Washington City Paper: Contents for Mar. 20

Cold-Blooded Killer
Last year, Virginia executed nine people. Three had been sent to death row by Prince William County Prosecutor Paul Ebert. As long as Ebert stalks the courtroom, there'll be plenty more to take their place.

Cover Story

It should have been the perfect hit, the easiest job in the world, even for a no-luck loser like Tony Mackall. In and out. No mess, no problems, nobody gets hurt.

He'd been coming to the gas station regularly for nearly a month, ever since he started working for a local drywall contractor. It sat on a county road overlooking the Occoquan River in Prince William County, Va. He knew the routine: the husband managing the station, the wife in the cashier's booth out at the gas pumps, a couple of little girls running around the place. Service with a smile and all the old-fashioned hooey of a country store plopped down next to Interstate 95 in outer suburbia. Just the kind of place no longer found in his native southeast D.C. Wide open.

The drywall crew often stopped by the station after doing jobs around the Washington area. One day, Mackall got out of the van and walked over to the cashier's booth. He was just a little squirt, really, barely 5-foot-7 and a scraggly 140 pounds in his dusty boots. He bought a pack of Salem cigarettes and climbed back into the van. "Those people would be very easy to rip off," he announced.

The boss was furious. He'd tried to give Mackall a break, hiring him from a work-release program out of a D.C. halfway house. The 23-year-old had been in and out of reformatories since he was 8. Nothing violent, though—he just couldn't keep his hands off other people's stuff. So the boss had taken a chance on him.... Continued

Issue of Mar. 20 - 26, 1998

News and Features

Cold-Blooded Killer
Last year, Virginia executed nine people. Three had been sent to death row by Prince William County Prosecutor Paul Ebert. As long as Ebert stalks the courtroom, there'll be plenty more to take their place.
Cover Story By Eddie Dean
Law and Disorder
At Arraignment Court, everyone but the accused knows what part to play.
The City By Amanda Ripley
April Surprise
The District's tax czars say the check's in the mail, and this time they mean it.
The City By Erik Wemple
All Work, No Pay
While UDC officials quarrel over money, law school work-study students await their paychecks.
The City By Paula Park
You Make the Coll
The Mail By Bart Ashby
Hume Error
The Mail By L. Renfro
Ariel Maneuvers
The Mail By Karen Farrell
Shooting Starr
The Mail By Tom Wilson
Geezer Butler
The Mail By Frank J. Errera Jr.
An Honest Man
The Mail By Russell Hess

Columns

Selling Their Soles
Cheap Seats By Dave McKenna
Life in Plastic—It's Fantastic!
When you're in love with a beautiful woman, you better watch yourself.
Demimonde By Arion Berger
Uncivil Rights
City Desk By Ta-Nehisi CoatesLaura Lang, Karyn Robinson and Jamal Watson
MPD's Money In The Bank
Loose Lips By Ken Cummins

Eats

Movies

High School Inconsequential
Film Review By Mark Jenkins

Music

Black Grape
Music Review By Christopher Porter
Jim Lauderdale
Music Review By Rickey Wright
The Fleshtones
Music Review By James Lochart
Superdrag
Music Review By Rickey Wright
In Your Bright Ray
Music Review By Rickey Wright

Theater

Cherry Blossoms
Theater Review By Bob Mondello
Dying on the Vine
Theater Review By Trey Graham

Arts and Events

Screening in Oblivion
The AFI theater's restructuring consigns repertory fans to their VCRs and leaves its own future in doubt.
Arts By Mark Jenkins
This 'Bud's For You
Artifacts By Dave Nuttycombe
Dead Madmen Talking
Artifacts By Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa