On the night of February 20, 1989, Virginia State Trooper Jerry Lynn Hines, 48, a 22-year veteran, was killed during a traffic stop near the I-81 and I-64 interchange in the Lexington area. Trooper Hines had stopped a vehicle for erratic driving and was speaking with the female driver outside the car when the male passenger, Dennis Wayne Eaton, opened fire, striking Hines in the neck and shoulder. The wounds were instantly fatal; Hines’ service revolver remained secured in its holster.

The vehicle fled and was later spotted by Salem police, prompting a high-speed chase that ended when the car struck a utility pole. During the incident Eaton killed the female passenger, Judy Ann McDonald, and later shot himself in the right eye in an apparent suicide attempt. Investigators linked Eaton to additional murders earlier that day, including the killing of the car’s owner, 68-year-old Ripley Marston Sr., and Walter Custer Jr. Eaton was arrested and tried for the killings; the jury convicted him of capital murder and sentenced him to death.

Did anyone have contact with Trooper Hines or the suspect vehicle near I-81 and I-64 on February 20, 1989?