Neal Augenstein, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – Federal prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty for the former Marine indicted in the 2009 murder of Amanda Jean Snell, who was found in her barracks room in Henderson Hall at Fort Myer, in Arlington.
Jorge Avila Torrez was an active duty Marine stationed at the Navy Annex at Fort Myer when he allegedly killed Snell.
In a Notice of Intent to Seek a Sentence of Death, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil MacBride writes Torrez “has displayed no remorse for the murder of Amanda Jean Snell: rather, the defendant bragged about killing Snell and the thrill it provided.”
Prosecutors cite Torrez’s previous convictions and arrests for violent crimes, including the 2005 murders of two children in Illinois, rape, abduction, forcible sodomy, as well as alleged threats to kill a corrections officer, and a plot to kill a witness in a previous crime as aggravating factors in the Snell murder.
MacBride writes Torrez is likely to attempt future violence against those who would testify against him at trial.
Torrez is due in Alexandria federal court tomorrow afternoon for a status hearing.
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