Article

1977

Events that took place in Fairfax County in 1977:

January

• January 1 – 45-year-old James E. Lawrence is shot and mortally wounded with a .38 caliber handgun by his 46-year-old wife, Shirley Mae, to settle an argument at their home at 3742 Camelot Drive in Annandale. Lawrence dies of his wounds a few hours later.^[1]
• January 6 – 22-year-old Francis A. Anglim is found guilty of first-degree murder for shooting 22-year-old Donnie L. Edwards at the Brown's Chapel in Reston on July 17, 1976.^[2]

March

• March 6 – 22-year-old Ursula M. Miltenberger is abducted, beaten, and stabbed to death in a field in Burke by Montie R. Rissell.^[3][4]
• March 13 – The 214-year-old Bush Hill mansion in Franconia is destroyed by an arson fire.^[5][6]
• March 27 – 27-year-old George Mason University student Sylvester W. Ogu drowns in Burke Lake when the rowboat he is riding in capsizes. Ogu, a nonswimmer, was not wearing a life vest.^[7]
• March 28 – After a number of attempts, Centreville District Supervisor Martha Pennino finally persuades the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to endorse opening the Dulles Airport Access Road to commuter traffic.^[8]

April

• April 16 – After two years of construction, the $2.7 million Wakefield Recreation Center opens in Annandale.^[9]

June

• June 4 – 17 year-old David J. Bona is struck by a car and fatally injured on Telegraph Road in Alexandria. He is taken to Alexandria Hospital, where he is pronounced dead. The driver, 22-year-old Ernest L. Spalding, flees the scene, but is later arrested and charged with manslaughter.^[10][11]
• June 5 – 23-year-old Karen S. Ensall is raped and stabbed to death by her 22-year-old brother-in-law Bruce M. Rogers in the woods behind her parents' house at 5906 Banning Place in Burke.^[12][13][14]
• June 11 – 47-year-old Harrison Snell is shot to death by Fairfax County Police Officer Edgar J. Wimberly in front of the Fairfax Heritage Apartments in Annandale after Snell fires three shots at Wimberly, who returns fire.^[15]

July

• July 6 – The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors sells $2.7 million worth of general obligation bonds to finance the construction of the Reston Community Center.^[16]
• July 8 – 4-year-old John Gerik drowns in Lake Fairfax in Reston.^[17]
• July 27 – 30-year-old Fairfax County Police officer Karen J. Bassford is killed near Vienna when she loses control of her patrol car and crashes into a utility pole on Gallows Road.^[18]

August

• August 1 – Fairfax County Police Officers Maurice W. Painter, Jr. and Corporal Colin W. Morgan fatally shoot 24-year-old criminal suspect Michael L. Owen on Holmes Run Road in Falls Church following a robbery when Owen points a double-barreled shotgun at the officers. Owen is taken to Fairfax Hospital, where he dies that evening.^[19][20]
• August 30 – An appearance by Roy Rogers at the opening of his eponymous restaurant in the Pickett Shopping Center in Fairfax is spoiled when a 17-year-old miscreant hits the 66-year-old entertainer in the face with a cottage cheese pie.^[21][22]

September

• September 21 – The body of 26-year-old Charles S. Donohue is found in a wooded area near Live Oak Drive in McLean.^[23][24]

October

• October 12 – The corpse of 44-year-old Ernest E. Huff, murdered a week earlier by a shotgun blast to the face by hired killer Clarence G. Hogan, is found dumped in a field off Clifton Road near the Twin Lakes Golf Course in Clifton.^[25][26]
• October 17 – Montie R. Rissell is sentenced to life in prison for murdering Ursula M. Miltenberger in Burke on March 6.^[27]
• October 21 – 17-year-old Christian J. Karotsch is shot and mortally wounded in Falls Church to settle an argument precipitated when two youths accost him for marijuana. Karotsch is taken to Fairfax Hospital, where he dies early the next day.^[28][29]

November

• November 17 – 49-year-old Laurette Groulx dies in a fire at her apartment at 7308 Dartford Drive in the Commons of McLean apartment complex in McLean.^[30]
• November 30 – A Piper PA-23 Aztec airplane flown by Joe L. Reid crashes into a townhouse in Reston, killing Reid and Harry and Sue Ottinger, who were in the home eating lunch.^[31][32]

December

• December 6 – Gulf-Reston President James W. Todd offers a 150-acre site in Reston as a possible location for the relocated County Government Center.^[33]

References

1. ↑ Barringer, Felicity. "5 are Killed by Violence in Suburbs." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 33. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1994). Jan 02 1977. Web. 30 Dec. 2011.
2. ↑ "Fairfax Man Gets Life Term for Murder in Reston." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Jan 07 1977. ProQuest. Web. 18 Aug. 2016 .
3. ↑ Seaberry, Jane. "Body found in Fairfax Identified." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 2. Mar 08 1977. ProQuest. Web. 3 Feb. 2014.
4. ↑ Seaberry, Jane. "Rissell Confesses to Fatal Stabbing of Fairfax Woman." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Sep 30 1977. ProQuest. Web. 3 Feb. 2014.
5. ↑ "Old School Burns" The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Mar 14 1977. ProQuest. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
6. ↑ Murphy, Caryle. "Historic Plantation Razed by Arson." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 70. Mar 17 1977. ProQuest. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
7. ↑ "Boat Overturns in Burke Lake, Student Drowns." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 23. Mar 27 1977. ProQuest. Web. 14 Aug. 2014.
8. ↑ Grubisich, Thomas. "Pennino of Fairfax Makes Herself Known." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 2. Apr 04 1977. ProQuest. Web. 25 Feb. 2014 .
9. ↑ Moore, Timothy. "Park for all Seasons in Fairfax." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Apr 14 1977. ProQuest. Web. 3 Aug. 2016.
10. ↑ "Manslaughter Charge."Evening Star, 6 Jun. 1977, NIGHT FINAL, p. 14. NewsBank. Accessed 11 Jan. 2018.
11. ↑ "Mount Vernon High Student, in Accident." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Jun 09 1977. ProQuest. Web. 5 Feb. 2017.
12. ↑ "Woman, 23, Slain in Fairfax."Evening Star, 6 Jun. 1977, NIGHT FINAL, p. 14. NewsBank. Accessed 11 Jan. 2018.
13. ↑ "Luray Man Charged in Stabbing Death of His Sister-in-Law." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Jun 07 1977. ProQuest. Web. 11 Jan. 2018.
14. ↑ "Fairfax Weighs 1st Trial Under New Death Penalty." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Aug 24 1977. ProQuest. Web. 11 Jan. 2018.
15. ↑ Murphy, Caryle. "Man Fatally Shot by Police Identified as Disabled Vet." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Jun 14 1977. ProQuest. Web. 31 May 2014.
16. ↑ "$2.6 Million in Bonds Sold by Fairfax." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Jul 07 1977. ProQuest. Web. 9 Jan. 2014 .
17. ↑ "Reston Boy, 4, Drowned on Lake Fairfax Outing." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Jul 09 1977. ProQuest. Web. 21 Aug. 2014.
18. ↑ Boodman, Sandra G. "1st on-Duty Officer Dies in Fairfax." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): C1. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1994). Jul 28 1977. Web. 16 Oct. 2011.
19. ↑ "Gunman Slain by Fairfax Policemen" Evening Star, 1 Aug. 1977, NIGHT FINAL, p. 14. NewsBank, . Accessed 10 Jan. 2018.
20. ↑ Boodman, Sandra. "Man Fatally Shot in Clash with 2 Fairfax Policemen." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): C3. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1994). Aug 02 1977. Web. 17 Dec. 2011.
21. ↑ "Roy Triggered by Pie." Boca Raton News 1 Sept. 19777: 12B. Google Newspaper Archive. Web. 21 Aug. 2016.
22. ↑ "$100 Fine Follows Fast Pie in Eye Of Fast Food King." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 22 Sept. 1977. Web. 21 Aug. 2016.
23. ↑ "Fairfax Police Identify Body Of Man Found in McLean" Evening Star, 23 Sep. 1977, Two Star HOME FINAL, p. 22. NewsBank. Accessed 27 Dec. 2017.
24. ↑ "Body is Identified as McLean Man." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Sep 24 1977. ProQuest. Web. 27 Dec. 2017.
25. ↑ "Body in Fairfax Identified." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Oct 15 1977. ProQuest. Web. 23 Dec. 2017.
26. ↑ White, Ronald D. "Tips Lead to an Arrest in 3-Year-Old Va. Slaying." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Feb 11 1981. ProQuest. Web. 23 Dec. 2017.
27. ↑ Seaberry, Jane. "Rissell Gets 5th Life Term, Claims LSD Influence." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. Oct 18 1977. ProQuest. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
28. ↑ Zon, Calvin Goddard, and Ned Scharff. "Falls Church Youth Slain On Street"Evening Star, 23 Oct. 1977, Four Star SUNDAY, p. 1. NewsBank. Accessed 19 Oct. 2018.
29. ↑ Darling, Lynn. "Cost of Hospital Death." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): A1. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1994). Dec 23 1977. Web. 16 Oct. 2011.
30. ↑ "Two Area Women Die In Separate Home Fires" Evening Star, 18 Nov. 1977, Two Star HOME FINAL, p. 33. NewsBank. Accessed 21 Jan. 2018.
31. ↑ Feaver, Douglas B., and Thomas Grubisch "Plane Hits Reston Houses; 3 Killed." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 1. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1994). Dec 01 1977. Web. 19 Dec. 2011.
32. ↑ Grubisch, Thomas, and Douglas B. Feaver "Crash Incinerated Homes Contents." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): B1. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1994). Dec 02 1977. Web. 19 Dec. 2011.
33. ↑ Grubisich, Thomas. "Reston Offers Fairfax County Site for Offices." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 2. Dec 07 1977. ProQuest. Web. 6 Feb. 2014.

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Fairfax County by Year
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