On a tragic winter day, the life of 33-year-old Angela Denice Dales, a White/Caucasian law student and single mother, was cut short. On January 16, 2002, a former student at the Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Virginia, named Peter Odighizuwa, opened fire on campus. This act of violence also claimed the lives of Dean L. Anthony Sutin and Professor Thomas Blackwell.
Odighizuwa, a 43-year-old former student, had been dismissed from the school due to poor academic performance. On the day of the shooting, he returned to the campus armed with a. 380 caliber handgun. He first shot and killed Dean Sutin and Professor Blackwell in their offices before fatally shooting Dales. Three other students were also wounded during the rampage. The attack was brought to an end when a group of students confronted and subdued Odighizuwa until law enforcement arrived.
Peter Odighizuwa was arrested on the same day and subsequently charged with three counts of capital murder and three counts of attempted capital murder. During his arraignment, he stated that he was sick and in need of help. Initially, in 2002, he was found incompetent to stand trial and was sent for psychiatric treatment. However, by 2005, he was deemed competent and pleaded guilty to the murders, a plea that allowed him to avoid the death penalty. Odighizuwa received three life sentences plus an additional 28 years without the possibility of parole.
