— Michael Scruggs was fishing the Piankatank River off a boat landing in May 2002 when he pulled something heavy from the water.

It was a knit hat. Inside were four hairs and a pistol.

Authorities said Thursday it was Scruggs' discovery that, more than six years later, led them in September to accuse two people of fatally shooting Lloyd Edward Busch outside his Gloucester Point home in January 2002.

Scruggs was among several people, including a jailhouse informer, to testify at a preliminary hearing Thursday for Ralph E. Frost, 48, formerly of Gloucester.

The Gloucester Sheriff's Office charged Frost and Anita L. Howard, 46, who is serving time in a West Virginia prison for cocaine trafficking, with first degree murder, conspiracy to commit a felony, use of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Frost also was charged with receiving a stolen firearm.

District Court Judge R. Bruce Long ruled Thursday there was sufficient evidence to send the case against Frost to trial.

Howard, who had been previously indicted, also will stand trial, Gloucester Commonwealth Attorney Robert D. Hicks said.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Brian W. Decker said investigators matched the bullet casing found at the murder scene to the gun that Scruggs caught.

The gun's last registered owner died an unsuspicious death before investigators could question him, Hicks said. They learned from acquaintances, however, that the owner suspected Howard had stolen it, Hicks said.

The lack of solid evidence, coupled with the hairs being untraceable using DNA analysis, prevented police from filing charges, he said.

"That was pretty much it for a while," Hicks said.

Fast forward to earlier this year when Sheriff's Office investigator Jamie Sharp obtained a hair sample from Frost, who was then living in Richmond.

Using DNA testing that wasn't available five years ago, scientists traced the hairs to Frost's maternal family. As a result, Frost "can't be excluded" as the source of the hairs, Decker said.

Warren Pope, who is serving a 30-month sentence for obtaining money by false pretenses, testified that he met Frost this fall in Gloucester County jail.

Pope said that Frost admitted to shooting Busch after the pair argued over money. He mentioned more than once, but did not name, a "girl" that was with Frost at the time of the alleged shooting.

Pope, who has been convicted of 15 felonies, said that Frost said he met the girl in Portsmouth, where Howard lived for a time. Pope also said that Frost said he received the gun from the girl.

Long ordered Frost to remain in county jail without bail and empowered a grand jury on Jan. 5 to set an opening date for the trial.

Commonwealth attorneys are still working on extraditing Howard from West Virginia.