Marty Gordon
The Virginia Parole Board took up the case this past week of Stephen Epperly, the man convicted in the 1980 death of Radford University student Gina Hall.
A final decision is not expected for months, but Hall family members were adamant in letters to the board to keep him in prison.
Epperly was convicted during a time when inmates were still eligible for parole and has now had nine hearings in front of the parole board.
This hearing was based on what state officials are calling his “geriatric age status.” Three years ago, then former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam told the parole board to examine thousands of cases involving inmates over the age of 60. Epperly is now 71 and serving a life sentence at the Buckingham Correctional Center.
Hall’s sister Dlana Bodmer said in a letter to the board that “Epperly has no remorse for his actions, and Epperly never revealed where he disposed of Gina’s remains.” Thus, his parole should be denied.
Hall disappeared June 28, 1980 from a Blacksburg nightspot, and evidence pointed to Epperly being the last person that saw her alive. He was convicted without a body.
Bodmer said every parole hearing always comes with much anxiety and concern at the prospects that a violent man could be paroled and the safety of her family, and others, jeopardized.
“Stephen Epperly should never be released,” she said.
Pulaski County Commonwealth’s Attorney Justin L. Griffith also sent a letter to the parole board in which he said, “When the Virginia Parole Board announced the denial of his parole in July of 2021, I gave our community my word I would be ready to fight his next attempt at parole and that time has arrived. We will never forget Gina Hall and we are always conscious of what her family continues to endure.”
Family members have continued to search for her remains and recently say they found what they think are dismembered parts of Hall and possible DNA samples from a site at Gatewood Reservoir.
The details of this most recent development were in Bodmer’s letter to the board. According to Bodmer, the DNA analysis report can be obtained from the Virginia State Police Investigator who was present for the Gatewood excavation, who also processed and secured the Rapid DNA test from that which was excavated and submitted the swab sample through ANDE RAPID DNA to be tested.
The sample will now be sent to the state’s laboratory for further testing, in hopes of profiling the DNA further.
The recent finding comes a year after apparent bones were discovered at another site in Pulaski County. Bodmer is convinced they belong to her sister.
“We will still continue this process until one of the items unearthed proves to have enough non-deteriorated DNA to match Gina’s profile,” she said.
Epperly’s age has started to take a toll on him, and he recently had hip surgery. It is because of that age he is eligible to receive a hearing every year from now on. Bodmer has requested a three-year deferment for the next parole hearing, despite Epperly’s age.
