Ulisa Chavers has been convicted of murdering her boyfriend, the Times Dispatch reports. You remember her as the Louisa County woman who murdered her husband and buried him in a shallow grave, then poisoned her boyfriend and hid his body in a well. She collected their Social Security benefits for years afterwards. Chavers is already in prison, serving fifteen years for embezzlement and hiding her boyfriend’s body—now she’s got another thirty years to serve on top of that. Given that she’s 62 years old, that’s a life sentence.
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Monthly Archive for December, 2010
If you haven’t yet had your daily dose of eyeball-popping rage, this will be the perfect thing for you: George Huguely’s defense is that Yeardly Love just happened to die while he was bludgeoning her, as a result of her Adderall prescription, Lisa Provence writes for The Hook. The medical examiner determined that Love died from blunt force trauma to the head, but Huguely’s attorney, Fran Lawrence, insists that her cause of death is unknown, so it may well have been that the Adderall in her system meant that she was highly vulnerable to a fatal cardiac event.
The goal here is presumably to establish doubt in the mind of an eventual jury—potentially the difference between life in prison and a decade.
Fairfax County Deputy Chief of Police Steve Sellers has been named Albemarle’s new police chief, Carter Johnson reports for CBS-19. Chief John Miller is retiring after two decades as the county’s top cop. Sellers was selected from 108 candidates. He’ll start the job at the end of January.
Well, we’ve figured out exactly who is getting coal in his stocking for last week’s Salvation Army robbery: the purported victim. Stephanie Satchell reports for CBS-19 that Lawrence Egnor has been charged with embezzlement and making a false report to police after allegedly faking a robbery on his first day on the job as a bell-ringer. Three others—his accomplices—were also charged in the case. Since less than $200 was stolen in total, that’s a take of about $50/person for this sad little caper.
At a November 11 public hearing, the Board of Supervisors denied Wendell Wood’s request to have 140 acres of his land on Route 29 added to the growth area. Forest Lakes residents opposed the expansion en masse and, at the conclusion of the hearing, Ken Boyd said that though he personally favored Wood’s request, he would bow to the overwhelming public opposition. With a majority of the board opposed, that was the end of that.
So, as Sean Tubbs writes for Charlottesville Tomorrow, it came as rather a surprise when Boyd said at yesterday’s meeting that he’s changed his mind. “There’s some additional information that’s been brought to my attention that’s made me reconsider what I said. And I’m perfectly willing to take the political heat for that.” No additional public hearing is even required—the board could simply take a new vote and make Wood’s relatively worthless land enormously valuable. As a fellow from the Forest Lakes Community Association said: “A community rose up overwhelmingly and indicated that this is a bad thing. As soon as the spotlight is off, an elected official tries to go back and do the same thing… You do not develop these parcels until you have the infrastructure.” Boyd’s fellow Republican board member, Duane Snow, admonished Boyd at the meeting, saying that “to have everyone here and take a vote and then change it in the back room, I don’t think is fair to the citizens.”
No decision was arrived at about whether they should revisit the topic or not. Audio, maps, and details are available from Charlottesville Tomorrow.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
foursix and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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