Gilbert L. “Duke” Thomas stabbed and cut his mother so viciously that the blade of the kitchen knife he used broke off at the handle and protruded from the left side of her neck. But Thomas, then 22, dutifully placed a blanket over his dying mother, her arms and hands covered with defensive wounds, before wandering away in February last year from the Henrico County apartment they shared.

Henrico County police today released drawings of a facial reconstruction in hopes of solving a homicide that occurred more than 18 years ago.

The following are excerpts from an e-mail yesterday from Sarah McCroskey, 21, sister of Richard Samuel Alden McCroskey III, sent to the Richmond Times-Dispatch: “A tragedy has been bestowed upon us and my heart goes out to the ones who lost their lives and to their loved ones whom are dealing with such a horrific loss. 4 innocent people in Farmville, Virginia are gone and no one knows why or how. . . .

Hoping to aid the investigation into the killings of two Virginia Tech students last month, a Lynchburg cardiologist has raised $40,000 in reward money since Labor Day. Adding the $10,000 put up by Virginia Tech, the total reward now stands at $50,000. The money is to be paid for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer of David Metzler, 19, and Heidi Childs, 18.

Suspect in the slayings of four people at the home of a Longwood University professor was arrested by Richmond International Airport police who found him sleeping in a baggage claim area.

FARMVILLE—The deaths of four people whose bodies were found yesterday in a home near the Longwood University campus were being investigated as a quadruple homicide.

A Sudanese woman who emigrated to the United States in 2005 is facing a murder charge in connection with the death of her 5-month-old son. Marlen Ramadan Taboor, 21, was arrested Friday by Henrico County police and last night was being held in the Roanoke City Jail, according to law enforcement spokesmen. Taboor, according to online court records, was charged in Roanoke Tuesday last week with the murder of her son, Christopher George, in October last year. It was unclear last night why Taboor was in the Richmond area. She was arrested in the 6300 block of Clover Lane in Henrico, near the intersection of Lakeside Avenue and Hilliard Road.

Domini Damon Thomas admitted firing seven rounds from a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol into James Edward Morris in March. Two more rounds clipped the forehead of Reuben Robinson and shattered his leg. But a Henrico County jury last night didn’t see Morris’ death as a murder, finding Thomas guilty of voluntary manslaughter and not guilty of wounding Robinson, 27.

Of the two men standing at the store counter, the one in the light coat is homicide victim Harry T. Phillips, and the man beside him wearing black is the unidentified suspect. Henrico County police released surveillance images yesterday asking the public to help identify a suspect in a 2005 homicide. Harry T. Phillips Jr., 39, of Harrisonburg was shot and killed and his body was found behind a Citgo convenience store at Darbytown and Miller roads on Oct. 5, 2005.

Dawn Smythers was shot in the head by her husband, Forrest Smythers Jr., in January. A Louisa County jury yesterday found a 54-year-old man guilty of murdering his wife after an argument over Christmas lights, prosecutors said. On the evening of Jan. 11, Forrest Smythers Jr. fired a single shot from a .22-caliber rifle that struck Dawn Smythers “almost right between the eyes,“ said Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Rusty McGuire.

Funerals are planned for today for two Virginia Tech students found slain in the Jefferson National Forest last week. Virginia State Police and the Lynchburg Police Department said separate services will be held at Heritage Baptist Church in Lynchburg this afternoon for Heidi Childs, 18, and David Metzler, 19. After the services, both will be buried at a cemetery in Forest.

Richmond police this afternoon identified the man found shot to death this morning in South Richmond, just east of Jefferson Davis Highway.

Deputies returned to the scene today, searching for any clues that may help them determine what led to the deaths of Heidi Childs, 18, and David Metzler, 19, both from the Lynchburg area.

Hopewell police are investigating the city’s second homicide of the year after a young man was fatally shot Tuesday night while standing next to his vehicle, authorities said. Cory Calvin, 20, of the 1700 block of Westbrook Road was pronounced dead after being transported by helicopter to VCU Medical Center in Richmond, said Lt. F.P. McQuage Jr. Calvin managed to walk to his family’s nearby home after being shot at 8:12 p.m., McQuage said.

A homicide case pending for seven years ended last night with a conviction for first-degree murder that could send a longtime criminal to prison for as long as 40 years. “This was a major victory,“ Deputy Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Learned D. Barry said of defendant Antonio J. Jones after court. A seven-man, five-woman jury in Richmond Circuit Court took more than five hours to decide the “cold case,“ after which it recommended a 37-year sentence on the murder conviction plus a mandatory three years for a firearms conviction.