Man Arrested in Abductions Of Estranged Wife in 1990s

Joann Webster was a waitress at the Magic Skillet restaurant on Route 1 in Fairfax County, and her estranged husband, Bruce Webster, was an ex-Fairfax officer with a bad temper. After he allegedly abducted her from her apartment in May 1990, took her to a bank and forced her to withdraw $9,000 in cash for him, she declined to file charges but did visit a lawyer to talk about getting a divorce.

In January 1991, he allegedly abducted her again and took her to Prince William County before she escaped at a 7-Eleven in Woodbridge. She filed criminal charges, and in February 1991 she filed for divorce. The day after Bruce Webster was served with divorce papers, Joann Webster was stabbed to death. And then Bruce Webster disappeared.

Yesterday, Bruce Webster was arrested in Las Vegas and charged with both abductions of his wife. Now 68, Webster has not been charged with her slaying, but Fairfax cold case detectives are pursuing that probe.

"Hallelujah," said Joann Webster's attorney, Christine Krithades, whose memories of both Websters are clear. "I guess maybe there is justice."

Webster is being held in the Clark County jail in Nevada pending an extradition hearing next week.

In January, Fairfax cold case detectives Robert Murphy and Chris Flanagan and retired detective Steve Milefsky tracked Webster down in Las Vegas, where he was living, and interviewed him. Fairfax prosecutors obtained a grand jury indictment on both abductions Monday, Fairfax Officer Eddy Azcarate said. They arrested him early yesterday.

Joann Allison Webster was 44, a native of Tennessee with three adult children from a previous marriage, when she was found stabbed to death in her apartment in the 8600 block of Sacramento Drive, just outside Fort Belvoir, on Feb. 16, 1991. Bruce Webster, then 48, was facing a preliminary hearing Feb. 21 in the New Year's Day abduction.

The two had married in October 1988, court records show, when Bruce Webster was a patrol officer in the Mount Vernon area. He resigned from the force in January 1990, Azcarate said.

The couple moved out of state for a short time in 1990 but then split up, and Joann Webster returned to Fairfax and took an apartment in the Mount Vernon area.

In May 1990, police say they believe, Bruce Webster visited his wife, held her in her apartment overnight, and then took her to a bank and forced her to withdraw money. She reported the incident to police but did not want to prosecute him. Soon after, she visited Krithades, a divorce lawyer who is now retired.

But nothing had been filed when Bruce Webster allegedly visited his wife again Jan. 1, 1991, forced her into a car and drove her to Prince William. After she escaped from a 7-Eleven on Minnieville Road, Fairfax authorities charged Bruce Webster with abduction. Azcarate said she suffered minor injuries in both cases.

Joann Webster returned to Krithades, who drew up divorce papers. "She was trying to turn her life around, and she'd met somebody new," Krithades said.

The divorce was filed Feb. 12. Bruce Webster was served with the papers Feb. 15. The next day, Joann Webster didn't show up for work at the Magic Skillet, which immediately concerned her co-workers, Krithades said. Someone went to check on her and found her repeatedly stabbed to death, wearing her coat, gloves and black uniform, Krithades said.

Bruce Webster did not appear for his preliminary hearing on the abduction case, and police said he apparently has been living in Las Vegas for many years.