VIRGINIA BRIEFING

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

LOUDOUN COUNTY

Mother, Daughter Indicted in Slaying

A Loudoun County grand jury indicted a mother and daughter yesterday on murder charges in the slaying of a relative in her Leesburg home last month, the chief prosecutor said.

Phoung Kim Thi Dong, 39, and her daughter Julie Thi Dong, 18, both of Leesburg, were charged in the July 23 death of Hanh Thi Hoang, 66. Hoang was Dong's mother.

Phoung Dong and Julie Dong were extradited last week from New Mexico, where they were held on a warrant charging them with felony unauthorized use of a vehicle taken from a crime scene, said James E. Plowman, county commonwealth's attorney.

-- Jonathan Mummolo

DEER HUNTS

Lottery to Help Thin Herds at State Parks

The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation is accepting applications for special lottery deer hunts at four state parks to help thin the herds, including those at Lake Anna State Park in Spotsylvania County.

Lake Anna will be the site of a muzzleloader hunt Nov. 18 and 19 and a muzzleloader-shotgun hunt Dec. 2 and 3. Applications for the hunts must be received by Sept. 19.

Jim Meisner Jr., a spokesman for the agency, said the hunts are based on the deer population each year. "It's how we control the herd," he said. "Sometimes the parks are open, and sometimes not."

The application fee is $5 for each hunt. On the day of the hunt, participants must show proof that they completed a safety-education course and pay a $10 fee.

For more information or to obtain a lottery application, contact the state parks reservation center at 800-933-7275 or visit http://dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/hunting.shtml.

Lottery hunts will be held at Mason Neck State Park in southern Fairfax County on Nov. 20 and 21 and Dec. 12. The lottery deadline is Oct. 3. For information, contact the Potomac River National Wildlife Refuge at 703-490-4979.

-- Carol Hutchinson

FAIRFAX COUNTY

Motorcycle Rider Killed After Hitting Curb

A Centreville man riding a motorcycle was killed Saturday after his bike struck a curb and he was thrown into a tree, Fairfax County police said yesterday.

Ryan A. Hoffa, 26, of the 14200 block of Beddingfield Way was riding a 2001 Honda motorcycle in the Fairview Park office complex near Route 50 and the Capital Beltway, police said. Hoffa was traveling north on Fairview Park Drive when his bike hit the curb. The accident occurred about 1 a.m.

-- Tom Jackman

RICHMOND

Spark Ignited Powder in Civil War-Era Shell

A Civil War relic hunter who was killed in an explosion in February had been cleaning a cannonball when a spark ignited black powder, a federal investigation concluded yesterday.

Sam White, 53, was working on the nine-inch naval cannonball in the driveway of his home with a wire-brush grinder, which ignited the internal powder, exploding the shell, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said. No other injuries were reported in the Feb. 18 explosion.

A four-inch piece of shrapnel dug from the driveway's asphalt contained evidence that the shell had been made inert, either by White or the person who sold him the shell, said Bill Dunham, resident agent in charge of the Richmond ATF office.

The explosion sent a one- to two-pound section of the shell hurtling from the Chester subdivision where White lived and through the roof of a house a quarter-mile away.

White, a respected, widely known member of the Civil War relic hunting community, was using the grinder to clean residue from the shell, which dated to the 1850s or 1860s.

-- Associated Press