Inside A3, A8 PCC, BSH hold Father Daughter Balls
Powhatan, Virginia B1 Powhatan wrestling earns places at state tournament
Vol. XXXIII No. o. 35
February 26, 2020
Judge upholds 23-year sentence in 2016 murder By Laura McFarland Editor
P
OWHATAN – A Powhatan County Circuit Court Judge recently upheld the sentence a jury recommended last October for Karina Rafter, who was found guilty in the 2016 murder of her estranged husband. Karina Rafter, 44, will serve 20 years for first-degree murder and three years for one count of use of a firearm in the commission of the murder of John Richard Rafter Jr., 48, on Dec. 9, 2016, at his home in the 2100 block of Flint Hill Road in Powhatan. Following a five-day trial, a jury decided on Oct. 25, 2019, that Karina Rafter was guilty of shooting her husband
in the head with a shotgun while he lay in his bed. His body was discovered by his teenage son on the morning of Dec. 9. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the death a murder. Before the subject of the sentencing was addressed at a hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 19, Circuit Court Judge Paul Cella listened to arguRAFTER ments on defense attorney Craig Cooley’s motions to have the jury’s guilty verdicts set aside. The first motion asked the judge to set aside the convictions based on what Cooley said
was a failure by the Commonwealth to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Karina Rafter killed her husband. He gave a lengthy argument about a lack of evidence placing Karina Rafter at the scene of her husband’s death; contradicting a time of death in which she had a solid alibi, or tying her to his death with any physical evidence. He said the Commonwealth was basing its argument on the theory that Karina Rafter “could have done it.” If that motion failed, he asked that the verdict be set aside and a retrial ordered because of what Cooley said was an error on Cella’s part to allow the exclusion of a proposed defense exhibit, which was a medical document from 2005 when the couple was married before and going through a divorce. The
attorney argued that the exhibit would have supported one of the alternative theories he argued could be an explanation for John Rafter’s death – that he committed suicide because of stress over his impending second divorce from Karina Rafter. The prosecution was handled by the Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office after the Powhatan office recused itself. Matthew Ackley and Susan Parrish, special assistant commonwealth’s attorneys to Powhatan, represented the prosecution. Ackley argued that most of the arguments Cooley cited were ones the jury heard during the trial, including the alternative theories that John Rafter committed suicide or was killed by ansee RAFTER pg. 6
Watkins Nurseries files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection By Gregory J. Gilligan Richmond Times-Dispatch
Prsrt. Standard U.S. POSTAGE PAID Powhatan, VA Permit No.19
Backpacks of Love embraces growth
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
Backpacks of Love relies on individuals and groups to donate their time to pack bags for the 900 children in need in the region it currently serves.
By Laura McFarland Editor
POWHATAN – When two of the founders behind Backpacks of Love talk about how far the Powhatan-based nonprofit has come, you can still see and hear their amazement.
see BACKPACKS, pg. 5
see WATKINS, pg. 2
Local teenager serves as a page for House of Delegates By Laura McFarland Editor
DELIVER TO: Postal Patron Powhatan, VA 23139
In October 2011, only two weeks after they first introduced their fledgling idea to Powhatan County Public Schools, they got a call from Pocahontas Elementary School principal Tom Sulzer. Yes, there was the fear that
Watkins Nurseries Inc., one of the Richmond region’s oldest businesses that has been operated since 1876 by the Watkins family, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Feb. 19. The filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond cancels a foreclosure auction that was scheduled to be held Feb. 20 to sell a total of 342.3 acres of land in Chesterfield, Powhatan and Amelia counties to pay off a bank loan. In addition to Watkins
Nurseries’ filing, two related entities filed for bankruptcy — the Virginias Resources Recycled LLC and Watkins-Amelia LLC. Robert S. Watkins, the fifth generation of his family to run the nursery business, also filed for personal bankruptcy. Combined, the business entities owe millions of dollars to creditors, court records show. The documents filed with the court provided scant details about the companies or its finances. But the Watkins Nurseries business listed assets and
POWHATAN – Sitting on the floor of the Virginia House of Delegates has been eyeopening for 14-year-old Caleb Shust. The Powhatan Middle School eighth-grader has spent the last seven weeks seeing the workings of state government from the inside out as he participated in the House of Delegates Page Program. Since Jan. 8, Caleb’s weekdays have been filled with assisting delegates, their legislative staff, and the House Clerk’s staff in the daily duties required
for the successful operation of the House of Delegates during the session. When he applied to become a page, Caleb said he was expecting to work for an individual delegate helping do office work. The reality has been much more varied, as he and other 13- and 14-year-olds from across the Commonwealth do eight-day rotations alternating between assisting on the House floor and performing errands throughout the Capitol complex. “We have delivered different papers from one office to another. We have gone and pulled
Tax preparers start new season of aid PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND
Powhatan’s AARP Tax-Aide volunteers are offering free tax return preparation at the Powhatan County Public Library through April 10. Among the 11 volunteers are Barbara Landa, from left, Beth Fulcher, Jerry Davis, Tricia Butcher, and Michelle Odden. Schedule appointments online through a link on the library website, www.powhatanva. gov/247/Library.
see PAGE, pg. 3
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Caleb Shust, back right, serves on the floor of the House of Delegates as a page. He is working at the Capitol during the entire General Assmebly session.