Officials: Suspect's bond 'unusual'

Less than 13 hours after his arrest in a murder investigation, Nicholas Adam Holloway walked away from jail for less than $3,000 Sunday night, authorities said.

City police and a jail official on Monday described a magistrate’s decision to set the man’s bond at $2,500 as “unusual.”

Holloway packed his belongings the night he returned to his apartment, neighbors said, and moved to a new place for safety.

“The magistrate has the right to set a bond, it just depends on the case and the charges,” said Lt. Rick Whitmore, of Middle River Regional Jail in Verona. “[Holloway’s] is kind of weird, I don’t understand it.”

Local magistrates referred News Virginian questions to a Virginia Supreme Court spokeswoman who was unavailable for comment Monday.

Police arrested Holloway, 24, and Matthew Alan Painter, 36, after discovering the body of John Kelley Miller, 44, of 260 N. Commerce. Detectives found Miller lying in the South River, north of the Broad Street bridge, on Friday. Officers charged Painter with second-degree murder and concealment of a body. Holloway was charged with concealment of a body.

Officials at Middle River Regional Jail in Verona said they clocked Holloway’s arrival at 3:06 a.m. Sunday and processed his release at 7:17 p.m. that day. Ray B. Fitzgerald, chief magistrate in Virginia’s 25th Judicial District, would say only that Magistrate K.L. Lee worked during the hours of Holloway’s bond posting.

News of his release came as a surprise to the police department, whose detectives arrested Holloway and Painter 26 hours after the start of their investigation, authorities said.

During bond hearings, judges ask defendants about employment, education, residency and criminal histories. In asking questions, judges often refer to a defendant’s risk of fleeing if released from custody.

Since the beginning of 2009, court records show Holloway failed twice to show up for scheduled hearings at Waynesboro General District Court. In both cases, he neglected to pay the fines associated with those charges, records show.

Residents at 208 Port Republic Road said Holloway returned there to his fiancée’s apartment, where some people “dropped all over him,” asking questions and showing aggression about his release. One neighbor, Nancy McGilvery, said Holloway left the apartment to stay elsewhere for safety reasons. She said she thinks of him as a son.

“He came over here, got [his fiancée] and clean clothes,” McGilvery said. “I did talk to him on the phone this morning and he swore on God’s life that he had nothing to do with it.”

Judge William D. Heatwole assigned attorney John J. Hill to Painter’s case Monday morning.

Police put Miller’s time of death at Wednesday, after an argument led to a fight. Two days later, police received the anonymous phone tip that led them to the body.

Sgt. Kelly Walker said Monday that the cold river kept Miller’s body preserved by slowing the rate of decomposition. Walker said police noticed signs of trauma and strangulation on Miller’s swollen body but have not released a cause of death.

In the days following the death, employees at Waynesboro convenience stores saw Painter.

At 11:05 a.m. Friday, the pair entered the “Pop Shop” Texaco on East Broad Street. A store surveillance video shows the arrival of Painter, in gray and white camouflage pants and a flannel shirt, and Holloway, in jeans and a T-shirt, on a moped. They greeted two other men in the store and made their way to a cooler to grab a six-pack of Steel Reserve.

At the counter, a clerk refused to sell them the beer, so Painter returned it and the men handed over Miller's debit card to buy cigarettes instead.

Shop manager Cathy Cooper said the pair may have been denied beer because of intoxication. A receipt showed the card was Miller's.

The pair exited at 11:07 a.m.

Police declined to comment on the gas station video. A detective questioned Cooper there Monday. She described Painter and Holloway as regulars who never stayed long.

“They just came in and made their purchases,” she said. “We never seen anything out of the way between anyone.”

Clerks there said they never saw Miller with the pair.

Waynesboro police said Tuesday that they are unsure of the ownership of the debit card used at the store.

City Editor Tony Gonzalez contributed to this report.