Though authorities haven’t disclosed how the roommates had been killed, Venable has been charged with three counts of second-degree homicide and utilizing a firearm to commit a felony, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned in an announcement. As for a potential motive for the slayings, the assertion mentioned the “investigation is ongoing and nonetheless within the early phases. … We’re withholding sure elements of the incident.”
The victims had been recognized as Robert J. McGuire, 77; Gregory S. Powell, 60; and Carol Anne Reese, 65, of the 10500 block of White Avenue Court docket close to the town of Fredericksburg, about 50 miles south of Washington. After deputies had been dispatched to the dwelling for a welfare verify about 10 p.m. Tuesday, the assertion mentioned, they “made entry into the residence to find three adults … deceased from higher physique trauma.”
Trooper Lynnea Crane, a New York State Police spokeswoman, mentioned Friday that her division “acquired info from the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Workplace that [Venable] may presumably be in our space,” driving a 2009 Honda Civic. Highway troopers had been alerted to the Honda’s license plate quantity and instructed to be looking out for the automobile, Crane mentioned.
She mentioned a trooper noticed the Honda shortly after 5:30 p.m. Thursday on Interstate 86 in Angelica, N.Y., about 80 miles from Buffalo and 400 miles north of the Virginia crime scene. The following chase went on for roughly 40 miles at speeds reaching 100 mph. It resulted in Avoca, N.Y., the place the automobile ran over a strip of tire-puncturing spikes deployed by police and crashed right into a guardrail on a freeway overpass, Crane mentioned.
Avoca is about 100 miles from the Canadian border. “Why was she up right here? Presently, that’s unknown,” Crane mentioned.
After the crash, Venable “complained of ache” and was handled at a hospital, Crane mentioned. She was held in a single day in a neighborhood jail and appeared Friday morning in a New York courtroom, the place she waived her proper to contest extradition to Virginia, Crane mentioned. She mentioned Spotsylvania authorities are anticipated to journey to New York early subsequent week to select her up. It was unclear Friday whether or not Venable is represented by a lawyer.
Venable was alone within the Honda, in response to Crane, who declined to say whether or not any weapons had been discovered within the automobile.
“Our detectives are working very carefully with New York State Police for any proof restoration as that is nonetheless in its infancy phases,” Maj. Elizabeth Scott, a Spotsylvania sheriff’s spokeswoman, mentioned in an announcement.
