Murder hearing delayed

By Tony Gonzalez

Published: January 6, 2009

The terminally ill woman charged for the 1967 double-murder of two Staunton ice cream store clerks will not appear in court today, and is “not likely” to recover for future hearings, Staunton authorities said Tuesday.

Staunton police arrested Sharron Diane Crawford Smith on Dec. 12 in relation to the long unsolved case. The 60-year-old woman is near death, suffering from kidney and heart disease, and remains bed-ridden in a nursing home at an undisclosed location, Staunton Commonwealth’s Attorney Raymond Robertson said.

Her condition is so dire, according to a physician’s letter, that family members were called in over the weekend to be with the suspect, Robertson said.

Smith remains free on a recognizance bond for the first-degree murder charges in relation to the shooting deaths of Constance Smootz Hevener, 19, and her sister-in-law, Carolyn Hevener Perry, 20, shortly before closing time at High’s Ice Cream on April 11, 1967. The case gained new life in June, when an acquaintance of Smith told a distant relative of the murdered women about a threat Smith allegedly made 41 years earlier.

Smith was scheduled to appear in Staunton General District court to decide if she would hire an attorney or be assigned a public defender.

Robertson said the hearing is postponed “30 to 60 days.”

“Any attempt to move her from her bed would be life threatening,” Robertson said. “All we’re going to do [Wednesday] is continue the matter.”

He said it is not likely Smith will recover to be transported to court for future hearings.

In the event of Smith’s death, Robertson will organize a news conference to discuss case evidence, he said.

At a December news conference, family members of the murdered women thanked police and independent investigators for bringing the “nightmare to a close.”

LaVerne Sowers, 82, mother of Constance Hevener, has maintained that she has forgiven whoever killed the women, but still wants to learn the motive.