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Transcripts For WRC News4 Midday 20151102

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Alexandria section of Fairfax County where police are searching for a hit and run driver who mowed down an elderly man last night it happened in this area of franconia road near brooklyn avenue. Not far from edison high school. It happened just before 11 00 p. M. We are about two lights down from the big intersection of franconia and south van dorn. The 69yearold was crossing and stopped in the unprotected median to wait for passing traffic. Thats when he was hit. The driver left the scene. The injured man died. I think this intersection really theres a lot of things to be improved on as far as, you know, the police over here directing traffic to just people aggressive drivers. Now, Fairfax County police dont have much to go on. All they know is that the striking vehicle may have been a white van, possibly white. Not even exactly sure on the color, or some sort of box truck. If you know anything, give Fairfax County crime solvers a call. Residents have told me in this area, its grown, grown more dangerous, they want more safety precautions put in place. Ill have more on that part of the story coming up in about 30 minutes. Molette green live in alexandria, back to you. Right now were learning more about a russian plane that went down in egypt this weekend killing 220 on board. The u. S. Is saying terrorism cannot be ruled out as a reason for the crash. The Russian Aviation agency chief says theyll look at black boxes for more answers. A metro jet official says the plane crew did not send a distress call before the crash. Egyptian officials had earlier said a distress call did go out. Officials urging all parties not to jump to a conclusion until an investigation reveals what brought that plane down. Right now investigators are identifying bodies. Russia has sent over 100 emergency workers and aviation experts to help examine the crash site. This just in, a new problem for metro this morning. The sage says a train derailed this morning at its railyard near the brentwood station. Our transportation reporter has learned one set of wheels went off the track, the rest of the car remained upright. No one was on board at the time. The car was moved to an inspection area. No one was hurt. And right now a Prince Georges County judg is preparing to sentence a father for causing a crash that killed his young son. Charles smith could spend the next decade in prison for that 2013 crash. He was high on pcp when he crashed his car with his 4yearold son inside. The boy was not secured in a car see the and was ejected. Right now jury deliberations are underway in the Charles Severance case. They picked back up around 10 00 this morning. Severance is accused in four murders. Jurors had the weekend off, but if they dont reach a verdict by the end of the day they wont reach one until midweek. Thats because court is closed tomorrow because of elections. The Supreme Court has a busy week ahead hearing several cases. While these cases are not as well known as others they could have a big impact on how local court cases are tried in our area. First up, a georgia case that claims prosecutors used Racial Discrimination to exclude black jurors from serving in a criminal trial. Later in the week, the court will decide whether there should be a mandatory sense for federally convicted sex offenders. People who want government and contractor jobs will no longer have to disclose if theyve been convicted of crime on job applications. President obama is in new jersey unveiling new reforms to the criminal justice system. In addition to banning the box, he introduced adult reentry education grants, job training programs. The Justice Department says about 60 to 70 of former inmates cant find work within their first year back in society in. Decision 2015, a push in a few hours to get out the vote. Its election day tomorrow in virginia. Control of the state senate is at stake a group of activists will be at the Courthouse Plaza in arlington at 4 00 this afternoon. We expect them to talk about issues, encourage people to cast votes tomorrow. And today expect to see a lot of advertisements over the future of this, interstate 66. Republican candidates hope tying their democratic opponents to new tolls on the interstate will get the vote out for the gop. For more information on tomorrows election open our nbc washington app and search dmv. Now to decision 2016 and gop frustration over last weeks debate on cnbc. Campaign representatives met last night to discuss the future of republican president ial debates. Candidates want more control over the format and the questions. Nbcs tracie potts reports in a bit on candidates split from rnc leadership and whats next. Now. All cloudy around the ÷;ub this morning. A few breaks in the clouds a little sunshinesmt5o la iuxht marys x qoncounty, yn4 a slight chance of a9f scatter sprinkle maybe a chance of rain as far north as prince william, 62. Rf thed2c metro as . Taa . A thank ijzyou, tom. Streets and ave to dig for change to feed the meters in silver spring. New Smart Parking meters that accept credit cards are being installed. Over the next two weeks crew also replace 1100 meters. You can pay by using your cell phone or some change if you have some. Just something to think about before you pick up chipotle for lunch today. 43 of the chains locations are closed because of an e. Coli outbreak. We checked, none of the restaurants in our region are part of that outbreak. Right now its contained to six restaurants in oregon as well as as of friday more than 20 people were sick. Helicopter Department Officials say more people could get sick because the infection takes up to ten days to show up. They do not know what caused the outbreak. Right now we have some big celebrations going on just hours after nail biter that kept a lot of you up late. Were back in 60. You may think all people who run for office are pretty much the same. But not jill mccabe. Shes a doctor. Whos a pediatric Emergency Room Physician at Inova Loudoun hospital. Shes a mom. Who knows the value of a quality education. Shes a community leader. Who will work in the state senate to reduce traffic and use some common sense. Jill mccabe. Shes not a politician. And in richmond, shell work for us. Breaking news right now from the live desk. Jurors have reached a verdict in the case against Charles Severance. We have been following this for you from the beginning here. Everyone right now is gathering into the courtroom there. David culver is in the court room and will bring us the latest information as we get information about this verdict. Severance, 55 years old, charged about shooting and killing three prominent City Restaurants in their homes over the years. Nancyapn dunning in 2003, transition planner ron kirby in 2013 and music teacher ruth ann lodato last year. Well bring you this breaking news as it becomes available. Now your storm team 4 forecast. We have a Conveyor Belt of rain that stretches out of the carolinas into southern virginia and keeping further north getting closer to the metro area. The patch of green to the south, we are getting a few scattered sprinkles now. A few here in the shenandoah valley. All of this coming up closer tos by later this afternoon, nearby radar showing a few sprinkles here as far north as charles county. Right now in the upper 50s, 60s. Reagan national at 62. Well reach the mid 60s by mid afternoon. Slight chance of a sprinkle early afternoon. Back to the upper 50s by early evening. All right. Kansas city royals fans and players are now getting ready for a big parade. The royals are celebrating their world series victory tomorrow at 1 00 p. M. Our time. They won the series in a nail biter last night. The game took more than four hours. In fact, it ended shortly after midnight this morning. It was the teams first world series win in 30 years. Its more exciting this time, i think. Because all these young fans get a chance to see a winner after all these years. 30 years. The new york mets posted this congratulations message this morning after the big win. Now that the series is over, its awards season. Major League Baseball hands out its annual awards this month including the National League mvp, which bryce harper is favored to win. Using royalscelebration as their hashtag. They are happy folks. They are pumped. This morning, a Traffic Alert. The busy part of town that will be closed off this week. And uber driver who had to think fast while driving. It was all caught on camera. We have breaking news right now from the live desk. The verdict is in in the Charles Severance murder case. This just happened a couple minutes ago. Right now everyone is filing into the courtroom including our own david culver. He is there with family and friends of the three victims that Charles Severance was charged with killing. Nancy dunning, that murder happened back in 2003. Transition planner, robin herbie in 2013 and ruth ann lodato last year in all, severance was charged with ten counts including capital murder and first degree murder. Well bring you that verdict as soon as it is revealed. Thanks. New at midday, new developments at the fire at a high school in Fairfax County. Last week, five people were injured, two people were taken to the hospital for burns. One was released this morning. Doctors treating the other, they are expected it survive. A Montgomery County couple has been biking together every weekend for more than 35 years. S this past weekend was their last. John fauerby and Lynn Rosenbusch were hit and killed by a drunk driver while riding their tandem bike. The crash happened saturday at 3 00 in the afternoon at Chesapeake Beach in southern maryland. Rosenbusch was a federal government worker. Her husband was a computer scientist. C Katherine Lyon hit their book from behind with her jeep. In another tragic story, this one leaving a baby boy from baltimore dead. The childs mother was pushing him in a stroller when a car trying to get away from police crashed. It pushed a parked car into them as they walked along the sidewalk. The driver is in the hospital and could face charges. Police were chasing him because he hit a Police Cruiser and didnt stop. We have a tale of two skies. A bit of Sunshine North and west of the metro area. To our south its all cloudy and were getting some rain here and moderate downpours in the carolinas. That will stay well to the south. The northern extent of that rain is creeping closer to the Northern Neck of virginia, a few sprinkles in the northern shenandoah valley. That may be getting closer to the metro area later today. Right now local radar showing a few sprinkles in southern prince georges. This afternoon, a little sunshine breaking out, highs in the 60s. Light rain to the south of the metro area, parts of southern maryland, Stafford County and further south. Sunshine, mild on tuesday, gorgeous on wednesday, too. Highs reaching the low 70s both days. Enjoy. More flight delays in bri s britain this morning because of this. Look at that widespread heavy fog it was hard to see anything out there. The fog is supposed to be clearing about now. So far because of it more than 100 flights have been canceled out of london causing 350 delays. A Traffic Alert that could impact your commute through saturday. Starting tonight, National Park service will close 15th street northwest between constitution avenue and madison drive and madison drive between 14th and 15th streets. The closure also happen overnight between 7 00 p. M. And 5 00 a. M. Everything gets back to normal on saturday morning. Police say its a miracle no one got hurt after someone put needles inside this halloween candy. Police in pennsylvania and minnesota got calls from parents who found candy with needles in it when they checked their kids chocolate. You can see the sewing needles there. At least half a dozen got these tainted treats. Its scary to think about the children out there and getting candy that could hurt them. I feel like i could cry at this point. Its upsetting to me. No word yet on who was behind this. Police in massachusetts are also looking for the person who left out samples of cough syrup for trickortreaters. Now to a disturbing story out of newport beach, california it was all caught on camera. An uber driver forced to fight back after being attacked by his own passenger. [ bleep ] reporter with a dash cam video rolling this uber driver takes a violent back see the pummelling. Grabbed my head. Trying to smash it against the window. Reporter from the get go, edward said he had a bad feel being this trip. Very aggressive, swearing at me. Fading in and out of consciousness. Reporter he said his rider refused to put on his seat belt, couldnt give clear directions and kept passing out. At that point i decided enough was enough. Reporter here is what happened when he tried to tell the passenger that the ride was over. Get out of my car or i will call the police. [ bleep ] suddenly he was getting punched from behind again and again. Finally he is able to click off the safety of his mace. I came out, emptied as much of that spray as i could into his face. Reporter within minutes, police are there arresting the rider identified as benjamin golden. Wanted to make sure he didnt get away. I lost so much money on people like him. I am done dealing with it people like that, they take the food out of my mouth. Reporter uber says they banned the rider from ever using their service again, but caban says his days of driving for uber are over. Crossing the pond faster than ever before. Well show you what could be the were tracking whats trending this midday. Here is one story youre clicking on. An idea for a jet that claims to be able to get you from new york to london in 30 minutes. Yes. 30 minutes. We found this on science alert. The canadian engineer behind this idea says he got the idea from technology the military is testing right now in drones. Now, dont be too disappointed with this 30minute ride. Its not happening yet. Airbus can take you across the atlantic in an hour. Now a story that took off online a couple hours ago. Chinese aircraft developers showed off their first passenger jet this morning in shanghai. The communist government wants a piece of the profits that so far go to foreign suppliers. Here is one thing that might make you think twice. You look at this. Nasa is reporting that antarctica is actually gaining ice. So, does that mean no Global Warming . The Christian Science monitor says not quite. Instead it shows something in the way researchers measure Climate Change and what causes sea levels to rise. That is whats we have a bit of sunshine trying to break out in the met troer area. To our south we have this Conveyor Belt of ra pulling out of the carolinas to southern virginia. The Northern Edge of rain, a few sprinkles showing up to our south. Otherwise most of the area is dry and will stay that way into the afternoon. Highs reaching mid 60s. Right now its near 60. Then tomorrow, wednesday, thursday mild weather moves in. Lots of sun on tuesday. Low 70s. Low 70s wednesday with more clouds. Small chance of a sprinkle on thursday with a high near 70. Heres your weekend, friday and saturday. Friday night into saturday morning some showers, drying out saturday afternoon. Sunshine back on sunday. Much cooler. Highs in the 50s. Tom, thanks. A new study out this morning says selfdriving cars like this have a higher accident rate. They are involved in crashes five times more than conventi conventional cars. All accident injuries that have reported involving selfdriving cars have been minor. Halloween, it is so yesterday, right . Retailers are not wasting time letting you recover from your sugar overdose. Theyre moving ton christmas starting today. Youll see the holiday displays all over, we bet you may be tempted to spend a little money, especially with the favorite Christmas Songs being played in the background. Absolute madness. How many people are you shopping for . A whole platoon. When you start early, people come out early, less people on the street. Retailers say the earlier start means more spending overall, especially online. The next two months account for 20 of the retail industrys sales for the entire year. Right now on new 4 midday, remembering a former lawmaker who made an impact on washington and hollywood. Plus Traffic Alert. The place where so many of you start your commute to work, its about to move. Well tell you why and where it is going. And breaking news, the jury has reached a verdict in the Charles Severance murder trial. Severance is accused in the murders of three. The jury is gathering right now. David culver is in the cour narrator for state senate, who shares our values . Jeremy mcpike supports school funding. Thinks women should make their own health care decisions. And favors background checks on all gun sales. Hal parrish . As mayor, he slashed education. Fought to block Womens Health clinics. Parrish gets an a from the gun lobby they oppose background checks to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. Virginia extreme or mainstream . Vote mcpike for virginia. Feinblatt everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund sponsored this ad. This breaking news a verdict is in tin the case against Charles Severance. Everybody is gathering in the courtroom. David culver is there. A deputy has asked for no outburst during the reading of this verdict. David culver in there live tweeting from the courtroom right now. The victims families theres in the courtroom as well as friends. This has been a monthlong trial. The jury deliberated 13 hours and 3 days total and about one hour this morning before reaching the verdict. Just hearing that the judge is now in the courtroom so we are Just Moments Away from learning the verdict in the Charles Severance trial. He is charged with ten counts, including capital murder and first degree murder. All right. Right now investigators are examining the black boxes from a huge plane crash over egypt. The plane broke apart in midair but as of right now its still not clear why. 224 people died. Many of the victims are being identified right now. Changes are coming after complaints over last weeks gop president ial debate. The republican candidates want more control over the format of the debate. And the questions moderators ask. We expect to have a list of demands as soon as tomorrow. The house where three members of a well known dc family died just hit the market. The mansion on Woodland Drive in the upper northwest section of the city is still boarded up nearly six months after the murders and fire. Savvas savopoulos, his wife aim my, their 10yearold son phillip and their housekeeper were killed inside that house. D daron wint is charged in their deaths. Were working to get an update on a man brutally beaten in temple hills. He was assaulted near brinkley road and fisher road. Officers found him after 7 00 last night and say he may not survive. He was rushed to the hospital with critical injuries. Police have to the released his name or said if they have suspects in the case. Right now theres a hearing in the case of a 17yearold accused of murdering another teen. A 17yearold was shot and killed while walking to a bus stop back in september. Another boy was charged with his murder. Two other men are also facing gun charges in the death as well. Its been more than a week and police need your help to find a missing family of five. The Sheriffs Office was called after a hyung joo did not show up for work. Right now police do not suspect foul play. Here at the live desk are some breaking news in the Charles Severance trial. We have gotten the first two verdicts from jury here. On the first court, Charles Severance has been found guilty that is of the capital murder of Ruthanne Lodato, the music teacher killed in her home back in march november of 2014. There are ten different counts we expect to hear verdicts on in this trial. We are we have two other pieces of information. Also guilty on count two and tree. Count two, the use of a firearm in the murder of Ruthanne Lodato. Count three, Malicious Wounding of janet franko, the caretaker of Ruthanne Lodato. Count four, guilty verdict coming in there, the use of a firearm in the commission of one of these crimes. Count five, guilty of capital murder of ronald kirby, who was the Transportation Planner from alexandria who was killed back in 2013. Important to note, we have two capital murder convictions for Charles Severance. The prosecutor in alexandria said that he will not be seeking the Death Penalty, which you typically would have in play for a capital murder conviction n this case not on the table. Again, count six now, guilty here. This is also just coming in. Use of a firearm in the commission of the murder of ron kirby. Guilty on that one as well. Thats the Transportation Plan their aaron was talking about. Right now, he is facing ten counts. We are guilty count one, two three, four, five, six, and seven. Seven coming in. Guilty of first degree murder of Nancy Dunning. All three people of whom Charles Severance has been accus accuseaccused accused murdering, all guilty verdicts. We expect three more verdicts to come down in possession of weapons. Count eight, nine and ten, we are still waiting for those three. That is the use of a firearm guilty across the board. All ten counts against Charles Severance, he has been found guilty. Two capital murder charges, first degree murder charge for Charles Severance. The defense tried to possession themselv position themselves that there was not hard evidence, only circumstantial evidence in the case. And they even tried to get the charges thrown out. Clearly this jury this deliberated for two plus days, over the course of three days really, they have come back after looking at the evidence, made very few requests of the judge in terms of looking at things again, they issued ten guilty verdicts for every charge that the alexandria prosecutors filed against Charles Severance. He had those ten charges against him, just to recap. He was charged with shooting and killing three prominent City Residents over the past decade or so in their homes. Nancy dunning, wife of then sheriff James Dunning in 2003. Then Transportation Planner ron kirby in 2013, and Ruthanne Lodato last year, the most recent one. We know david culver is in the courtroom. Hes been there throughout the monthlong trial. Families, friends as well of the victims have been in the courtroom. We also saw david tweet before we came on that severances parents rushed in the courtroom and tried to sit in the front row. David reporting that the severance parents sat there emotionless as the ten verdicts were red. Charles severance wheeled into the courtroom as well before the jury decision was announced. The families of Ruthanne Lodato, ron kirby, and Nancy Dunning were all there in the courtroom as well. Some of their spouses, some of their children to see this through to the end. This is a series of murders that has terrorized this Alexandria Community for more than ten years. They were waiting for information about who might have been responsible for this. Trying to get some answers as to why this happened. We know through some of the evidence presented that Charles Severance had run for or attempted to run for office in alexandria. And that he, through some of the evidence presented in terms of some of his writings, that he had been a bit disgruntled in terms of what he thought about Law Enforcement figures what he thought about different government figures, agencies as well. So the prosecution tried to present a case where they looked at those things, present them as possible signs that Charles Severance might be capable of committing these three murders. Well be talking about this verdict through others as well. The jury deliberated 13 hours, about three days. They were in for one our this morning. We have julie carey on the phone. Julie, can you hear us okay . Yes, i hear you just fine. This is obviously a convincing verdict for the prosecutors in this case. They had a real challenge before them, looking at getting convictions on three different murders that span a decade of time. I can only imagine in this courtroom what a great sense of relief it is for the families, particularly the family of Nancy Dunning that waited nearly 12 years for Nancy Dunnings murder to be brought to justice. Its been a very emotional trial for these families, having to relive the loss of their loved ones. So, this is just such a big moment for them. Also a big moment of relief for the Alexandria Community, particularly when ron kirby and and the lodato murders occurred in 2013 and 2014, the community was in fear. In 2014 Charles Severance was taken into custody and this case began. Julie a couple questions for you. As we look at these decisions that came from this jury, what do we know about the motive to the degree that the prosecution was able to establish a motive in the courtroom, what do we know about why these three murders happened . I think the prosecutors obviously did a good job of communicating to the jury the motive in this case. Back in 2000, Charles Severance was involved in a very bitter custody battle for his infant son, levi. He lost that battle. He never saw his son again. The last day he ever laid eyes on his son was in an Alexandria Court from that day on he was deeply and bitter against the courts, against police, and prosecutor prosecutors had probably as their greatest weapon in the case, Charles Severances many years of writings, his journals, emails in which he articulated this hatred first for the courts, for the police, and the utopian elite. Thats where prosecutors made the case that he began to target people like Nancy Dunning, at the time the wife of the sheriff. The sheriff that signed off on a stayaway order. While ron kirby and Ruthanne Lodato were not Law Enforcement figures, they were well known in the community it Ruthanne Lodato had a brother and father who had been alexandria judges. Whether or not Charles Severance made that connection, we dont know. He was motivated by this loss of his child back in 2000. Thats what prosecutors say compelled him to later plot out and carry out the murders. As we look at ten counts here, two counts capital murder counts. We would expect a prosecutor to look for a Death Penalty sentence from this. David has tweeted that attorneys are talking about the sentencing phase. Severance will serve a sentence rather than having to deal with the Death Penalty. What do we know about the prosecutors thinking of not going after the Death Penalty. Charles severance was indicted in september of 2014. And the prosecutor said from the moment the announcement was made that he would never seek the Death Penalty. He never articulated why it could have to do with the incredible challenges of prosecuting this case in the first place. When you make it a capital case that adds other elements. That is a question that we would like to have answered, and maybe now we will, now that we have the verdict. Again, no Death Penalty in play. Obviously prosecutors will be seeking the maximum life term. As you know, in virginia cases, sentencing hearings get underway normally right away. Family members are poised and ready to begin to take the witness stand in the sentencing phase of this trial. This same jury that sat in judgment of severance will make a recommendation on a sentence. At a some later date the judge will hand down the judicial sentencing decision. Julie carey on the phone with us. Well try to come back to you in a moment. We just got this in here. Lets talk about what he was found guilty of. Again, ten counts that Charles Severance was facing. Guilty on all counts. Among those guilty counts, capital murder of Ruthanne Lodato, capital murder of ron kirby and the murder of Nancy Dunning. Seven other counts involving the use of a firearm, possession of a firearm. We were just getting into the fact that Charles Severance will not face the Death Penalty for these capital murder and first degree charges. Instead its likely he will spend the rest of his life in prison. 55 years old Charles Severance is. At this point severance is still in the courtroom. The jury has been asked to at least leave the courtroom. I dont know that theyve been dismissed from the trial. There is a sentencing phase still to come. Charles severances parents are there. The families of each of the three victims in the trial also there. We will try to gather more information from the courthouse for you. I think right now well take a quick break and come back with more of news4 midday. Breaking News Coverage continues of the Charles Severance murder trial. The jury came back deciding that Charles Severance was guilty on all ten counts against him, including three murderers of some high profile people in alexandria. Ten counts, guilty of ten different counts. One of them, capital murder of Ruthanne Lodato. Also capital murder of ronald kirby. And the first degree murder of Nancy Dunning. Right now we know that david culver is tweeting live from the courtroom right now. He is saying the judge is taking a 15minute recess and will come back for testimony as for the severance sentencing. That is something we will hear as well today. We know hes not up for the Death Penalty. Could very likely serve life in prison. The judge dissicussing those ju instructions. We will talk to david culver as soon as we can. Julie carey has been on the phone. We know this will move into the sentencing phase. The families of each victim has been in the courtroom throughout portions of the trial. Everyone is there right now theres been some crying in the courtroom. These families, we would imagine, will play a role in the sentencing phase, which could get started here shortly. Yeah. Theyll play a pivotal role in the sentencing phase. I expect many of them to take the witness stand and to talk to that jury about what this has done in their lives. We saw a bit of that on the witness stand even during the trial and probably one of the most gripping emotional times in the trial was when chris dunning, the son of Nancy Dunning, took the witness stand to describe the day back in december of 2003 when his mom failed to show up for lunch one day. She was supposed to be getting together with him and his dad, sheriff jim dunning. Chris dunning realized something was wrong, went back home and saw her shot to death inside the front door and played for the jury that day with chris dunnings 911 call, in which you hear him and his father who took the phone after him describing what they saw before him. Their mother bleeding on the floor. It was absolutely a moment in the courtroom where, you know there were certainly tears in the eyes of many family members. Even hugs within that courtroom. We expect to see that kind of emotion on display again today. Julie carey on the phone with us. Has covered certainly this trial throughout the time its been going on and each of these murders over the last decade now that weve been dealing with in the city of alexandria. Barbara, back to you. Thanks, aaron. David culver has been following this trial throughout. Lets go to him now. Hes just outside the courtroom. Reporter thats right. Just stepped out of the courtroom as we are taking a 15minute recess. The court is, because theyre now preparing to go into the sentencing portion of this trial. Let me take you back about 20 minutes ago as we were sitting in that courtroom. Everyone was gathering about 45 minutes or so ago as the news of the verdict was starting to spread. There was a tense moment as they were just sitting and waiting for the judge and jury and severance to come into the court room. We saw several deputies lining the walls. More so than weve seen since this trial began. As the counts began to be read, little to no emotion. First with the lodato family, then with ron kirbys family. When it came to Nancy Dunnings family, julie carey has been telling you this could have been the questionable conviction out of all of them. When that guilty count was read, that verdict read for Nancy Dunning, we could hear sobs in the courtroom and her family very, very emotional in that moment. They continued to read the counts from then on. Guilty of all ten. We looked at severances parents, they had been sitting in the front row since the trial began. They were rather emotionless. Severance himself in the same composure as he has for the four weeks of the testimony and evidence presentation of this case. Staring straight ahead, not saying a word. As of now, we can tell you the jury has been dismissed briefly. 15 minutes of recess. The judge is talking to the counsel s both sides, prosecution and defense to determine how theyll move forward with sentencing. There was some concern initially from the defense that they didnt want to move into it right away citing a conflict of interest with two charges. The judge said he is putting that aside and wants to move into sentencing. Thats what well prepare for and follow me on twitter. Well put those updates out there as soon as they come down. So, you expect sentencing could happen as early as today . It could very well happen as early as today. There are ten counts. This was essentially two and a half days of deliberations a total of 13 hours. Its complex when you look at each count. Given they came down with a guilty verdict on all ten counts, they could move quickly with sentencing. In virginia they have the right to go right into sentencing. Thats what were preparing for. David culver for us, hes been following the story from the beginning. Thank you very much. We want to send it back to the news room and our live desk where Aaron Gilchrest and Melissa Mollet broke this story this morning. We have been following all the details since day one. We have julie carey on the phone. Are you still there . Yes, i am. Let me ask you about this sentencing phase. We are already talked about the fact this will not be a Death Penalty trial. What do you know about what the sentencing possibilities are looking at these two capital murder convictions and a first degree murder conviction . What are we likely to see from sentencing . An all three charges, the first degree murder and capital murder charges, it would be my expectation is that the prosecutor is looking for life in prison on that. The maximum penalty. Again, given how strong a verdict this is, they will have a strong case to make to jurors in this case. The impact on these victims families has been immense. This is someone now convicted as a serial killer. Prosecutors will say to jurors it would never be safe to put Charles Severance back on the street. Add to that, this was not an insanity case. His Defense Attorneys made a decision early on not to go that route. But we have heard a lot of testimony about Charles Severances Mental Health problems. And that, of course, is something that works in favor of prosecutors as they argue that he would be very dangerous to put back out on the streets. Another quick point id like to make, too, in this case. We are talking about how much relief this brings to the families today and we mentioned that Nancy Dunnings family has waited nearly 12 years. Beyond relief, this is a vindication for that family, too. If you remember back in 2003, Nancy Dunnings husband, the sheriff, jim dunning, for a belong time was viewed as a possible suspect. He was brought before the grand jury at one point. He died in 2012 without his name being cleared. For the Dunning Family thats another important element of this trial to once and for all have jim dunnings name cleared in connection with his wifes death. Julie, were tight on time. But im left to wonder the defenses argument in terms of the physical evidence presented in the trial. The defenses position is that there was not enough physical evidence tying Charles Severance. Is that likely to play a role in the sentencing . I dont think so. No. There was what the defense continued to say, no dna. No fingerprints. Prosecution had an answer for that he wore gloves. We found the glove in his station wagon. There was no gun, but prjut uaors were able to say two guns turned up missing as soon as Charles Severance left they would say fled his girlfriends ashburn home. No, evidence not a factor now in the sentencing. This jury has made the affirmative decision that he is guilty of these three murders. So, the decision they will make is what is a fitting punishment. All right. Our Northern Virginia bureau chief, julie carey on the phone. Thank you for the insight. Charles severance guilty on ten counts, capital murder and first degree murder. Court right now in recess. Just after noon they will reconvene. The Death Penalty not an option for this particular trial. The prosecutors said that early on right now over to tom kierein for an update on the forecast. Cloudy now, temperatures in the low 60s. Rain well south of washington, richmond and points south. Leading edge of that should stay away from us for the rest of the afternoon. This afternoon, temperatures in the 60s. Tomorrow, low 70s. Low 70s again on wednesday. Near 70 on thursday, chance of a light sprinkle. Friday into the evening how after it reaches mid 70s, we may get some showers friday night and into saturday. Back to you. Thank you very much. Thank you for joining us for news4 midday. This is a breaking story on Charles Severance. Well continue to follow it throughout the day. Remember the nbc washington app has news and weather update announcer today on the Meredith Vieira show why did Justin Beiber storm off stage after one song. And a interview in skienatology. And new movie that is getting oscar buzz. It all starts right now on meredith. [applause] makes you feel good. Meredith hello, everybody. Thank you. Thank you. [applause] meredith

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