Police: Trail killing suspect’s death accidental

Associated Press

Published: August 7, 2008

ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — Virginia State Police say a man accused of killing two people near the Appalachian Trail died from injuries he suffered in a wreck while fleeing the crime scene.

Randall Lee Smith of Pearisburg died May 10 in the New River Valley Regional Jail, four days after the killings occurred near the trail in Giles County.

State police Sgt. Michael Conroy said the State Medical Examiner’s office determined that the 54-year-old Smith died of a blood clot caused by injuries suffered in the wreck.

The shootings occurred near the same area along the Appalachian Trail where Smith killed two people in 1981. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in that case and was given two 15-year sentences. He was released from prison in 1996 after serving 14 years.