Crime & Safety

Jury Recommends Sentencing After Charles Severance Found Guilty in Alexandria Murders

Severance was accused of killing three Alexandria residents over more than a decade.

Charles Severance was found guilty by a jury Monday of three high-profile murders in Alexandria. The jury in the triple murder trial found Severance guilty, according to media reports, including NBC Washington.

“The reign of the Alexandria assassin is over,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter said.

Defense attorneys for Severance, 55, said their client was not evil, that his family tried to get him help for schizophrenia, but that he didn’t get the mental health care he needed.

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Severance, of Ashburn, and formerly an Alexandria resident, was accused in the murders of three Alexandrians over 11 years. He was found guilty in the deaths of real estate agent Nancy Dunning in 2003, transportation planner Ron Kirby in 2013 and music teacher Ruthanne Lodato last year.

The jury listened to those impacted by the murders before deliberating sentencing recommendations.

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The verdict from the jury Monday “will ensure there will once again be peace in our homes and in the city of Alexandria,” said Patty Moran. Dunning’s husband, James Dunning, sheriff of Alexandria at the time, had once been considered a suspect.

“Our relief today is mixed with anguish that our dad is not here standing beside us,” said daughter Elizabeth Dunning, “finally feeling the weight of cruel and unfair suspicion being lifted from his shoulders.”

Severance, of Ashburn, and formerly an Alexandria resident, was accused in the murders of three Alexandrians over 11 years. He was found guilty in the deaths of real estate agent Nancy Dunning in 2003, transportation planner Ron Kirby in 2013 and music teacher Ruthanne Lodato last year.

The jury returned guilty verdicts on all 10 counts including two capital murder convictions.

After deliberating for two hours, the jury recommended sentencing Severance, 55, to three life sentences in the murders, according to media reports. Formal sentencing is Jan. 22.

Families of the victims talked in court Monday about the impact the murders had on their lives.

Severance has been found guilty on all 10 counts:

  • Count 1: Capital Murder of Ruthanne Lodato
  • Count 2: Using a Firearm in the Murder of Ruthanne Lodato
  • Count 3: Malicious Wounding of Janet Franko
  • Count 4: Use of a Firearm in the Malicious Wounding of Janet Franko
  • Count 5: Capital Murder of Ronald Kirby
  • Count 6: Use of a Firearm in the Commission of the Murder of Ron Kirby
  • Count 7: First Degree Murder of Nancy Dunning
  • Count 8: Use of a Firearm in the Commission of the murder of Nancy Dunning
  • Count 9: Possession of a Firearm by a felon on Nov 11, 2013
  • Count 10: Possession of a Firearm by a felon on Feb 6, 2014

The father of Charles Severance released a statement Monday about the verdict:

“A jury of our peers has rendered a verdict and we respect the verdict. We want to express our deepest sympathy to the Dunnings, the Kirbys and the Lodatos for their losses. There’s no words to express their loss. Our family is a strong family. We will pursue and continue on.”

The Alexandria Police Department posted reaction from Police Chief Earl L. Cook on it Facebook page after the verdict came in:


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