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Fatal crash follows stabbing
Suspect in stabbing causes fatal crash in Madison County, killing himself and band singer from CaliforniaDate published: 5/20/2003
By Randy Jenkins
Authorities in Madison and Greene counties are still trying to piece together a bizarre incident that left two people dead--including the lead singer of a 1980s band--and another woman hospitalized with stab wounds. Richard Eugene Brock, 41, of Stanardsville and Freyda Epstein, 46, of Berkeley, Calif., were pronounced dead at the scene following a head-on crash about 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning on U.S. 29 just outside the town of Madison. Epstein, who recorded and toured with the contemporary acoustic group Trapezoid, was on her way south from Dulles International Airport to a musicians' gathering in Charlottesville when her rental car was struck. Brock, who had allegedly stabbed and beaten his girlfriend minutes earlier, was traveling north and may have intentionally crossed the median to hit Epstein's vehicle, state police said. "There were no skid marks, and the angle across the median took him straight to Epstein's car," said Trooper V.A. Velasquez. "The timing was perfect. "It may have been a suicide attempt or an attempt to throw off police," the trooper said. "We'll never know." Velasquez said that while Epstein was believed to have been traveling near the 55-mph speed limit, Brock's vehicle was moving "at a pretty high rate of speed." She added that alcohol might have been a factor. What ended as a double fatality in Madison apparently began about an hour earlier at a private residence near Stanardsville. At some point that night, Brock and Penelope Pelkey, 38, his apparent girlfriend, became involved in an altercation at her home in Greene Acres subdivision, according to Greene County sheriff's Capt. Scott Hawes. "The victim told investigators that she retreated into her bedroom as the argument escalated, and Brock followed and stabbed her in the side with a knife," Hawes said. Pelkey told investigators that Brock stabbed her several more times, then forced her into her own car and drove toward Madison, eventually stopping at a Sheetz gas station at the corner of U.S. 29 and State Route 230. There, in the parking lot, he allegedly began to beat her. "That's when we got involved," said Madison County Sheriff's Capt. Randy Jenkins. Jenkins said someone from te Sheetz called E-911 and reported a physical assault in progress.
Date published: 5/20/2003
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