On a December afternoon in 1984, Virginia State Police Sergeant James Leroy Biggs, a 47-year-old male, was patrolling Interstate 64 in Alleghany County. Around 2:30 p.m., just two miles from the West Virginia border, he initiated a traffic stop of a speeding vehicle at a rest stop. As the 18-year veteran of the force and a United States Navy and National Guard veteran approached the driver's side of the car, he was met with gunfire. Two shots were fired from a. 44-caliber magnum pistol, striking the sergeant and inflicting mortal wounds. The vehicle then sped off, leaving the fallen officer behind.
The driver of the car was Gregory Frye, a 24-year-old escapee from a West Virginia prison. Alongside him was a passenger, James Henderson Price. After fleeing the scene of the shooting, Frye drove into West Virginia where a state trooper attempted to stop the stolen vehicle. A shootout ensued, during which Price was seriously wounded. Frye continued his high-speed escape until he collided with another car. He then abandoned the wrecked vehicle and the paralyzed Price, fleeing into the woods on foot. His freedom was short-lived, as he was apprehended the following morning.
During interrogation, Frye confessed to shooting Sergeant Biggs. He and Price had been on a crime spree to support themselves and their drug habits. Frye was charged with capital murder. At trial, he and Price each accused the other of firing the fatal shots. The jury, however, convicted Frye of capital murder and sentenced him to death. The passenger, James Henderson Price, was acquitted of first-degree murder.
Frye's initial death sentence was later vacated by the Virginia Supreme Court due to a trial error regarding the prosecutor's comments to the jury. The responsibility for determining his new sentence was moved to a Fairfax County jury due to extensive publicity. This jury ultimately decided on a sentence of life in prison.
