Photos by ERIC BRADY The Roanoke Times

Douglas Albert Jaccard is accused of killing Joseph Foster Bane and setting fire to Bane's house. Bane and Jaccard lived across the street from each other.

Above: Douglas Albert Jaccard lives in a house on Dyer Road in Wythe County.

Below: Pulaski authorities leave the Wythe County command post to search for Jaccard.

Photos by ERIC BRADY The Roanoke Times

Douglas Albert Jaccard is accused of killing Joseph Foster Bane and setting fire to Bane's house. Bane and Jaccard lived across the street from each other.

BARREN SPRINGS -- As police spent a second day searching for a man who they say shot three people, killing one, some neighbors returned to their homes Wednesday and talked about how they've lived in fear of Douglas Albert Jaccard.

Jaccard, 58, is suspected in a string of crimes against his neighbors that took place just after 7 a.m. Tuesday on Dyer Road, off Virginia 100 in Wythe County near the Pulaski County line.

Wythe County authorities say they believe Jaccard shot and killed 45-year-old Joseph Foster Bane, then shot 61-year-old Jerry Covey in the arm. Covey is recovering in Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

Jaccard is also suspected of setting Bane's house on fire while Sharon Bane and the Banes' son were inside. The teenage boy escaped without injury. Sharon Bane jumped out a second-story window and was treated and released at Pulaski Community Hospital.

When deputies arrived at the Banes' house, Jaccard shot at them, too, said Chief Deputy Keith Dunagan of the Wythe County Sheriff's Office. Pulaski County Deputy J.A. Radcliffe, 46, was struck in the back, but his bulletproof vest protected him from serious injury. He has been released from the hospital.

The sheriff's office evacuated the homes along Dyer Road after the incidents Tuesday. On Wednesday, neighbors were told they could return to their homes, but that they would be doing so at their own risk, they said.

Margaret Edwards and Danny Cromer spent Tuesday night in a hotel but returned home Wednesday. They said they aren't scared of Jaccard anymore, though they said they believe he is still in the area near his home.

"He's armed. We're armed," Cromer said.

Edwards and Cromer described several run-ins they've had with Jaccard. But they said their home has a good security system, and they know the area is being watched closely by law enforcement officers, who have been combing the area for any sign of Jaccard since Tuesday morning.

Edwards and Cromer said Jaccard's actions have scared several neighbors and caused some people to move from Dyer Road. That's exactly what Jaccard wants, they said.

"He thinks he owns all this out here," Cromer said.

Jaccard's family used to own all the land on Dyer Road but, over time, sold parcels of it, Edwards said. Jaccard doesn't want anyone else on it, she said.

Edwards said Jaccard held her late husband at gunpoint once and later threatened to do the same to her. She and Cromer believe Jaccard is responsible for several things that have happened around their home, including plants that were turned upside down, dogs that were poisoned and a boat that was cut loose into the New River.

"That's his way of letting us know he's been here," Cromer said. "If he's mad at you, that's it. He'll get you one way or the other."

They said Jaccard would put on dresses and walk up the roadway, exposing himself. He would fire up his chain saw and leave it running for hours, apparently to annoy neighbors. Sometimes, Cromer and Edwards said, neighbors would see Jaccard hiding behind a tree, holding a gun.

One man who moved away from Dyer Road carried a pistol when he mowed the lawn, afraid Jaccard would sneak up on him, they said.

"This would be a wonderful community if it wasn't for him," Edwards said "But we've all lived in fear."

Edwards described the Covey, Bane and Hicks families, who are all related and neighbors, as some of the sweetest people she knows.

"It's just a shame what happened," she said. "They are just wonderful people."

Edwards said the neighborhood "got a break" from Jaccard for several years while he was in prison on a malicious wounding conviction. When he was released in 2005, he seemed to get along better with neighbors, she said. In fact, she said, Jaccard helped Covey build his home and helped another neighbor build an addition to his home.

The trouble started again when some neighbors got four-wheelers and began riding the length of the road, taking them past Jaccard's house.

Jaccard was furious over the four-wheelers, Edwards said. Tacks began appearing in the roadway.

Neighbors complained to the Wythe County Sheriff's Office repeatedly about Jaccard, they said. But, Dunagan said Tuesday, there was no basis for an arrest to be made.

Cromer said it's unfair that someone with a violent criminal history has the same rights as law-abiding people.

"You can thank your justice system for this," he said.

"Because they had plenty of warning," Edwards added.

Dunagan said the search for Jaccard has expanded farther north into Pulaski County. On Wednesday, officers searched caves Jaccard is familiar with near the New River.

A U.S. marshal was injured Wednesday when he fell down the cliff that Jaccard jumped over behind his house after he shot at deputies, Dunagan said. The marshal's leg was badly cut and required stitches, he said.

Edwards and Cromer said they and everyone else who knows Jaccard believe he won't give up.

"I think it'll be a battle to the finish," Edwards said.

"We hope they keep looking until they find him," Cromer said. "If they can get Saddam Hussein out of that hole, they can get him."