By STEVE SZKOTAK and LARRY O’DELL
In this photo in Richmond, Va. on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009, Gus Deeds, left, attends an election results event with his father, Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Virginia State Sen. Creigh Deeds, after his loss in the Virginia governor’s race against Republican Bob McDonnell. Virginia State Police confirmed Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013, that Creigh Deeds was stabbed multiple times and his son Gus, 24, was shot and killed at Deeds’ Home in Bath County, Va., during a Tuesday morning assault. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Creigh Deeds, Gus Deeds
In a Sept. 25, 2009 photo, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds spends time with his son Gus, left, on the road to Halifax, Va., between campaign events. Virginia State Police confirmed Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013, that Creigh Deeds was stabbed multiple times and his son Gus, 24, was shot and killed at Deeds’ Home in Bath County, Va., during a Tuesday morning assault. (AP Photo/The Virginian-Pilot, Hyunsoo Leo Kim)
Creigh Deeds
FILE – This Feb. 1, 2010 file photo shows Virginia State Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, gestures during debate on a health care bill during the Senate session at the Capitol in Richmond, Va. Virginia State Police confirmed that Virginia State Senator Creigh Deeds was stabbed multiple times and his son was killed at Deeds’ Home in Bath County, Va., during a Tuesday morning assault. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
Creigh Deeds, Gus Deeds
FILE – In a Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009 file photom Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Virginia State Sen. Creigh Deeds makes a speech to supporters after losing the Virginia governor’s race to Republican Bob McDonnell, in Richmond, Va. At far left is Deed’s son, Gus Deeds. Virginia State Police confirmed Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013 that Creigh Deeds was stabbed multiple times and his son Gus, 24, was shot and killed at Deeds’ Home in Bath County, Va., during a Tuesday morning assault. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
Corinne Geller
Virginia State Police spokeswoman, Corinne Geller, right, briefs the press during a news conference in Charlottesville, Va., Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013. Geller confirmed that Virginia State Senator Creigh Deeds was stabbed multiple times and his son was killed at Deeds’ home in Bath County, Va., during a Tuesday morning assault. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Corinne Geller
Virginia State Police spokeswoman, Corinne Geller, center at podium, briefs the press during a news conference in Charlottesville, Va., Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013. Geller confirmed that Virginia State Senator Creigh Deeds was stabbed multiple times and his son was killed at Deeds’ home in Bath County, Va., during a Tuesday morning assault. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Senator Assault
Virginia State police investigators and local police at the home of Virginia State Sen. Creigh Deeds in Millboro, Va., Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013. The son of Deeds stabbed his father in the head and chest before apparently killing himself with a gun, according to initial reports from police. (AP Photo/Don Petersen)
Senator Assault
Virginia State police investigators surround the home of Virginia State Sen. Creigh Deeds in Millboro, Va., Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013. The son of Deeds stabbed his father in the head and chest before apparently killing himself with a gun, according to initial reports from police. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Senator Assault
Virginia State police investigators surround the home of Virginia State Sen. Creigh Deeds in Millboro, Va., Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013. The son of Deeds stabbed his father in the head and chest before apparently killing himself with a gun, according to initial reports from police. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
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MILLBORO, Va. (AP) — Virginia state Sen. Creigh Deeds was in good condition at a hospital Wednesday, a day after the one-time Democratic gubernatorial nominee was apparently stabbed by his son.
Deeds was stabbed in the head and chest at his home in rural western Virginia and police were trying to figure out what led up to the altercation with his son, who died at the home from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
By most accounts, Deeds’ relationship with his 24-year-old son, Gus, was a seemingly close one. Gus Deeds left college to help his father’s 2009 campaign for governor, and the elder Deeds had made “herculean efforts” to help his son over the years, one of the senator’s colleagues said.
Creigh (pronounced kree) Deeds, a socially conservative Democrat, rose to be gubernatorial nominee in 2009 despite his reserved demeanor and humble farmland roots. He and his son were the only ones at his house on a farm in Millboro when the stabbing took place.
Police recovered a gun at the home, but have not provided details about it. They also have not said what the senator was stabbed with.
State Police spokeswoman Corrine Geller said police have been able to talk with the senator, but she would not reveal what he has said.
Deeds made his first bid for statewide office in 2005 when he ran for attorney general and lost to Republican Bob McDonnell by less than 400 votes. Four years later, he defeated Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran in the Democratic primary, then squared off with McDonnell again in the general election. This time he lost badly.
During that race, Deeds’ style was somewhat unorthodox. He would listen intently to people and their worries, but rarely did he engage in lengthy conversations on the campaign trail, seemingly almost reluctant to impose on people’s time. He said then he didn’t think Virginia voters could be won by style points, drawing a contrast to McDonnell.
Gus Deeds is one of the senator’s four adult children. He studied music at the College of William and Mary, where he had been enrolled off and on since 2007, but withdrew last month, school spokesman Brian Whitson said. The college said he had a strong academic record. It did not say why he left.
During Deeds’ bid for governor, his son took off a semester to join his dad on the campaign trail.
“He needs me and I need him,” Deeds told a reporter in the fall of 2009, about campaigning with Gus.
“I’ve got to go through this campaign process but that doesn’t mean I’ve got to be completely separated from my family the whole time,” he said.
Del. David Toscano, D-Charlottesville, whose district overlaps with Deeds’, said in a statement: “Sen. Deeds was very close to his son, Gus, and has taken herculean efforts to help him over the years. Our thoughts and prayers are with Creigh and the family at this difficult time.”
At the Millboro Mercantile and Grocery Store, several miles from the Deeds home in remote, mountainous Bath County, a neighbor said he had a high regard for father and son.
“A fine neighbor. You couldn’t ask for a better neighbor,” said Joe Wood, 64, who said he had known Creigh Deeds since the late 1970s. “If something happened, he was right there.”
Wood mentioned Gus’ campaigning with his father during his unsuccessful run for governor, and he said the younger Deeds and his sisters came to his house often through the years.
Wood said while he had heard Gus had struggled with mental health issues, he couldn’t fathom what would have caused the violent encounter.
“They thought the world of each other,” Wood said. “That’s what’s surprising about this whole deal.”
Deeds and his ex-wife, Pam, divorced shortly after the 2009 campaign. Deeds remarried last year.
Deeds spent most of his childhood in Bath County, where his family settled in the 1740s. The rural county is known for the luxury Homestead resort, but Deeds grew up on the other side of the mountain.
“I didn’t grow up on the end of the county where you learn to ski and play golf as a child,” he said. Deeds lived on a farm after his parents divorced when he was about 7.
Deeds, a former Bath County prosecutor, was elected to the House of Delegates in 1991 and to the state Senate in 2001.
