Ex-girlfriend says she purchased guns for Charles Severance

WASHINGTON — A key witness is cooperating with the investigation into three unsolved murders in Alexandria.

According to court documents obtained by The Washington Post, a former girlfriend of Charles Severance has been talking with police.

Severance, 53, is in custody in a West Virginia jail after being arrested there on felony weapons charges unrelated to the three murders. Alexandria police have not named him as a person of interest in their investigation of the three high-profile murders of RuthAnne Lodato, Ron Kirby and Nancy Dunning.

Severance’s former girlfriend claims she bought him a pair of .22-caliber guns, but she says she doesn’t know where the weapons are currently located.

Alexandria police recently announced to the public that three killings may be linked, citing forensic evidence that indicates a small caliber gun was used in each homicide.

Severance is in custody on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm in Loudoun County. He may be extradited soon. A hearing on the matter is slated for next week.

Meanwhile, Severance’s attorney argues his client should be released.

The attorney claims Severance is being unlawfully held, saying authorities in Northern Virginia drummed up the weapons charge so they could detain him and investigate him as a murder suspect without sufficient evidence.

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