Via WV Regional Jail & Correctional Facility Authority.

Update: Charles Severance received three life sentences, one for each convicted murder. The two capital murder charges automatically come with a sentence of life without parole, and the jury decided on a life sentence for the third murder charge. He was also handed down an additional 48 years in prison and $400,000 in fines for the other seven charges.

Original: A jury found Charles Severance guilty of all charges associated with three murders over the course of more than a decade in Alexandria.

The jury deliberated for nearly 13 hours before reaching its decision on 10 counts—two counts of capital murder, one count of murder, one count of malicious wounding and six firearms counts.

The charges are related to the murders of Nancy Dunning, wife of former Sheriff James Dunning, in 2003; transportation planner Ron Kirby in 2013; and music teacher Ruthanne Lodato in 2014. All three were shot in their homes with no sign of forced entry. According to prosector David Lord, Severance wrote fondly of the .22-caliber, long rifle, plain lead, Remington brand ammunition used in all of the crimes.

When Lodato was killed last year, Dorcas Franko was a caregiver in her home. She was also shot but she survived. As one of the first witnesses at the trial, she said he “looks like the guy” who attacked her that day.

Severance, 55, is a former Alexandria resident who the prosecution painted as embittered with the so-called “elites” of the town after losing a custody battle.

While the case had little forensic evidence, prosecutors relied heavily on Severance’s writing and other circumstantial evidence. In one poem, “The Parable of the Knocker,” Severance wrote, “Knock and the door will open. Knock. Talk. Enter. Kill. Exit. Murder. Wisdom.”

Lord described the poem as Severance’s method of murdering Dunning, Kirby, and Lodato.

The trial was moved from Alexandria to Fairfax after concerns from the defense about the effects of pre-trial publicity on the impartiality of the jury. Judge Jane Roush also cited Alexandria residents’ fear in her decision to change venues before the trial began on October 8.

Now the trial moves to sentencing at noon. Severance does not face the death penalty. Instead, the maximum penalty would be a life sentence.