Prosecutor gains indictments in 20+ year old murders

By Scott Leamon
WSLS10 Reporter
Published: October 6, 2008

Updated: 6:45 p.m.
 
  Caldwell said early Monday afternoon the grand jury had returned murder indictments against William Hagy Jr. in the deaths of Cindy McCray and Audrey West.
  McCray was found near a set of railroad tracks beneath Interstate 581 ioverpass off Campbell Avenue on November 28, 1984.
  She was 21 years old.
  West was found in her home six months later.
  She was 33.
  Roanoke police Capt. Chris Perkins declined to discuss specifics of either case.
  Perkins said the department’s cold case investigator decided to send some evidence from the McCray crime scene to a state lab in 2007 since it had the highest probability of returning a hit.
  Perkins said that hit came in November 2007, linking Hagy’s DNA to the crime.
  Perkins said the West murder was “a similar method of operation by the perpetrator” to that of the McCray killing, so police decided to test it again too.
  The hit on the West case evidence linking Hagy to the murder came last Spring, Perkins said.
  Perkins said Hagy refused to be interviewed by investigators who traveled to Red Onion State Prison in Pound, VA.
  Records from the Virginia Department of Corrections show Hagy had to be released by April 8, 2011.
  He was serving a 50 year sentence on a prior rape conviction in Roanoke in 1986.
  Since he was convicted long before state lawmakers banned parole, he was eligible to be released.
  Hagy was classified as a “Level 6” prisoner, the highest security risk level in the state department of corrections.
  Hagy was in a maximum security facility, in solitary confinement 23 hours per day.
  Roanoke police put Hagy’s name and information about the two murders in an FBI database for law enforcement to see across the nation, Perkins said.
  The feeling among investigators is that Hagy was so dangerous when he wasn’t locked up, he could’ve committed other rapes and murders in other places outside Roanoke.
  Investigators tracked his movements to Las Vegas, Nevada in the time period between 1984 and 1985, Perkins revealed.
  The Roanoke city grand jury also indicted Hagy on a charge of abduction with intent to defile and the rape of another young woman on October 24, 1984.

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  Roanoke City commonwealth’s attorney Don Caldwell confirmed to 10 On Your Side Monday morning his office is seeking murder and rape indictments against William Hagy Jr.

  Hagy, current in Red Onion State Prison in Pound, is serving a 50 year sentence after a rape conviction in 1986.
  Since the conviction is more than 20 years old, Hagy is still eligible for state parole, but was denied in his last attempt in 2007.

  His release date isn’t until 2017.

  Hagy could be indicted this morning for the murders of Cindy McCray on November 28, 1984 and Audrey West on May 17, 1985.

  Watch WSLS 10 On Your Side at 6 PM for more important details on the potential indictments.