City police responding to a report of a fight on the Rappahannock Canal path found one of the men involved dead late last night.

Two men were taken into custody, but little was known about them or the victim, who had not yet been identified by police.

Officers responded to two 911 calls just after 8 p.m. reporting a disturbance on the pathway, which winds into the woods between the CVS pharmacy and Food Lion shopping center on the U.S. 1 Bypass.

Police arrested two men on the scene, he said. They were taken to the police department for questioning last night. Their identities were not immediately released and it was not known if they had been charged.

The body of the victim, wearing muddy blue jeans and what appeared to be an orange flannel shirt, was still splayed out in the grass along the pathway at 10 p.m., as patrol officers awaited the arrival of detectives.

The smell of stale alcohol hung in the cold night air. Sullivan said that area of the canal path--lit only by the orange glow of street lamps--is sometimes frequented by homeless people and others looking for a place to drink.

Police received the first call of a disturbance at 8:05, Sullivan said. Another call, three minutes later, helped police pinpoint the location, several hundred yards down the wooded footpath within sight of Mary Washington Hospital.

Two residents of Normandy Village, across the canal from the crime scene, said they were sitting down to a dinner of stuffed cabbage and mashed potatoes when they heard arguing just before 8 p.m.

At first, the shouting and commotion sounded like an ordinary fight, Michael Dutkoski said as he dragged on a cigarette outside his home. Dutkoski recalled hearing one man tell another, "I said I was going to kill him before."

His wife, Kim, said that as she finished preparing dinner she heard a fight start and a man shout, "I'm going to [expletive] kill you."

After police arrested the two young men, Kim Dutkoski said, one resisted, kicking a police car and shouting, "He [expletive] deserved it."

To reach ROB DAVIS: 540/374-5418 rdavis@freelancestar.com