Man pleads guilty to killing Suffolk newspaper carrier

SUFFOLK

The capital murder trial of Christopher J. Artis, accused of killing a Virginian-Pilot newspaper carrier in 2009, ended unexpectedly Friday, when Artis pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

He was sentenced in Suffolk Circuit Court to 40 years in prison, but 30 years were suspended. Other charges were dropped.

Artis entered the plea in the death of 50-year-old John Price Jr., who was shot in the head at 4 a.m. on July 8, 2009, as he delivered newspapers two blocks from the downtown police headquarters.

Key testimony in the five-day trial came from inmates at Western Tidewater Regional Jail who said Artis, in jail at the time on other charges, boasted of killing Price.

Defense attorneys challenged the testimony, arguing that the inmates made up the story in the hope of having their own sentences reduced.

In opening statements, defense attorney Douglas Ramseur said prosecutors had found "no hard, factual evidence" linking Artis to the crime. "The only thing that's going to link Christopher Artis to this crime is the testimony of felons," Ramseur said.

The inmates' testimony consumed 2-1/2 days as the court listened to lengthy taped phone conversations between the inmates and family members. The conversations included references to the inmates' plans to testify against Artis.

In earlier testimony, a resident of the neighborhood said on the morning of the killing that he heard gunshots, looked out the window and saw a man running away in the predawn darkness.

The resident said he ran outside to find Price lying in the street next to his idling van, a copy of The Virginian-Pilot still in his hand.

Under the sentence, handed down by Circuit Judge Rodham Delk Jr., Artis will serve 10 years in prison on top of a 2-1/2-year term he is serving on a 2010 gun-possession charge. Artis was ordered to serve 30 years' probation on release.

Under the plea agreement, charges of robbery; attempted robbery; use of a firearm in the commission of a felony; and shoot, stab, cut or wound were dropped.

Had Artis been convicted of capital murder, he would have faced life in prison.

Jeff Sheler, 757-222-5563, jeff.sheler@pilotonline.com