Lawyer for Severance Tries To Get Murder Conviction Thrown Out: Report

ALEXANDRIA, VA — An attorney for Charles Severance, the man convicted in 2015 of murdering three Alexandria residents in their homes, went to court Wednesday to get his conviction thrown out, according to media reports.

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Severance did not attend the hearing, according to WJLA-TV Channel 7. A jury in 2015 found him guilty of killing Nancy Dunning, wife of then-Sheriff James Dunning, as well as transportation planner Ron Kirby and music teacher Ruthanne Lodato.

The hearing took place in Richmond before a three-judge panel of the Virginia Court of Appeals, radio station WTOP reported Wednesday.

Severance has a history of mental illness, and prosecutors said he carried out the killings to avenge the loss of a child custody case in Alexandria.

In January 2016, the 55-year-old Severance was sentenced to three life terms plus 48 years in prison by a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge, according to the Washington Post.

At the hearing Wednesday, Severance's attorney argued that Severance was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the three shootings, Channel 7 reported. He said the murder of Dunning, which happened in 2003, should not have been tried with the murders of Kirby and Lodato, which happened in 2013 and 2014.

In addition, nothing connects Severance to the firearm used in the killings, which was never found, he said.

An attorney for the prosecution argued that Severance was obsessed with the rare type of firearm used in the shootings, a .22-caliber revolver, "and that the similar circumstances of each of the killings make it clear he is guilty," Channel 7 said.

The Virginia Court of Appeals will weigh the arguments from both lawyers and make a decision on the case in one to three months, Channel 7 reported.

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