NC man charged with killing wife, kids in 1972

WINDSOR, N.C. — Authorities in a rural North Carolina community have filed murder charges against a just-released convict accusing him of killing his wife and two children 36 years ago.

The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk, Va., reported Wednesday that Roy Lawrence Rascoe is charged with first-degree murder and arson in a fire that burned the family’s Bertie County home. Annie Smallwood Rascoe was 23 years old when she died. The couple’s children were ages 1 and 3.

Sheriff Greg Atkins says the arrest of 68-year-old Roy Rascoe was based on new evidence. Atkins would not describe the evidence or its source.

Rascoe had just been released federal prison. He was convicted in 2006 for theft of government property and ordered to repay nearly $80,000 to Social Security.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)