This article is from the source 'washpo' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/alexandria-serial-killer-set-to-be-formally-sentenced/2016/01/20/0ba176c6-bfb0-11e5-bcda-62a36b394160_story.html

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Virginia serial killer Charles Severance sentenced to life in prison Virginia serial killer Charles Severance sentenced to life in prison
(about 3 hours later)
Convicted serial killer Charles Severance again sparred with a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge at his formal sentencing Thursday, trying unsuccessfully to have the hearing postponed and his attorneys dismissed immediately. He was ultimately sentenced to life in prison. Given a last opportunity to speak before he was sentenced to life in prison, convicted serial killer Charles Severance rambled. He cited the “Book of Common Prayer,” “Henry VIII,” “Elizabeth,” and “the 37th article of a religion.”
From the moment he was wheeled into the courtroom, Severance, who was found guilty late last year of three, terrifying murders in Alexandria over the course of nearly a decade, made clear he intended to speak his mind. “It is lawful to wear weapons,” he concluded. Then he went silent.
Leaning forward into the microphone, he said “sadism, sadism,” then tried to have his attorneys removed. Asked for a statement before the sentence was imposed, Severance rambled: “According to the Book of Common Prayer, the Church of England, 16th century, during the reign of The Tudors, Henry VIII, Elizabeth, the 37th article, religion, it is lawful to wear weapons.” He went silent. Unmoved, Judge Randy I. Bellows ultimately imposed a punishment of three life terms with another 48 years on top. The result was not a surprise: Jurors had recommended the penalty in November after convicting Severance of three terrifying murders in Alexandria over the course of nearly a decade. But the hearing Thursday was emotional nonetheless.
Choking back tears, Bellows talked at length about the victims’ family members and the horror they endured because of Severance’s crimes. A few cried and hugged as they looked on.
“He condemned each of these family members to bear witness to a nightmare,” Bellows said.
[Charles Severance is found guilty of murder][Charles Severance is found guilty of murder]
Earlier, Severance told the judge his attorneys had made “statements against my interests” and asked him to postpone the hearing because he was not informed of the weather-driven decision to move the proceedings from Friday to Thursday. Severance, 55, was convicted in November of murder in the February 2014 slaying of music teacher Ruthanne Lodato, the November 2013 shooting of regional transportation planner Ronald Kirby and the December 2003 killing of real estate agent Nancy Dunning. Prosecutors said bitterness over a child custody battle that he lost and a general hatred of Alexandria’s elite motivated him to shoot the victims — all apparently strangers to him — in daylight attacks at their homes.
Fairfax County Circuit Court judge Randy I. Bellows rejected Severance’s requests and ultimately imposed the life-in-prison sentence, three times over with 48 more years tacked on. Choking back tears, Bellows talked at length about the victims’ family members and they horror they endured because of Severance’s crimes. At the hearing Thursday, Alexandria Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter said Severance was driven by the same “anger and hatred and proclivity for violence” that fuels mass shootings. He contrasted the good that was done by the victims with that rage, noting that Severance would soon be transported to a maximum security prison and spend the rest of his life “wallowing in the anger and loathing that mark his time on earth.”
“He condemned each of these family members to bear witness to a nightmare,” Bellows said. A few victims’ family members cried and hugged one another.
The outcome was not a surprise: The jurors who convicted Severance recommended the penalty in November.
Severance, 55, was convicted of murder in the February 2014 slaying of music teacher Ruthanne Lodato, the November 2013 shooting of regional transportation planner Ronald Kirby and the December 2003 killing of real estate agent Nancy Dunning. Prosecutors said bitterness over a child custody battle that he lost and a general hatred of Alexandria’s elite motivated him to shoot the victims — all apparently strangers to him — in daylight attacks at their homes.
[What Charles Severance wrote to a Washington Post reporter]
Alexandria Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter urged the judge to reject Severance’s purported mental health issues as a reason to possibly reduce his sentence, saying the same “anger and hatred and proclivity for violence” that fueled his crimes also spurs mass shootings.
He contrasted the good that was done by the victims with Severance’s rage, noting that Severance would, after the hearing, be transported to a maximum security prison and spend the rest of his life “wallowing in the anger and loathing that mark his time on earth.”
“Violence does not win,” Porter said. “In the end, flying in the face of the senseless violence [and] despair that has been exhibited in this case, it is an incontrovertible fact that love wins.”“Violence does not win,” Porter said. “In the end, flying in the face of the senseless violence [and] despair that has been exhibited in this case, it is an incontrovertible fact that love wins.”
Defense attorney Christopher Leibig said the trial showed Severance had significant, undiagnosed mental health problems and was not truly evil. [What Charles Severance wrote to a Washington Post reporter]
Severance said nothing to address the crimes of which he was convicted, though he spoke at length on other matters. Immediately after sheriff’s deputies brought him into the courtroom on a wheelchair, Severance leaned into the microphone and said “sadism, sadism.” He tried to have his attorneys removed — even seeking “a protection order against them for my safety.”
“I don’t want to be represented by people who make statements against my interests,” he said. “It’s unusual punishment.”
Severance also complained that the sentencing had been moved from Friday to Thursday, which the judge said was done in anticipation of a weekend snow storm, and asked for it to be postponed.
Bellows rejected Severance’s requests, though did agree to appoint lawyer James Hundley to represent him on appeal, noting that his current attorneys had requested to be removed because communication between them and Severance had broken down. Defense attorney Christopher Leibig declined to comment after the hearing. He said during the sentencing that Severance had significant, undiagnosed mental health problems and was not truly evil.
Family members of every victim, along with Severance’s parents, were in court for the hearing. Notably, so, too, was former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell, who graduated high school with Lodato’s husband, and Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring. Two attorneys from his office assisted Porter and Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney David Lord in prosecuting the case.Family members of every victim, along with Severance’s parents, were in court for the hearing. Notably, so, too, was former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell, who graduated high school with Lodato’s husband, and Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring. Two attorneys from his office assisted Porter and Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney David Lord in prosecuting the case.
Bellows did agree to give Severance a different lawyer for his appeal, noting that his attorneys had requested to be removed because communication between them and Severance had broken down. He appointed James Hundley to take over Severance’s representation after the sentencing. John Kelly, who has been in touch with the victims’ families and has been serving as a sort-of spokesperson for the Lodatos, said: “I think the families want to move on, as they always have.” Herring praised the prosecutors for doing “excellent work,” and said Severance’s crimes “shattered the sense of peace and security that folks here have.”
Severance’s outbursts Thursday were not completely unexpected. At the trial, jurors learned that Severance was a peculiar man who sometimes seemed to battle psychological demons and other times seemed to lead a normal life. The son of a two-star Navy admiral, Severance lived in various places in his youth and enjoyed traveling, history and gaming. He attended three colleges, ultimately graduating with a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Virginia, and was briefly married. In recent years, he would go over to his parents’ house weekly to watch the TV show “Survivor.” Last year, Severance’s trial was moved from Alexandria to Fairfax County over concerns about seating a fair jury.
But Severance acted unusually almost throughout his life, including through the legal proceedings, when he frequently sparred with judges in court. Family members said Severance was vigorously opposed to smoking, even confronting his parents’ guests about it when they came for dinner. When he campaigned for political office in Alexandria in 1996 and 2000, a part of his platform was to encourage “country dancing” in the school system. When he wrote to family members, the missives were often rambling and nonsensical. An expert testified he had a personality disorder with mixed paranoid and schizotypal features. Porter said Severance had “been held accountable and exposed for what he really is — a clever but cowardly murderer.” He also urged legislators to consider gun-control reform, including background checks for those who purchase weapons from gun shows, and said Severance’s case could have been prevented if someone close to him had reported his anger to authorities earlier, or if a girlfriend had not purchased a gun for him.
After his conviction, Severance wrote to a Washington Post reporter, taking aim The Post, D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier, and the parents and boyfriend of Alison Parker, the Roanoke reporter shot to death on live television in August. Severance’s behavior in court was not totally unexpected. At the trial, jurors learned that Severance was a peculiar man who sometimes seemed to battle psychological demons and other times seemed to lead a normal life. The son of a two-star Navy admiral, Severance lived in various places in his youth and enjoyed traveling, history and gaming. He attended three colleges, ultimately graduating with a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Virginia, and was briefly married. In recent years, he would go over to his parents’ house weekly to watch the TV show “Survivor.”
But Severance acted unusually almost throughout his life, including through the legal proceedings, when he frequently sparred with judges in court. Family members said Severance was vigorously opposed to smoking, even confronting his parents’ guests about it when they came for dinner. When he campaigned for political office in Alexandria in 1996 and 2000, a part of his platform was to encourage “country dancing” in the school system. When he wrote to family members, the missives were often rambling and nonsensical. He wrote a similar letter to a Washington Post reporter after his conviction. An expert testified he had a personality disorder with mixed paranoid and schizotypal features.