year-old manager James D. Cox, Jr. is shot to death in the 7-Eleven at 7330 Richmond Highway in Alexandria during a bungled robbery by Kenny Bryant.^[30][31]
• August 19 – After attempting to strangle her two children, 40-year-old Joanne E. Ryan hangs herself in the basement of her home at 9121 Rockefeller Lane in the Winston Knolls neighborhood of Springfield.^[32][33]
• August 27 – 62-year-old Frank S. Goodner is beaten to death with a fireplace poker in his house at 6238 Cheryl Drive in the Ravenwood Park neighborhood of Falls Church.^[34]

September

• September 8 – 36-year-old Edward Brown, Jr. is convicted of the March 7 shotgun murders of his estranged wife's family: 82-year-old Louis J. Roberts, Sr., his 60-year-old wife Cora, and 32-year-old son Louis, Jr., at their home at 14201 Darkwood Drive in Centreville.^[35]

October

• October 1 – Fairfax Circuit Court Chief Judge Barnard F. Jennings sentences 36-year-old Edward Brown, Jr. to three consecutive life terms in prison for the March 7 shotgun murders of his estranged wife's family: 82-year-old Louis J. Roberts, Sr., his 60-year-old wife Cora, and 32-year-old son Louis, Jr., at their home at 14201 Darkwood Drive in Centreville.^[36]
• October 26 – The Mount Vernon Hospital opens.^[37]

November

• November 22 – James L. Breeden is sentenced to five life terms in prison by Circuit Court Judge Burch Millsap for killing 4 people execution-style and severely wounding a fifth during a robbery at a Roy Rogers restaurant in Alexandria on March 6, 1976.^[38]

December

• December 4 – 28-year-old Wesley Meadows drunkenly kills 43-year-old Margaret M. Linton and mortally injures her 13-year-old daughter Diane when he loses control of his car and crashes head-on into the Lintons' vehicle on Clifton Road in Clifton. Diane Linton is taken to the Commonwealth Doctors Hospital, where she dies later that evening.^[39][40]

References

1. ↑ Courtney, Daniel P. "The 1970s." History of the Fairfax County Police Department, 1921-1990. Fairfax, VA: History4All, 2009. 107. Print.
2. ↑ "Policeman Saves 4 in Fairfax Fire." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 24. Jan 04 1976. ProQuest. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
3. ↑ "Owner of Motel is Shot." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Jan 08 1976. ProQuest. Web. 27 Jan. 2018 .
4. ↑ Seaberry, Jane. "Kindly Motel Owner, Shot in Holdup, Dies of Wound." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Jan 30 1976. ProQuest. Web. 27 Jan. 2018.
5. ↑ Knight, Athelia. "Fairfax Youth Pleads Guilty to Murder of Motel Owner." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. May 06 1976. ProQuest. Web. 27 Jan. 2018.
6. ↑ "Man Guilty in Va. Death." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Jan 21 1976. ProQuest. Web. 16 Sep. 2014.
7. ↑ Yaeger, Deborah Sue, and Stephen J. Lynton. "4 Killed in Fairfax Shootings." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Mar 07 1976. ProQuest. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
8. ↑ Ritchie, Joe. "3 Family Members Slain in Virginia." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 2. Mar 09 1976. ProQuest. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
9. ↑ Murphy, Caryle "Trucker is found Guilty in 3 Fairfax Slayings." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Sep 09 1976. ProQuest. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
10. ↑ Yaeger, Deborah Sue. "Dice Game Ends in Slaying of Two." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 30. Nov 30 1975. ProQuest. Web. 18 Jan. 2017.
11. ↑ Knight, Athelia. "Fairfax Man Convicted in Slaying of 2." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Mar 17 1976. ProQuest. Web. 18 Jan. 2017.
12. ↑ Seaberry, Jane. "Kidnap Victim, 10, Describes Killing." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): A1. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1995). Apr 29 1976. Web. 20 Mar. 2012.
13. ↑ "Ceremonial." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Mar 23 1976. ProQuest. Web. 9 May 2014
14. ↑ "Va. Man Slain During Dispute Over a Woman."Evening Star, 23 Mar. 1976, Two Star HOME FINAL, p. 21. NewsBank. Accessed 10 Jan. 2018.
15. ↑ "Groveton Area Man Charged in Murder" Evening Star, 24 Mar. 1976, Two Star HOME FINAL, p. 38. NewsBank, . Accessed 10 Jan. 2018.
16. ↑ "Fairfax Boy Drowns in Private Pool." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 24. Mar 28 1976. ProQuest. Web. 27 Dec. 2013.
17. ↑ ^{17.0 17.1} Bachinski, E.J. "Two Die in Area Drownings, Bodies of Two Others Sought." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 2. Apr 22 1976.ProQuest. Web. 21 June 2016 .
18. ↑ "Youth's Body found in Lake." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Apr 24 1976. ProQuest. Web. 21 June 2016.
19. ↑ Knight, Athelia. "Fairfax Youth Pleads Guilty to Murder of Motel Owner." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. May 06 1976. ProQuest. Web. 27 Jan. 2018.
20. ↑ Courtney, Daniel P. "The 1970's." History of the Fairfax County Police Department, 1921-1990. Fairfax, VA: History4All, 2009. 110. Print.
21. ↑ "Motel Owner's Killer Gets 30 Years in Jail." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Jun 05 1976. ProQuest. Web. 27 Jan. 2018.
22. ↑ "Man is Slain, 2d Wounded in Herndon." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Jun 14 1976. ProQuest. Web. 22 July 2016.
23. ↑ Seaberry, Jane. "Fairfax Post Goes to Aide in Richmond." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): C1. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1995). Jun 22 1976. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.
24. ↑ "Reston Cyclist Dies in Crash." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): C4. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1994). Jul 03 1976. Web. 14 Dec. 2011.
25. ↑ Hansard, Sara E. "Slaying Breaks Up Benefit Concert."The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Jul 20 1976. ProQuest. Web. 18 Aug. 2016.
26. ↑ "Fairfax Man Gets Life Term for Murder in Reston." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Jan 07 1977. ProQuest. Web. 18 Aug. 2016.
27. ↑ Seaberry, Jane. "Fairfax Youth Gets 20 Years in Murder of Girl." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 2. Jul 29 1976. ProQuest. Web. 20 Dec. 2013.
28. ↑ "Rose Hill Man Killed in Fairfax Accident." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Aug 16 1976. ProQuest. Web. 30 Aug. 2014.
29. ↑ "Police Identify Va. Traffic Victim." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Aug 17 1976. ProQuest. Web. 30 Aug. 2014.
30. ↑ Knight, Athelia and Charles R. Babcock. "Va. Slaying, Wounding Laid to Youth." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 2. Aug 18 1976. ProQuest. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
31. ↑ Grubisich, Thomas. "'Hardened Criminal' at 17 Given Life Plus 70 Years." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 2. Jan 08 1977. ProQuest. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
32. ↑ Knight, Althea. "Springfield Woman Hangs Self; Tried to Strangle 2 Children." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): B3. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1994). Aug 21 1976. Web. 2 Feb. 2012.
33. ↑ Bachrach, Judy. "Meditations on the Mystery of a Suicide: Lives Left Behind." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 151. Oct 10 1976. ProQuest. Web. 7 Feb. 2014.
34. ↑ "Fatally Beaten Man is Identified." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): B5. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1994). Aug 29 1976. Web. 3 Feb. 2012.
35. ↑ Murphy, Caryle "Trucker is found Guilty in 3 Fairfax Slayings." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Sep 09 1976. ProQuest. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
36. ↑ "Man Sentenced to 3 Life Terms in Triple Killing." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Oct 02 1976. ProQuest. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
37. ↑ Kast, Sheilah. "New Va. Hospital Blamed for Rise In Medical Costs" Evening Star, 23 May 1977, Two Star HOME FINAL, p. 20. NewsBank. Accessed 25 Jan. 2018.
38. ↑ Seaberry, Jane. "Breeden Denies Guilt as He Gets 5 Life Terms." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 2. Nov 23 1976. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1996). Web. 17 Nov. 2012 .
39. ↑ "2 Area Women are Killed in Auto Crashes." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 10. Dec 05 1976. ProQuest. Web. 8 Jan. 2017.
40. ↑ Associated Press. "Vienna Man Charged With Manslaughter." The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg, Virginia] 9 Dec. 1976: 31. Print.

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Fairfax County by Year
1975	·	1976	·	1977

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