'Wedgie' led to death near sports bar, lawyers say

[Champ]

Michael Keith Williams is claiming self-defense in the 2003 killing of Jonathan Freel.

By Tad Dickens

What started with a "wedgie" inside a Southwest Roanoke sports bar ended with a disembowelment and fatal neck wound in a dark field beyond.

Jonathan Freel, 35, among a group of men horsing around at the All Sports Cafe on Grandin Road, died in the early April 5, 2003, stabbing. Michael Keith Williams, offended when Freel wedgied a friend of his, was charged with murder.

Williams' trial, set for three days, began Monday in Roanoke Circuit Court. Williams is claiming self-defense.

As lawyers in the case explained what they believed the evidence would show, the jury learned about a word not often heard inside a courtroom.

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