Attorneys Want Alleged Alexandria Serial Killer's Charges Dropped

The attorneys for a man charged with three murders in Alexandria over the last 11 years have asked a judge to restrict evidence prosecutors are allowed to present at trial or throw out the murder charges altogether.

Defense attorneys for 54-year-old Charles Severance submitted the request in filings in Alexandria Circuit Court Tuesday, The Washington Post reports. Severance’s attorneys claim a weapons charge first used to detain Severance was based on misleading information from a Loudoun County detective. Defense attorneys also argue that evidence collected after Severance was taken into custody in West Virginia should be deemed inadmissible.

Severance is charged in the fatal shootings of three City of Alexandria residents — Ruthanne Lodato, Ron Kirby and Nancy Dunning — each victim killed as they answered their front door, their homes just blocks apart.

Severance has been indicted on the following charges:

• Nancy Dunning Case: First Degree Murder and Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Felony
• Ron Kirby Case: Capital Murder, Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Felony, Possession of a Firearm by a Felon
• Ruthanne Lodato Case: Capital Murder, two counts of Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Felony, Possession of a Firearm by a Felon, and Malicious Wounding

Severance is set to appear in court Oct. 5.