Afton
Nelson County, Virginia
©2009 NCL Magazine
All photos and material ©2009 NCL Magazine and may not be used without direct and linked attribution to www.nelsoncountylife.com
Update: 5.12.09 10:20 AM EDT
Nelson County Sheriff David Brooks confirmed to NCL moments ago that his agency has recovered what they believe to be the murder weapon in Waynesboro, VA…more shortly.
Earlier post from this morning
Nelson County Life first broke the story of Opal Page’s brutal murder last Wednesday night on May 6th as the crime was unfolding. Yesterday we broke the arrest of the two young men police say killed Opal Page. Nelson County Sheriff David Brooks confirmed that 18 year-old Christopher Meeks of Shipman and 20 year-old Austin Griffin of Crawford’s View have been charged with 1st Degree Murder of Mrs. Page. Both sit in the Albermarle Justice Complex without bond awaiting a Wednesday court hearing.
Monday interview above with Nelson County Sheriff, David Brooks, shortly after the arrest of the pair.
Rumors swirled early Monday that the pair had been arrested, but the actual arrest didn’t take place until later in the day. Meeks was picked up on Misty Hollow Road in Amherst County; Griffin was picked up in the Paul’s Creek area near his home in Nelson County.
A witness interviewed within a day or so of the murder reported seeing two suspicious males near the driveway of Mrs. Page’s home just north of Greenfield the day of the murder.
It’s believed the pair stole Mrs. Page’s 1998 Chevy Malibu after the murder and then abandoned it in nearby Waynesboro, Virginia. Police recovered the car, seen above, the next day.
In addition to the 1st degree murder charge, Meeks and Griffin have been charged with petty larceny, grand larceny, and burglary.
This is so disturbing. I went to high school with these boys, I have been in school with Austin since kindergarten, where Mrs. Page worked. I dont understand what could lead anyone to such a heinous act of unprovoked violence.
the justice system has nothing to offer these two. innocent until proven guilty, why give that to them they they deserve nothing but to die they same death as the one they committed. the problem with todays world is there are people who think that we should give them a chance to tell their side of the story. what could they possible say. im sure our tax money will go to defend them i wish mine wouldnt. i wouldnt mind flipping the bill for the electricty to fry their asses though.
I like Cassidy went to school with both these boys and was in kindergarten with them. I can’t believe that they did this, when I heard I was in total shock. I also had Mrs. Page as my teacher’s aide and can’t believe she is gone. Why would they do such a thing?
Although the arrest of these individuals may not help some of the elderly sleep better at night, nor will it bring Mrs. Page back, it is good to know that responbility for this crime will be taken by the appropriate partys. There have been, and will be a lot of families hurt by this. A thank you goes out to our NC Sherriffs Dept, Waynesboro Police, Bedford Police, and VA State Police for their hard work and diligence in this situation. God Bless the Page family in this difficult time. Phil
I know what you mean Mike. I am with you, except I hope they are the guilty. It would be ashame to “fry” someone who is innocent. I am not saying they are. I just believe in our system, a flawed one yes, but still our system. If they are the guilty party then lets prey the justice system works the way it is supposed to. And if they are not then lets make sure we find those guilty. I am a firm believer in Karma and those guilty will get what they deserve. I would also like to say that my heart goes out to all the friends and family of Ms. Opal Page. And also to these mens parents. Even Ted Kaczynski had a mother.
Firm believer in karma?? How can you say that after what has just happened. If you knew Mrs. Page then you would know she had no part of her that deserved this. She was the nicest woman I remember ever having dealt with in elementary school. I guarentee karma had nothing to do with her death. I have been around these two a fair amount like many people have in Nelson County and they have always had two sides. One side a; nice guy just trying to catch a break after making some mistakes, another side as a really confused sometimes angry person. These kids have always been stuck transitioning from one side to another and this just adds another tally to the confused angry side of both of their personalities. Another mistake in a long list for both of them and it is unfortunate but this my just be the last for both of them.
As Chris and his brothers were growing up, if they ever did anything wrong their mother’s excuse was “Boys will be Boys”. I wonder what her excuse is now. Very poor parenting!
This is in regards to Ms. Sickman’s question of: ‘I don’t understand what could lead anyone to such a heinous act of unprovoked violence.”???
Drugs of course would lead anyone to this type of violence. Drug addiction clouds your judgment of life and what is wrong and what is right.
Drugs is my thought…
I really didnt know Mrs. Page but from what i have heard she was a very sweet and nice lady that teached at Rockfish River School! The 2 guys that done this crazy act of violence should desevre everything that is coming to them! It was very wrong at least they should have just takin the car instead of braking into her house and killing her!! Everyone can say it was drugs or something else but I am guess they were not in there right mind but we will never know what people think or do these days!! Who could do something so horrible to an older lady! But the thing to think about now is that she is in a better place watching over her family and friends! I keep them in my prayers and may GOD be with each and everyone! Justice (I am hoping greatly) Will be severed!
JZ:: well as knowing chris’s mom she was a sweetheart and she did her best in trying to raise her kids. Anybody son could have committed this crime. so dont point your finger at the parents it the son s that are of age and know what they are doing.
i too know these 2 mothers and i know their hearts are broken! they are not to blame. Show them some compassion!
Amen to that………….you are pouring salt in the wounds of their heart….we love our children unconditionally and NO PARENT would ever want this to ever happen. Are you leading a good example for your children by being so judgmental?? You are teaching them that we parents are responsible for their (our childrens) actions. You may if you want but, I will teach my children to be responsible for their own actions, and each action has a consequence—sometimes good…. sometimes bad!
karma is telling your wife a lie then walking in the other room and stubbing your big toe. its not waking up at 5am and being attacked by two of the biggest peices of shit God ever put on this earth.
I know both of the parents i feel what they are going throw the dad is a really good friend of the family i feel soory for both of them
there are kids who have come from wonderful families and have turned out to be criminals and vise versa. you definitely CANNOT blame it on the parents
Karma is what will happen to the guilty. I am sorry that I am not falling into the mob rule and declaring these men guilty. Hurry up get the rope we are going to have a lynching. This is crazy. Alex and Mike, I am not condoning the horrific actions that took place. It appears to me that you are reading what I wrote and taking out what you wish to. I am saddened by the event, but I will not cast one stone at them. If they are guilty, then they have been caught. It appears to me that all the people on here condemning these two men to hell and hoping that they fry are being way to judgmental. You thump your bible and talk about forgiveness and turning the other cheek. I am not saying let them go, I am just saying let the system do its job. I am angry over this action. I have to explain to my child why it is safe to go to sleep and that no one is going to hurt her. It is hard to infuse the thought into your child that not everyone is evil, when you can see the fright in their eyes.
Is it not the teacher’s fault when a child can’t read. Is it not a physician’s fault when someone dies of a curable disease. Of course it is the parents fault that sons/daughters do bad or GOOD things. That is what is wrong with this world. I always thought that my parents reputation stood by my actions. And if they are guilty, then they are not the victims of anything, just plain evil. Not tempers, not drugs, not lack of sleep caused this evil. If they are guilty then they have themselves to blame and the rest of us who enable them will share in that guilt.
When there is no discipline in a family is that the child’s fault? No, it’s the parents fault. They are the ones who choose to have the child, and it’s their job to train their children correctly. Of course when someone does something as horrible as commit murder they have to be accountable for what they do…not their parents. But good parenting sure does help to mold your child to be a decent human being on this planet. I’m sure both mothers are horrified at what happened, but as others have said previously…why didn’t the children get help? If they had the help or discipline or rules or curfews they needed none of this would’ve EVER HAPPENED! And to the others that replied about my comment, I think my comment was much milder than most about this incident.
I too agree with JZ, when Chris and his brothers were growing up, they had no discipline, I know this for a fact it is not rumored, I know it first hand..BUT I never would have thought Chris would do something like this, maybe his brothers, but not Chris, he was always polite to me, but there is the 2 sides that Alex was talking about…and we are not condeming these boys, they did it to themselves, if the sherrif is 100% sure they have the right people, then they deserve the death penalty, don’t take pity because their young, or they didn’t have discipline growing up…the act they did deserves the death penalty…they knew what they were doing was wrong.
And to the comment made the other day, I forget who wrote it, but the person said “That Cpt. Roberstson is to busy handing out tickets to investigate real crime” I hope you are eating your words now….Congradulations to all the deputies from Nelson that were involved in this case and to the surrounding counties that lent their hand to help catch these killers !
first off i want to say half of u dont even freaking kno his mother nor his father an u shouldnt b running ur mouth about them an she tryed her best raising them and u dont kno chris i am one of his closest friends and i dare ne one of u to step to me an say dat u have no freaking clue about hym and b4 u go an make judgement calls mayb u should figure out if chris is the one who did it and i dnt believe chris did it and wont not untill he tells me he did it so screw every last 1of u!!!!!
Do you know FIRST HAND how they were raised? no! and they are NOT children- they are 18 and 20 years old. You can NOT judge the family of either of the MEN like that. CHRIS AND AUSTIN ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS AND NOONE ELSE! STOP POINTING FINGERS AND MAKING FALSE ACCUSATIONS!!! and yeah its easy to sit here and say all of this stuff about their families bc you can hide who you are.. would you have the courage to tell this to their face? You dont know first hand about either family- stop talking about them in the manner that you are. HAVE SOME RESPECT!
ok im Sierra N Stevens not the same as the other sierra stevens ok jus to make dat clear 4 everyone and i jus dont understand why they would go and do that and my deepest regards go out to Mrs.Page family…. i never wouldve guessed that about chris but drugs change ppl and he is one of them that got affected
For all of you out there that want to blame the parent…especially Satyre….you obviously don’t have children of your own. It may be nice to push the blame off to someone else when we do wrong, but it sure would not be my parents. I know that you yourself have made mistakes in life because there are no perfect people in this world. My heart goes out to your parents if they have read your comments and know that you hold them responsible for every mistake you have make in life. Face it we are responsible for our own actions…..the good and the bad a like. We aren’t talking about a child pushing someone off a trampoline because we don’t have a safty net…you could hold us responsible for that because they should have been supervised….these were adults. As parents we TRY to guide our children in the direction we see fit. No one is brought up with the same standards and morals as someone else, but there comes a time when we go our own way. Not all children (or in this case we are talking about adults) choose to make good decisions, but THEY made these bad choices…not their parents or any of their piers. I hope my children grow to be the responsible people we are teaching them to be… There are many devastated people in this county and none of them deserve to be victimized by all of this blame.
FIRST OF ALL, I know Chris’s parents well, so you can clamp your mouth shut right there, and I DO KNOW HOW THEY WERE RAISED, with absolutely NO discipline !…what I am refereing to is when they did something wrong, no ass whippings, no grounding, no nothing…BUT, like I said before, I never would have thought Chris would have done something like this, he was always polite to me because he used to come to my house and play, my stepson was his best friend when they were in middle school, and they used to hang out in high school so dont tell me I dont know him, and yes I know they are adults now, but if consequences had been handed down while they were growing up, maybe, just maybe, he would have thought twice about doing something like this and would not have to learn the hard way…I’m old school and I believe in spanking your children and teaching them right from wrong, not just brushing it off as boys will be boys…Im not commenting here to piss anyone off…Im just telling it from a different perspective, Im not saying persecute the parents…but raising your children to know right from wrong is the part of the way we raise good law abiding adults and prepare them to be good citizens it does lay in our hands to raise them right…Im not saying his parents raised him to be a killer, but having some consequences for their action growing up would have helped, not letting them do what they wanted to do…when they wanted to do it…Sorry if I have offended anyone but I’m telling what I know, and saw when they were little kids growing up.
OH AND BY THE WAY….MY JOB IS WHAT IS KEEPING ME FROM USING MY REAL NAME ! NOT THAT IM SCARED.
HOW BOUT YOU PERSON?
Wow, this is a tragedy. I feel so sorry for Ms. Page’s family. I hope they’re doing alright.
I knew Austin Griffin, he did drugs and was a bit weird but I never knew he was capable of such a thing.
you called them boys and emphasized “BOYS” then turn around and call them adults? they arent boys. they are young MEN.
but im wondering- what’s your reasoning for it?
*sorry pressed submit too soon*
Comments are closed.