02/13/2019

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Inside A6 Cadettes in Girl Scout Troop 3029 complete Silver Award

Powhatan, Virginia

B1 Powhatan wrestling 2nd at regionals

Vol. XXXII No.. 34

February 13, 2019

Estranged wife charged with Powhatan man’s 2016 murder

Bergquist passes baton to Gill after 33 years of service By Laura McFarland News Editor

POWHATAN – For 33 years, Susan Bergquist worked to make sure that people dealing with mental health, intellectual disabilities and substance use disorders had a place to turn for help. In more than three decades working for Goochland Powhatan Community Services (GPCS), she served as a supervisor in its day support program for people with intellectual disabilities; director of its intellectual disability program, and, for the last 15 years, as executive director

By Laura McFarland News Editor

P PHOTOS: LEFT BY LAURA MCFARLAND/ ABOVE CONTRIBUTED

Shown left, supervisor Carson Tucker presents Susan Bergquist with a proclamation honoring her for 33 years with Goochland Powhatan Community Services. Above, Stacy Gill is the new executive director.

see GPCS, pg. 4

Flat Rock honors Black History Month

PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND

Prsrt. Standard U.S. POSTAGE PAID Powhatan, VA Permit No.19

Actors with Virginia Repertory Theatre perform their production of ‘Buffalo uffalo Soldier’ Soldier for third to fifth-graders at Flat Rock Elementary School. pag e 8 Photos on

OWHATAN – The estranged wife of a Powhatan County man killed in his home in 2016 has been indicted and charged with his murder. On Wednesday, Feb. 6, the Powhatan County Sheriff’s Office obtained indictments from a multijurisdictional grand jury charging 43-year-old Karina M. Rafter with one count of first degree murder and one count of use of a firearm in the commission of the a felony, according to a press release issued by Capt. Jeff Searfoss. Karina Rafter is charged in the death of her husband, John Richard Rafter Jr., 48, who was killed on Dec. 9, 2016, at RAFTER his home in the 2100 block of Flint Hill Road. Rafter’s body was discovered on Dec. 9 by his teenage son, who found him in his bed with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the head. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner released on Dec. 14, 2016, that Rafter’s death was a homicide. Karina Rafter was taken into custody by Powhatan detectives and deputies in Powhatan County shortly after the indictments were issued, Searfoss said. The criminal charges will be prosecuted by a special prosecutor from the Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, Matt Ackley. To avoid a possible conflict of interest, the Powhatan County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office previously recused itself because one of its prosecutors, while still in private practice, had represented a potential witness in the case. Karina Rafter was given a $50,000 secured bond, GPS home monitoring, and ordered to have no contact with her juvenile son, Searfoss said. She is scheduled to appear in Powhatan Circuit Court on March 26. According to her attorney’s motion to grant bail, see RAFTER, pg. 3

World War II vet still creating at age 94 By Laura McFarland POWHATAN – Howard Graham is appreciative of every one of the 94 years he has lived and is determined not to waste any of the days he has left. On most mornings, he can be found out in his workshop, which sits next to the house in Powhatan where he lives with his daughter and son-in-law, Mary and Tim Jackson. For a few hours before breakfast, he cuts, shapes and constructs the woodwork that he so treasures. After breakfast, he is back out there, working for several more hours. In summertime he even goes back in the evenings. Besides God, family and country, creating beautiful things out of wood has been his passion for the better part of 70 years. “I am so appreciative of it. Yes I think about being 94. I think so many people could not have this opportunity and I am so thankful. I feel like I am a very fortunate person,” Graham said. When he speaks about those who

By Laura McFarland News Editor

PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND

World War II veteran and avid woodworker Howard Graham stands in front of the decorative boxes he has made.

haven’t had the same opportunity to live the

POWHATAN – A fired Goochland County Sheriff’s Office deputy pleaded guilty on Friday, Feb. 8, in Powhatan County to several charges he had an years-long relationship with a mentally disabled adult female. ANDERSON Jason A. Anderson, 48, of Powhatan pleaded guilty to eight total charges of sexual assault. Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Gretchen Brown gave a summary of the case she would have

see WOODWORK, pg. 6

see ANDERSON, pg. 3

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News Editor

Fired Goochland deputy pleads guilty to sexual assault

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