A woman is found nude and strangled to death in a sand quarry
In the quiet Pugh Mountain area of Smyth County, Virginia, a grim discovery was made on April 16, 1989. The nude body of 48-year-old Barbara Jean Hagy, a White female, was found lying in the road at the entrance to a sand quarry. Her head and neck had been covered in sand, and the cause of death was determined to be asphyxia resulting from blunt force trauma to her head, face, and neck. The Virginia State Police classified her death as a homicide and began an active investigation into the brutal slaying.
The investigation soon focused on Michael McGay Reeves, a Smyth County native with a history of violence. Evidence began to connect Reeves to not only the murder of Barbara Jean Hagy but also to a string of other violent crimes. The night after Hagy's body was discovered, a Job Corps member reported to Marion police that she had been raped. In a later trial for this sexual assault, the victim testified that the car Reeves was driving that night belonged to Barbara Jean Hagy. This testimony provided a crucial link between Reeves and Hagy's murder.
Michael McGay Reeves was a suspect in other rape and murder cases in both Smyth and Grayson Counties. His criminal activities extended beyond Virginia. He was convicted for the murder of a woman in Craven County, North Carolina, which occurred on February 6, 1989, just a couple of months before Hagy's death. For this crime, he received the death penalty and has been on death row in North Carolina since 1994. Reeves was also convicted in Virginia for the attempted murder, kidnapping, and robbery of a U.S. Forest Service employee in October 1989, for which he received two life sentences plus 100 years. He was also convicted of forcible sodomy in the case involving the Job Corps student.
Despite being the primary suspect and being charged with the first-degree murder of Barbara Jean Hagy in 1993, the case never went to trial. A deal was struck between the governors of Virginia and North Carolina. It was concluded that since Reeves had already been sentenced to death in North Carolina, there was no need to transport him back to Virginia to face another trial for Hagy's murder. The rationale was that a death sentence was the highest possible penalty, and transporting a capital murderer posed a significant security risk. As a result, while the investigation identified a clear suspect who was charged with the crime, there has been no trial or conviction specifically for the murder of Barbara Jean Hagy. Michael McGay Reeves remains on death row in North Carolina.
