CORONERS MISS BULLET WOUNDS IN MAN THEY SAY DIED OF OVERDOSE

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- Coroners overlooked four bullet wounds
when they ruled a man died of a drug overdose.

The mistake was discovered after a tip from an inmate led authorities
to exhume and autopsy the remains of Phillip W. Wine Lewis Jr.

That led to the indictment Wednesday of Ryan Keith Armstead, 30, on
charges of murdering Lewis.

Lewis, 40, was shot in the chest and the head with a .22-caliber
pistol in 1997 and was found at his home in a pool of blood.

But the medical examiner looked at the body and decided against an
autopsy, and a mortician said he didn't notice any bullet wounds.

Drugs, drug paraphernalia and other evidence led investigators to
conclude it was an overdose.

The shooting may have been part of a robbery. Lewis had just cashed
his tax refund check when he was killed, Sheriff Homer Johnson said.

A jail inmate later told the sheriff that he had heard about the
slaying from someone who may have picked up a man afterward and helped
get rid of the gun.

Armstead was arrested Thursday and jailed without bond.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry