PHILADELPHIA - Samuel M. Monroe, 47, formerly of Beckley, died May 1, 2002. Born May 5, 1954, at Beckley, he was the son of the late Wilbert and Geneva Monroe. Mr. Monroe was a graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School in 1973, graduate of WV Tech in 1978 and was employed by Kroger in Beckley. He later moved to Philadelphia in 1981, and worked for the school system as a special ed teacher. At the time of his death he was employed at Norristown Hospital. Survivors include a son, Josh Monroe and a daughter, Tiffiney Dillard; two brothers, James T. Monroe and wife, Ida, of Beckley and Walter H. Monroe; three sisters, Lelia Shorts and husband, James, Alice Monroe and Ruth Monroe; three uncles; one aunt; four great-aunts; a host of nephews, nieces, cousins and friends; and two special friends, Jeff Alexander and Dwight Staples. Memorial service will be noon Saturday at the Mount Zion Baptist Church, 142 Mool Ave., Beckley, with the Rev. Ronald Smith, the Rev. Robert Morton and the Rev. Jerry Staples officiating. This information was submitted by Ritchie and Johnson Funeral Parlor, Beckley.

Ex-Beckleyan, former WWHS athlete, killed in Pennsylvania. By GEORGE GANNON. A Pennsylvania woman allegedly shot and killed her live-in boyfriend, a Beckley native, then hid the body in their home for two months before the crime was uncovered last week, authorities said. The victim, Sam Monroe, 48, played football at Woodrow Wilson High School and West Virginia Tech in the 1970s. Pete Culicerto, who coached Monroe at Woodrow Wilson, said the ex-Beckleyan was "a great person." "Got along with everybody," Culicerto added. "Everybody liked Sam. He was one of the most popular guys in the school." Monroe shared a rented home in Norristown, Pa., with his girlfriend, Nancy Austin, and their 20-month-old son, according to the Norristown Times-Herald. Austin, 38, is being held without bail in the Montgomery County Prison pending a preliminary hearing today. She is charged with first-degree and third-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and unsworn falsification to police. Monroe's body was found July 2, police said, wrapped in black plastic. Austin had reported Monroe missing May 1, the newspaper said, and had been cooperative with Norristown police during the investigation. As detectives were searching the couple's home July 2, Austin led them to the basement, where she had additional documents and some of Monroe's personal belongings. Entering the room, they were struck with what the newspaper called "an overpowering odor of what seemed to be a decomposing body." With Austin's consent, detectives entered a cedar closet in the basement and came across the body. "It's him," Austin reportedly told the detectives when they found Monroe. "I got sick of his s---." Montgomery County first assistant district attorney Risa Verti Ferman told the newspaper there was "some indication" Monroe had been seeing another woman. Austin said she killed Monroe on May 1, according to Ferman, allegedly shooting him in their bedroom, and allowed the body to decompose several days before moving it to the basement. "She had been living since May 1 - the day she indicated she killed him - with the body down in the basement and with the smell that had been brewing, and their 20-month-old child," Ferman said. According to court documents released to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Austin purchased a handgun because she claimed Monroe had beaten her April 25 so severely that she was afraid he would kill her. On May 1, she allegedly walked into their bedroom and woke Monroe, brandishing a Ruger .357 GP100 pistol. "He just woke up in a bad mood," Austin told police, according to documents obtained by The Inquirer. "I was angry, and he would not listen to me. "For four years I was scared of him, and he still would not listen to me. "He had turned away. As he was rolling over, he started to close his eyes. That's why I shot him. He would not listen and not believe I was scared." Austin later sold the gun, but it was recovered at a gun shop in nearby Jeffersonville, authorities said. Norristown is about 25 miles north of Philadelphia. Although Monroe had not lived in Beckley in several years, he was remembered well by those who knew him. He played tailback on Woodrow's football team and later played at West Virginia Tech. Miller Hall, director of pupil services for the Raleigh County school system, attended high school with Monroe. "He had a good personality. He got along with everybody. He always had a smile on his face," Hall said. "He was a good guy - a top-notch person."