Two Nelson County men who were charged in the death of a 73-year-old Afton woman last May are scheduled to appear in Nelson County General District Court on March 24 for preliminary hearings.
Austin Griffin, 20, of Afton, and Christopher James Meeks, 19, of Shipman, are charged with first-degree murder in the death of Opal Page, who was found dead in her home by authorities on May 6, 2009.
Griffin and Meeks also are charged with felony burglary at night with the intent to commit a felony. Both are being held at the Charlottesville-Albemarle Regional Jail.
The preliminary hearings for Griffin and Meeks have been continued five times since last May to allow more time for them to acquire attorneys and for additional forensic evidence to be processed at the state lab in Richmond.
David Heilberg, of the Charlottesville-based law firm Dygert, Wright, Hobbs and Heilberg, is listed as Meeks’ attorney, and Fran Lawrence, of the Charlottesville-based law firm St. John, Bowling, Lawrence and Quagliana, is listed as Griffin’s attorney, according to court documents.
Authorities found Page in her ranch-style home in the 7200 block of Rockfish Valley Highway after she was reported to have missed a lunch date.
A retired elementary school teacher’s aide who lived alone in the modest home, Page was found in a pool of blood. An autopsy showed she had been stabbed, authorities said.
Page’s vehicle was found the next day on B Street in Waynesboro.
Authorities then began a regional manhunt for suspects, asking for tips from anyone who may have seen two men around the area of Page’s home the day she died.
Meeks and Griffin were arrested May 11. The next day, Nelson County Sheriff David Brooks said, investigators found a knife that they believe was used in the slaying and “other items of interest” near Fourth Street in Waynesboro, less than a mile from where Page’s car was found.
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