Associated Press

A scientist looks at a bloodstained shirt last month at the Department of Forensic Science lab in Richmond. Gunshot residue tests happen here.

Jeanna Duerscherl | The Roanoke Times

Lab specialist Brian Andrews looks up information Friday at the state forensic lab in Roanoke County.

Kent Agnew

Agnew, 61, was found dead by his family in his downtown Roanoke seed store on July 20.

What is known

• Police say his death was not suspicious.
• A great deal of blood was found at the scene.
• Days earlier, Roanoke police seized a computer at his store that had child pornography on it.
• A ruling on the death is pending toxicology tests.

What is unknown

• Whether the death was a suicide.
• If police found a weapon at the scene.
• If police found a note in the store.
• The outcome, if any, of the child pornography investigation.

Related stories

• Police continue porn inquiry (July 23, 2008)
• Owner of Roanoke Market's Agnew Seed dies (July 22, 2008)
• Owner of downtown Roanoke store dies; was being investigated by police (July 21, 2008)

Fred Hutchins

Hutchins, 26, was found dead by a sheriff’s deputy near U.S. 220 in Botetourt County on July 29.

What is known

• He died of a gunshot wound to the head.
• A handgun was found under his body.
• Police seized a computer, guns and bank records from Hutchins’ downtown Roanoke condo.
• A ruling on the death is pending results of tests at the state lab.

What is unknown

• Whether his death was suicide or foul play.
• Where in the head Hutchins was shot.
• If the police found the bullet that killed him.
• If the gun at the scene was Hutchins'.

Related stories

• Mourners remember rising star (Aug. 3, 2008)
• Questions linger in death of Webb aide (July 31, 2008)
• Webb staff aide is found shot dead (July 30, 2008)

Weeks after a downtown Roanoke retailer and an aide to a U.S. senator were found dead in separate incidents, investigators say the answers to many questions still surrounding the deaths lie in the state's forensic labs.

The medical examiner's office still has not ruled whether the deaths of Kent Agnew, 61, who owned Agnew Seed Store in downtown Roanoke, and Fred Hutchins, a 26-year-old aide to U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., were suicides, homicides or accidental.

In both cases, investigators are waiting for test results from the state labs.

The labs, with about 230 employees at four locations statewide, handle every criminal case in Virginia. They have been plagued in the past by significant backlogs, but in recent years more funding has helped the labs greatly reduce the number of cases waiting to be tested. Even so, the turnaround time for many tests is typically several weeks, or even months, because of the lingering backlog.

The wait for information in Agnew's and Hutchins' deaths has frustrated their families and, particularly in the case of Hutchins, sparked countless rumors about what might have happened.

"I know they're doing everything they think they need to be doing, but it is still frustrating," said Del. Onzlee Ware, D-Roanoke, who worked with Hutchins when he served as Ware's campaign manager and legislative aide. Hutchins' family has asked Ware to speak on their behalf.

Tests take time

Agnew's family found him dead in the seed store on Market Street on July 20. Roanoke police have said his death does not appear to be suspicious but will not say if they believe it was accidental or a suicide.

The medical examiner's office is waiting on results from toxicology tests before it rules on Agnew's manner and cause of death. The results will show whether there was alcohol or drugs in Agnew's system and, if so, whether that contributed to his death.

Agnew died just days after Roanoke police found child pornography on a computer in the store. Police said Thursday that no one has been charged and that they are still investigating.

According to 911 tapes, his family found him in the store surrounded by blood. A man who identified himself to the dispatcher as Agnew's son said that recent circumstances involving legal and family problems led them to believe that Agnew had killed himself.

A week later, on July 29, Hutchins was found outside a vehicle on the side of U.S. 220 in Botetourt County, dead of a gunshot wound to the head. Deputies found a gun under his body. Investigators have not said if a bullet was recovered or if the gun that was found belonged to Hutchins.

The medical examiner's office and the Botetourt County Sheriff's Office say they are waiting on test results from the lab to help determine what led to Hutchins' death.

Until then, the sheriff's office has declined to release any information about the investigation.

"We certainly don't want people to think we're stonewalling," Maj. Delbert Dudding said. "It's just that some things take time."

Investigators who searched Hutchins' downtown Roanoke condominium took about 10 firearms and a variety of ammunition, according to a search warrant return filed in Roanoke Circuit Court.

Hutchins was an avid gun collector and hunter, Ware said.

They also collected his computer, BlackBerry, a letter to his certified public accountant and a baggie of marijuana. A second search warrant return filed in Botetourt County shows that investigators obtained more than a year's worth of bank statements from Hutchins' account.

Dudding would not say what evidence was sent to the labs to be tested, or what types of tests are being done. But in a case involving a gunshot wound, he said it is typical to look at DNA, gunshot residue, fingerprints and the weapon involved.

Those tests are labor-intensive and require highly trained technicians to analyze results, said David Barron, director of technical services for the Virginia Department of Forensic Science in Richmond.

He stressed that performing the tests is not as easy as it appears on the TV show "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

For instance, to test DNA, technicians must find it on the evidence they're given and extract it. They also have to test a sample from the suspect so that once the test is done, they can make comparisons.

Statewide, there is about a three-month turnaround time for DNA tests, Barron said. But even with no backlog, it would still take at least two weeks for results to be ready.

The tests for gunshot residue have a two- to four-month turnaround time and are only done at the central lab in Richmond. The testing involves a very complicated machine and requires a highly trained technician to collect and make sense of the results, Barron said.

Complicating the issue is the fact that lab technicians frequently testify in court, pulling them away from their lab work. The Western Virginia lab, near Peters Creek Road in Roanoke County, serves 51 counties and cities, so it could take a technician hours to drive to a trial.

The backlog, created by an increasing number of evidence submissions, has been significantly reduced since 2006, when there was a 20,000-case backlog statewide.

To help the labs recover, the General Assembly allocated $1.8 million to add 34 positions.

At the end of June this year, the statewide backlog was down to about 4,600 cases, Barron said.

Law enforcement officials can ask the labs to prioritize a case to help the investigation but are careful not to take advantage of the labs, Barron said.

Aisha Johnson, spokeswoman for the Roanoke Police Department, said police didn't ask the lab to expedite the Agnew case because there is no pending court case associated with it.

Dudding said the Botetourt County Sheriff's Office has asked the labs to prioritize the Hutchins case.

Families' frustration

Despite the improving turnaround times, families are still frustrated by the wait for answers.

"I think the [Hutchins] family is very anxious to have closure on this," Ware said.

A detective from the sheriff's office has been in touch with the family almost every day, Dudding said.

But Ware said the sheriff's office hasn't told the family anything about the investigation.

"I don't think the family knows anything more now than they did two weeks ago," he said. "I don't think you can do this type of investigation in a vacuum. People expect a little more clarity."

Hutchins' family was ready to accept that his death was a suicide, but the prolonged investigation has them questioning what happened, Ware said.

"It just keeps everybody guessing," he said.

Ware also blames the lack of information for the rumors that have circulated since Hutchins' death. Ware and others have said that Hutchins complained of terrible migraines, but they stopped short of speculating on what, if anything, that had to do with his death.

Pat Agnew declined to talk about her husband's death but also expressed frustration about the wait for lab results.

She can't get a death certificate until his cause of death is determined, and without the certificate, she can't collect his life insurance policy.

"It's just so much other pain to go through," she said. "I feel like I am walking through a dark forest and I don't know where I'm going."

The store has been closed since Agnew's death but Pat Agnew said she expects it to reopen Tuesday.

"I do know that there's a light at the end," she said.