Man Chugs Drain Cleaner After Beating Woman To Death

"CHESAPEAKE, VA — A 62-year-old man believed to have smothered and beaten a woman to death killed himself by ingesting a drain unclogging chemical, according to autopsy results.

"Pritchard Hoggard had been wanted in the slaying of Susan Griffin, a 45-year-old mother of three who had been reported missing.

"Hoggard died Tuesday night at a hospital, police said.

"Griffin was found dead Tuesday afternoon in a shed at the home of Hoggard's mother, who lived next door to Griffin in the 1700 block of Blue Bill Court, near Campostella Road and South Military Highway. Autopsy reports released Wednesday showed that Griffin was suffocated and beaten to death.

"It was one of two homicides reported Tuesday in Chesapeake and the fifth murder-suicide reported in South Hampton Roads since December."

From hamptonroads.com...