ROANOKE, Va. (AP) - Federal prosecutors say three men have been charged with lying to authorities investigating the 2002 slayings of a Henry County couple and their nine-year-old daughter.

U.S. Attorney John Brownlee said today that two of the men lied in an attempt to collect reward money. One of them is charged with threatening to kill two police officers for investigating and disproving his story.

A grand jury in Charlottesville indicted Timothy Fennon Sampson and Jerry Riley Mills on charges with conspiracy, perjury and lying to law enforcement. Sampson also is charged with threatening to kill two officers to obstruct justice and with coercing his daughter to lie to a grand jury in an effort to bolster his story.

A second indictment charges Tony Lee Epperson with lying to the task force investigating the slayings of Michael, Mary and Jennifer Short.

Brownlee says the three defendants are in custody in North Carolina on unrelated charges.

The murders of the family are still unsolved.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Date published: 3/4/2005

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