Charles Stanard Severance, born Sept.

25, 1960, was raised in the leafy suburban Oakton

neighborhood of Fairfax County. He was a normal kid from a normal family. He went to
Robinson Secondary School, and enrolled as an undergraduate at George Mason University
in 1982 and ultimately at the University of Virginia as a physics student and made the Dean’s
List. He then took a series of engineering jobs, eventually landing a gig at a local wastewater
authority. When he was in his 20s, he briefly joined a cult. His mother later testified that he
started giving all the little money he had to the “church.” Eventually, he bought a townhouse
in Alexandria on Gunston Road that he dubbed “Gunston Manor.”

The appellant's family began to notice that he was acting erratically in 1988, but he never
received significant mental health treatment. On the website he claims that mental health
tests, which he refuses to take, are conducted by, 'secular (demon possessed) humanist-
priests, democracy government regulated mad-doctors, agents of psychiatry, and other weak
hypocrites.'

Appellant began a relationship with Tamela Nichols in 1998. They met at a square dance in
Northern Virginia in July 1998, and by the time their son was born in April 1999, she had
moved into his house in Parkfairfax. She thought she could ride out his tempestuous nature,
but his emotional abuse and erratic behavior was too much. She left in early 2000, prompting
an epic custody battle.

His grudge with Alexandria started with a court case, a bitter custody dispute between
Severance and the estranged mother of their child.

A number of contentious custody and visitation hearings in the Alexandria Juvenile and
Domestic Relations District Court ensued. Ultimately, Nichols was granted sole legal and
physical custody and no visitation was awarded to appellant. The custody orders were served
on appellant and were signed by various deputies “for Sheriff Dunning.” Following the
proceedings, Nichols received threatening letters from appellant.

Severance acted as his own attorney, filing a series of briefs that were a cross between
therapeutic rage journaling and amateur legal trolling. The court record is clogged with
hundreds of sarcastic and derisive legal pleadings, a paper trail that played out against the
backdrop of a series of court hearings where Severance verbally attacked the boy’s mother.
His behavior was so alarming that the presiding judge in the case asked Sheriff Jim Dunning
to provide extra deputies as courtroom security.

In March 2001, the judge in the custody case granted Severance’s estranged girlfriend full
custody of the boy, determining it was in the “best interest of the child.” Severance was given
one last opportunity to say goodbye, but the judge had become increasingly concerned about
the father’s mental state during the long and twisted custody dispute. So he required the final
goodbye take place in the courtroom in the presence of uniformed sheriff’s deputies. This
was the last time Severance ever saw the boy, and the fact that he was not allowed to touch
his son during the meeting became the source of a great deal of anger and resentment.
Witnesses testified that for years after the custody proceedings, appellant became upset and
irrational when the subject arose. He would quickly become argumentative and denounce the
police and the “enforcement class.” Appellant was illogical when discussing the issue; he
used repetitive phrases such as “tomahawking the homestead.” Appellant's family was
concerned about his mental health, but appellant was distrustful of the mental health system.
He became irate when he learned that his parents had attended meetings of an organization
that assisted parents with children suffering from mental health disorders. Appellant ran for
mayor of Alexandria in 1996, and his platform included a condemnation of mental health
institutions.

In the midst of all this courtroom drama, Severance decided to run for mayor. It was not his
first foray into politics. He had already run against Alexandria Mayor Kerry Donley in a
special election in 1997 and then against Congressman Jim Moran later that year. During one
forum in 1997, he grabbed an American flag off the stage, pointed the speared end at his
opponent, then the audience, and then ran out the door. His 2000 campaign for mayor was
even more unhinged, and Donley recalls that he turned every question around to a diatribe
abasing the dangers of psychotropic drugs. During a Federation of Civic Associations forum,
Severance punched a debate organizer.

The Defendant lived in Alexandria in the late 1990's through the early 2000's. He lived in
Park Fairfax, within one-half mile of Ms. Lodato's house and in the same general
neighborhood as all three murders. The Defendant was well-known in political circles, which
he would later call part of the 'nefarious Utopian elites."He ran for Mayor of Alexandria
twice, the first time in 1996, and again in 2000. Severance was an independent candidate.
Also in 1996, he ran as an independent for the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia
8th district. According to his own website, he finished second in the 1996 mayoral race with
10% of the gun-owners vote. A Washington Post report from 1996, says that during a
political forum, Severance picked up the American flag and ran out the front door with it.

Witnesses testified that for years after the custody proceedings, appellant became upset and
irrational when the subject arose. He would quickly become argumentative and denounce the
police and the “enforcement class.” Appellant was illogical when discussing the issue; he
used repetitive phrases such as “tomahawking the homestead.”2 Appellant's family was
concerned about his mental health, but appellant was distrustful of the mental health system.
He became irate when he learned that his parents had attended meetings of an organization
that assisted parents with children suffering from mental health disorders. Appellant ran for
mayor of Alexandria in 1996, and his platform included a condemnation of mental health
institutions.

A man who becomes victim of Child Protective Services, or Family Court, or other
government kidnapping agencies, is at liberty until he is effectively fatigued from finding no
satisfaction." "Suffering father's scheme is rife with murder and grief, exempt from all
measures of the enforcement class. Murder on my mind and my mind on murder.
In April 2003, eight months before the murder of Ms. Dunning, the Defendant purchased
a .22 caliber North American Arms five-shot minirevolver. That firearm is capable of
firing .22 caliber Remington Cyclone or Subsonic ammunition.

Nancy Dunning was a well-known real estate agent who lived in Alexandria. She was
married to James Dunning, the sheriff of Alexandria who had held that position since 1985.
Mrs. Dunning made plans to meet her husband and son for lunch on December 5, and they
became concerned when she did not arrive. She had told her son that she was going to stop at
Target before meeting them. Her son drove to the Dunning residence and noticed that the
garage door was open and his mother's car, which displayed a sheriff's license plate, was in
the garage. He went inside the residence, saw the bags from Target in the family room, and
found his mother lying in the front hallway, unresponsive, with blood on her face. The front
door was closed but unlocked, and nothing was out of place or missing from the residence.
Crime scene investigators found no evidence of forced entry. A small caliber bullet was
discovered in a pool of blood near the victim and a blood smear was located on the front
door.

surveillance footage that depicted a man who appeared to be following Dunning at the Target
store where she shopped before her death.
Dr. Carolyn Revercomb, a medical examiner, performed the autopsy on Dunning. She found
three gunshot wounds, and a fourth abrasion on the victim's chest that she characterized as a
“bullet slap wound.” Dr. Revercomb opined that the “bullet slap wound” could have resulted
from a gunshot through the victim's arm that did not penetrate her chest. She noted that the
bullet found at the scene may have caused that injury. Dr. Revercomb testified that the gun
barrel was “quite close” to the victim when she was shot.

Virginia State Trooper John Foster Murphy testified that he stopped appellant for a traffic
violation on February 25, 2004. Due to appellant's “odd” demeanor and what appeared to be
partially concealed weapons, Trooper Murphy searched the vehicle and recovered three
handguns, including a North American Arms .22 caliber revolver. Trooper Murphy testified
that the gun was “a very unique weapon that [he had] never come across personally.” Based
on appellant's prior conviction for possession of a concealed weapon, the trooper charged him
with felony possession of a concealed weapon. Appellant was convicted of that charge, and
the gun was destroyed.

“Alexandria Sheriff’s Wife Slain at Home,” blared the headline in The Washington Post the
next morning. “No Motive or Suspect in the Realty Agent’s Death.”

The motivation seems pretty clear-cut, but, almost immediately, suspicion began swirling
around her husband, Sherriff Jim Dunning. Did he have some kind of motive to kill his wife?
As Porter points out in the book, taking a hard look at the spouse is standard operating
procedure in any murder case. But Sherriff Dunning had a rock-solid alibi for the time of the
murder because he was with his son, and the two were waiting for Nancy to join them for
lunch. When she failed to appear, they drove to their house and discovered the body.
Nevertheless, rumors began to circulate through the Del Ray community that he may have
played some part in the murder.
Sheriff Dunning was never ruled out as a suspect in his wife's murder, but died in 2012.

In February 2004, two months after the Dunning murder, that gun was seized from the
Defendant during a traffic stop in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The Defendant was convicted of a
felony and thereafter was prohibited from possessing or purchasing firearms. The gun seized
in Harrisonburg was later destroyed by court order.

After his conviction in Harrisonburg, the Defendant spent several years traveling throughout
the United States.

One of the most surprising mysteries about the Nancy Dunning murder was that it was a
mystery for so long—more than a decade. Jim Dunning moved to South Carolina and died.
Meanwhile, Severance got in his Ford Escort and drove across the country, visiting historical
sites along the way, including some associated with the French and Indian War. Life moved
on, suspicions lingered and Severance sent hundreds of postcards to his parents from across
the Ohio Valley.

He returned to Virginia and met a woman with whom he lived in Ashburn. At the Defendant's
urging, his girlfriend purchased two North American Arms five-shot mini revolvers, one in
May 2012, and the other in August 2012.

The Defendant accompanied his girlfriend to a local gun shop in order to purchase
ammunition for the guns. She purchased .22 caliber ammunition. "She doesn't remember the
manufacturer's name, but she remembers it came in a green and white box, which is the
design of Remington ammunition." She recalls that the Defendant emphatically wanted "low
velocity ammunition only."

Murder of Ronald Kirby: November 11, 2013

Severance’s second murder didn’t happen until a decade after the first, a lapse of time that
would later prove problematic for prosecutors hoping to tie the three murders together. The
victim this time was Ron Kirby, director of transportation for the Metropolitan Washington
Council of Governments. Like the Nancy Dunning murder, Kirby was killed in the middle of
the day on Nov. 11, 2013 when he answered a knock at the door. Also like the Nancy
Dunning murder, the murder weapon was a 0.22LR North American Arms five-shot mini-
revolver with Remington subsonic ammunition.

Ronald Kirby, the Director of Transportation Planning for suburban Maryland, the District of
Columbia, and Virginia, lived with his wife in Alexandria, Virginia. He was at home on
November 11 waiting for a plumber to arrive. Daniel Petrillo, the plumber, testified that he
spoke to Kirby by telephone at 11:32 a.m. and advised him that he was on his way to Kirby's
residence. When Petrillo arrived at 11:42 a.m., no one answered the door. He unsuccessfully
attempted to reach Kirby by telephone and left shortly after noon.
Petrillo testified that on his way to the Kirby residence he noticed a construction crew
working on curbs and concrete. The crew was composed of Hispanic men, but Petrillo
noticed one white man who “stuck out” walking down the street. The man was wearing a
faded flannel shirt, and resembled the appellant.

Kirby's son testified that he went to his father's residence that day and found the front door
closed but unlocked. He called 911 when he discovered his father lying on his back near the
door. Emergency personnel arrived at approximately 12:30 p.m. and found gunshot wounds
to Kirby's chest. Bullets and bullet fragments were recovered from the scene. The crime scene
investigator testified that there were no signs of forced entry, nothing was disturbed at the
scene, and Kirby's wallet, watch, and wedding ring, which were on his body, were not taken.

Dr. Jocelyn Posthumus, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy, testified that
Kirby died as a result of gunshot wounds to his chest. She recovered three bullets from his
body, two from his chest and one from his left hip. Dr. Posthumus also identified two gunshot
wounds to Kirby's right hand. Because two other bullets were found at the scene, Dr.
Posthumus opined that five bullets had been fired, from a distance of more than two or three
feet. She testified that she has performed more than three hundred autopsies of shooting
victims but this is the only case in which a .22 caliber long-rifle round was used in the
shooting.

Murder of Ruthanne Lodato and Malicious Wounding of Janet Franko

But the third murder was unlike the other murders in a more important way: There was an
eyewitness—a caretaker who happened to be in the home tending to Lodato’s mother. Dorcas
Franko, Lodato’s caretaker, was also shot—making her Severance’s fourth victim—but lived
to tell her story. Born June 20, 1954, Ruthanne Giammittorio Ludato attended St. Rita's
Catholic School and St. Mary's Academy before studying music at Catholic University. She
was a longtime parishioner at Blessed Sacrament Church, where she played the piano and
organ and taught at the adjacent Blessed Sacrament School and Early Childhood Center.
Lodato had played the organ at Blessed Sacrament, where she was a parishioner. She was
director of Music Together Alexandria, which often held classes at Del Ray United
Methodist.

Ruthanne Lodato, the sister of an Alexandria General District Court judge and the daughter
of an Alexandria Circuit Court judge, lived with her husband and mother in Alexandria. Janet
Franko worked at the residence as a caretaker for Lodato's mother. At 11:30 a.m. on February
6, 2014, Franko heard the doorbell ring and “a boom” followed by a scream. Franko testified
that she ran to the door and encountered a bearded white man, who was fifty to sixty years of
age. She saw the man holding something round from his sleeve, heard another “boom,” and
felt a hard pain as she was shot in the arm. Franko ran out of the back door and told a
neighbor to call 911.

Franko was taken to the emergency room and the following day, she helped a police officer
prepare a sketch of the man who shot her. She subsequently identified appellant from a photo
array as “look[ing] like” her assailant, except for the amount of hair on his face. At trial, she
testified that she was certain appellant was the man who shot her.
Officer Jonattan Lopez, who responded to the scene, testified that he found Lodato lying on
the floor. She told the officer that she didn't know the person who shot her, but he was an
older white male with a gray beard. Crime scene investigation revealed no signs of forced
entry and nothing stolen from the house. Two intact bullets were recovered from the scene.

Dr. Nikki Mourtzinos, a medical examiner, testified that she performed the autopsy on
Lodato, who died as a result of the gunshot wounds. Mourtzinos stated that one entrance
wound was “quite small,” which indicated that it was made by a small caliber weapon,
typically a .22 caliber. She testified that she had performed a “few hundred” autopsies and
only a “handful of cases” involved .22 caliber weapons.

Marlene Wahowiak, a neighbor of the Lodatos, contacted the police the day after the
shooting. She told them that during the weeks preceding the murder, she had seen a man in
the area on multiple occasions with a “full gray beard [and] messy hair” who “looked out of
place,” because he wasn't dressed appropriately for the weather. When the police released the
composite sketch made from Franko's description, Wahowiak immediately advised them that
the sketch depicted the man she had seen in the neighborhood.

Also unlike the other murders, this one happened in a neighborhood where a private security
camera got footage of Severance’s 1999 Ford Escort driving away from the scene of the
crime.

The eyewitness helped a police sketch artist put together a composite sketch that was a dead
ringer for how Severance looked at the time, and it didn’t take long for investigators to track
down Severance, who was living with a girlfriend out in Loudoun County. Severance’s first
instinct was to put on a tricorn hat and head to the Russian Embassy to seek diplomatic
refuge.

Susana Marquez testified that she was driving in Alexandria a few blocks from the Lodato
residence on February 6, 2014, when she noticed an approaching car that was driving very
quickly and ignored a stop sign. She stated that the car was “red/orange” and identified
appellant as the driver. At the time of the murder, appellant drove a 1999 red Ford Escort
station wagon with a bumper sticker that said “Assassination City Derby.” When shown a
picture of appellant's car, Marquez identified it as the one she observed on February 6.

Additionally, residents of a home on West Braddock Road, less than half a mile from the
Lodato home, had surveillance cameras which showed appellant's car being driven at 11:29
a.m. on February 6, 2014.

Investigation Continues in Homicide Cases The Alexandria Police Department continues to

actively investigate the Ruthanne Lodato, Ron Kirby, and Nancy Dunning homicide cases.
There have been no arrests or charges made relating to any of these crimes. Recent news
reports have linked Charles Severance to these investigations. Mr. Severance's name was
brought to the attention of the Alexandria Police Department during the routine analysis of
crime tips. Further investigation by multiple law enforcement agencies determined that Mr.
Severance is a convicted felon in unlawful possession of firearms. He was located by law
enforcement officials in West Virginia, where he was arrested on a Loudoun County warrant
for the weapons violation. The Alexandria Police Department has not charged Mr. Severance
with any crime at this time. Detectives continue to follow up on the crime tip information;
however, it is premature to name him as the only possible suspect in these investigations.
At a press conference on March 6, 2014, the Alexandria police chief announced that ballistics
testing demonstrated “a definitive link” between the Dunning, Kirby, and Lodato homicides.
He also advised that a small caliber handgun was used in each of the killings. That same day,
an Alexandria police department investigator attempted to contact appellant. He spoke to
appellant's girlfriend, Linda Robra, and asked her to have appellant contact him.

after the Defendant learned that the police wanted to speak to him, he left his girlfriend's
house. She discovered that the two .22 caliber North American Arms five-shot mini revolvers
were gone from her house, although two other, larger caliber guns that she owned before
meeting the Defendant remained.

Search warrants were executed for the Defendant's parents' house in Fairfax County, where
the Defendant sometimes stayed. A box of ,22 caliber Subsonic low-velocity ammunition
"perfectly matching the firearms evidence" was recovered in the area where the Defendant
kept his belongings. The 50-round box contained 40 rounds of unfired ammunition,
suggesting that ten rounds were missing. The Defendants' parents stated that it was not their
ammunition. A search warrant was executed at the Defendant's girlfriend's house in Ashburn.
Two spent cartridge cases of Remington .22 caliber ammunition were recovered. The
girlfriend said she had never fired the guns and had no idea how these cartridge cases ended
up in her house.

On March 7, appellant went to the Russian Embassy, where he said that he was seeking
asylum. He told Secret Service agents who approached him that “he had been persecuted by
the City of Alexandria for the last dozen years” and the police “were trying to get revenge on
him for running for mayor.” The Secret Service agents escorted appellant to his car,
photographed the vehicle, and gave the photographs to Alexandria detectives. The detectives
recognized appellant's car as the same vehicle that appeared in the surveillance video driving
on West Braddock Road following the Lodato murder.

Severance returned to Robra's residence and told her that instead of contacting the police, he
was going camping. At that point, she told him to “pack all of his things and not come back.”
Appellant left on March 10, 2014. The police executed a search warrant on Robra's residence
on March 12, 2014. Appellant had lived with Robra since 2011. Appellant often spoke to her
about being treated unfairly by the Alexandria court system during his custody case and
mentioned killing judges, police officers, and their families.

Robra testified that appellant suggested she buy two .22 caliber North American Arms
revolvers in 2012. He told her that he couldn't possess guns because of a prior felony
conviction, but he had owned a .22 caliber North American Arms revolver in the past. At
appellant's direction, Robra also bought Remington .22 low velocity, subsonic ammunition.
She realized that the weapons and ammunition were missing after appellant left her residence
on March 10. When the search warrant was executed, police found two Remington .22
caliber shell cases on the garage floor, but Robra did not know how they got there. She
testified that she never fired the revolvers.

During a search of appellant's parents' home, police recovered a box of Remington .22 long-
rifle plain lead hollow point subsonic ammunition in an area of the home where appellant
stored his possessions. Forty rounds of ammunition were found in the fifty-round capacity
box. The parties stipulated that appellant's parents had not purchased the ammunition and
were unaware of its presence in their home.

Severance was eventually arrested March 13, 2014 on an unrelated charge, being in
possession of a gun, despite the fact that he was already a convicted felon from an unrelated
incident that happened during the 10-year hiatus. That was an incident that happened in
Rockingham County, where Virginia State Police caught him with three concealed guns and
no license. That gave investigators an opportunity to bring charges related to the firearm
while they held him in custody and decided what to do next.

A manhunt was then on to find Severance. On March 13, an FBI agent reported that
Severance had used a credit card in Wheeling, W.Va. Police arrested Severance at a library
there and he was returned to Loudoun County.

Appellant was arrested on March 13, 2014, in Wheeling, West Virginia. At the time of his
arrest, appellant's vehicle contained a gun cleaning kit, his passport, various items of clothing,
two bags of latex gloves, and approximately $1700 in cash.

"The firearms evidence shows a killer who used three different, but extremely similar
firearms, with eight lands and grooves and a right twist and was partial to .22 caliber
Remington ammunition, either Cyclone or Subsonic, low velocity. The evidence shows that
the Defendant possessed three different, but extremely similar firearms, with eight lands and
grooves and a right twist and was partial to .22 caliber Remington Subsonic ammunition." In
the Commonwealth's view, "[t]he fact that [the Defendant] possessed these guns and was
[fixated] on the appropriate ammunition at the appropriate times is evidence that he
committed all three murders." The Defendant is also tied to the firearm evidence by his
writings found in his automobile at the time of his arrest and recovered from his girlfriend's
house. "In his own handwriting and on an internet printout of the gun, the Defendant lists the
gun, a gun cleaning kit, and specifically writes xone box of .22 caliber low velocity subsonic
ammunition.' On another piece of paper, after writing the serial number of one of the guns, he
writes "NAA .22 caliber long rifle mini revolver, hammer interferes with the left side, frame
track does not clear both sides of track.' In other words, in his own handwriting, the
Defendant is describing the mechanical issue he had discovered on the gun while firing it."

At the hearing, 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.”

Severance said nothing to address the crimes of which he was convicted, although he spoke at
length on other matters. Immediately after sheriff’s deputies brought him into the courtroom
in 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,

Bellows rejected Severance’s requests, although he did agree to appoint lawyer James
Hundley to represent Severance on appeal, noting that his current attorneys had asked to be
removed because of a communication breakdown between them and their client. 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 each victim and Severance’s parents were in court for the hearing.
Notably, so was former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell, who graduated from high
school with Lodato’s husband

Without a murder weapon, confession or physical evidence connecting the defendant to any
of the three murder scenes the prosecution's case was relatively weak. A forensic ballistics
expert tied the Lodato murder, the one with the eyewitness, to the Kirby and Dunning
killings.

     Following the three-week trial, the jury, after deliberating fifteen hours, found Charles
Severance guilty of all three murders. The judge sentenced him to three life sentences.

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 religion.”

“It is lawful to wear weapons,” he concluded. Then he went silent.

Unmoved, a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge imposed a punishment of three life terms
plus 48 years. In 2016, a Fairfax County jury agreed with Porter that Severance was guilty of
killing three people over a 13-year span. The result was not a surprise: Jurors had
recommended the sentence last year after finding Severance guilty of murder in three
slayings in Alexandria over the course of nearly a decade.