WASHINGTON — The case of the man accused of killing a Fairfax County woman who was his University of Mary Washington roommate is going to a grand jury in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on Monday.
Steven Vander Briel, 30, was indicted last month on first degree murder and abduction charges. Grace Mann, 20, was found bound, gagged and strangled in April in the off campus group home the students shared.
Testimony convincing a judge to send the case to a grand jury included an alleged confession. Two roommates of Vander Biel and Mann say Vander Biel admitted strangling Mann.
The pair testified, according to The Washington Post, that upon encountering Vander Briel leaving the room where Mann was discovered that he was sweating heavily and seemed “manic” while describing an argument with Mann that escalated.
Vander Briel twice dropped out of Mary Washington. On this third try, the Political Science student was two classes shy of graduating when arrested in April. He and Mann lived with other roommates at the off-campus home in Fredericksburg. They were not romantically linked.
Friends from his early college years describe Vander Briel as so mellow and friendly he had the nickname “Care Bear,” according to The Washington Post. More recently, a former employer tells the Post that Vander Biel was helpful to people both personally and professionally — always going the “extra mile.”
Mann’s father is a judge in Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Mann was an involved campus activist. She was in the Student Senate, was on Mary Washington’s task force on sexual assault, was a member of a gay and lesbian educational group known as PRISM and was a Feminists United board member.
Friends describe Mann as “a force of nature.”
WTOP’s Kristi King contributed to this report
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the name of the club in which Mann participated.
