On a February morning in 2014, Ruthanne Lodato, a 59-year-old beloved music teacher, answered a knock at the door of her Alexandria, Virginia, home. The man on her doorstep, described as an older, balding white male with a gray beard, opened fire, killing her and injuring a caregiver who was also in the house. The unexpected violence of the act sent shockwaves through the quiet, affluent community.
The investigation into Lodato's murder quickly took a turn when police noted similarities
to two other unsolved homicides in Alexandria. Transportation planner Ron Kirby had been shot and killed in his home in November 2013, and Nancy Dunning, the wife of the then-sheriff, was murdered in her home in December 2003. All three victims were prominent residents, shot in broad daylight after answering their front doors, and ballistic tests would later indicate a connection between the crime scenes. The survivor of the attack at Lodato's home was able to provide a description that led to a police sketch of the suspect.
The sketch and other tips led investigators to Charles Severance, a former Alexandria resident with a history of erratic behavior and a known animosity towards the city's elite after losing a child custody case years prior. Severance, who had also run for mayor of Alexandria in the past, was arrested in March 2014 in West Virginia on an unrelated weapons charge. In September of that year, he was charged with the murders of Ruthanne Lodato, Ronald Kirby, and Nancy Dunning.
During the trial, prosecutors presented a largely circumstantial case, arguing that Severance's hatred for Alexandria's elite motivated him to commit the murders as a form of revenge. The caregiver who survived the attack on Lodato identified Severance as the shooter. Evidence also included security camera footage showing a car matching Severance's in Lodato's neighborhood around the time of the murder. Defense attorneys argued that Severance's mental illness made him appear suspicious but did not make him a killer.
In November 2015, a jury found Charles Severance guilty on all counts, including capital murder for the deaths of Lodato and Kirby, and first-degree murder for the death of Dunning. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty. Severance was sentenced to three life sentences plus an additional 48 years in prison. His conviction brought an end to a decade-long mystery that had haunted the city of Alexandria, finally bringing a measure of justice to the families of Ruthanne Lodato, Ronald Kirby, and Nancy Dunning.
