Authorities have not said how the roommate was killed, but Venable has been charged with three counts of second-degree murder and using a firearm to commit a felony, the sheriff’s office said in a statement. As for a motive for the killing, “the investigation is ongoing and in its early stages. Some aspects of the case are being withheld from public view,” the statement said.
The victims were identified as Robert J. McGuire, 77, Gregory S. Powell, 60, and Carol Ann Reese, 65, of the 10500 block of White Street Court near Fredericksburg, about 50 miles south of Washington. Officers were dispatched to a residence on Tuesday at about 10 p.m. to check on the well-being of the residents and “entered the residence and found three adults deceased with upper body trauma,” according to the statement.
“The Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office has notified us,” Officer Linnea Crain, a New York State Police spokeswoman, said Friday. [Venable] A call was made to the side of the road reporting a vehicle “that may be coming into our area” driving a 2009 Honda Civic. Police learned the Honda’s license plate number and were instructed to keep an eye on the vehicle, Crane said.
Officers spotted the Honda on Interstate 86 in Angelica, New York, just after 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Crain said. Angelica is about 80 miles from Buffalo and 400 miles north of the Virginia crime scene. The ensuing pursuit continued for about 40 miles at speeds reaching 100 mph. The chase ended in Avoca, New York, where the car ran over tire-piercing nails set up by police and crashed into a guardrail on a highway overpass, Crain said.
Avoca is about 100 miles from the Canadian border. “Why was she here? It’s unclear at this time,” Crain said.
Venable “complained of pain” after the accident and was treated at a hospital, Crane said. He was held overnight in a local detention center and appeared in court in New York on Friday morning where he waived his right to fight extradition to Virginia. Spotsylvania authorities plan to travel to New York early next week to pick up Venable, Crane said. It was unclear Friday whether Venable had been represented by an attorney.
Crain said Venable was the only occupant of the Honda, but he declined to comment on whether any weapons were found inside the vehicle.
“This is still in the early stages of the investigation and our detectives are working closely with New York State Police to recover evidence,” Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Maj. Elizabeth Scott said in a statement.
