Virginia man faces life in prison after conviction for three murders over 11 years
By John Clarke
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former Virginia political candidate was convicted on Monday of three murders over an 11-year span that fed fears of a serial killer in the U.S. capital area, and the jury recommended he serve three life terms in prison.
Charles Severance, 55, was found guilty by a Fairfax County Circuit Court jury after testimony from more than 100 witnesses and sentenced to the life terms, plus 48 years and $400,000 in fines, prosecutor Bryan Porter told a televised news conference.
Severance is scheduled to be formally sentenced by the judge on Jan. 22.
"Violence does not win in the end. Love wins," Porter said.
Severance had been charged with the 2003 killing of Alexandria, Virginia, real estate agent Nancy Dunning, the 2013 shooting of regional transportation planner Ronald Kirby and the 2014 slaying of music teacher Ruthanne Lodato.
Prosecutors said Severance shot his victims as revenge against what he perceived as the ruling class in Alexandria, a largely affluent Washington suburb, after losing a child custody case.
Severance was found guilty of murder, wounding and firearms violations.
The killings occurred at the victims' homes in an upscale Alexandria neighborhood.
"Introduce murder into a safe and secure neighborhood,” Severance said in writings used as evidence during the trial. "Do it again. And again. And again."
Severance lived in Alexandria in the 1990s and the early 2000s and ran for mayor and Congress. He sometimes wore a tricorn hat, was known for ranting in public and once threw a punch at the organizer of a mayoral debate.
(Reporting by John Clarke; Editing by Ian Simpson and Peter Cooney)
