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Culpeper County sheriff's investigators are trying to determine whether there is a connection between the slayings of two Richmond families last week and the Dec. 18 death of Sheryl Ann Embrey Warner.
Sheriff's Maj. Jim Branch said yesterday that his office contacted Richmond police soon after Ray Joseph Dandridge and Ricky Gray were arrested in Philadelphia Saturday in connection with the brutal deaths of five adults and two children in the capital city.
"Right now it is too early to tell if there is a connection, but certainly it is being looked at," Branch said.
Richmond investigators have said they have evidence linking Dandridge and Gray, both 28, to the slayings of two families there and are looking into the possibility that the pair may be involved with similar crimes elsewhere.
"Right now we are looking at the possibility and probability of a connection [to Warner's death]," Branch said. "We will try to focus and narrow any connection and then check the finer details if the investigation leads us in that direction."
Branch said DNA evidence collected at Warner's home would be compared to DNA evidence collected by Richmond police if necessary.
Warner was found hanging from an extension cord in the basement of her James Monroe Highway home about 30 minutes after she reportedly ended a telephone conversation with her father by saying a man claiming to have car trouble was at the door. The 37-year-old legal secretary, who was home alone, had been shot in the head with a small-caliber bullet and her home had been set on fire.
The Sheriff's Office has not released a cause of death, but court documents state that Warner's lungs contained no smoke. Sources close to the investigation say the Sheriff's Office and state police have had few leads.
In the Richmond slayings, the victims were all bound with tape and their throats were cut, police spokeswoman Cynthia Price said.
The bodies of Percyell Tucker, 55; his wife, Mary Tucker, 47; and her daughter, Ashley Baskerville, 21, were found in their ransacked Richmond home Friday.
The killings came days after the slayings of members of a family well-known in music and business circles. Bryan Harvey, 49; his wife, Kathryn, 39; and their daughters, Stella, 9, and Ruby, 4, were found with their throats cut on New Year's Day. Their house was set on fire.
Dandridge and Gray were apprehended in Philadelphia on Saturday. Both men waived their right to extradition to Virginia yesterday and were returned to the state to face murder conspiracy charges.
Washington, Pa., police Chief John Haddad said Gray also is a "person of interest" in the death of the ex-convict's wife, Treva Gray, whose body was found in southwestern Pennsylvania Nov. 5.
Dandridge had been released from prison Oct. 26 after serving 10 years for robbery, according to Virginia Department of Corrections records. Gray also had served six years in prison for robbery, firearms possession and cocaine possession convictions. He was released in 2002.
A friend of one of the Richmond victims led police to the two men, police said yesterday. The victim, Ashley Baskerville, 21, accompanied the suspects on a home invasion Jan. 3 in suburban Chesterfield County in which no one was hurt, Chesterfield police Maj. Warner Williams said. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that two men and a woman came to the door like they were asking for directions and then barged in.
Williams said the two men took a TV, DVD and a computer stolen during that robbery to the nearby home of the friend, who police did not identify. The two men also stayed at the home for a time.
After they left, the young woman and her mother contacted police because they were concerned about remarks the men made about Baskerville, her mother and her stepfather. They also told police the men might be involved in the New Year's Day slayings.
Acting on the tip, Richmond police went to Baskerville's home Friday and found the bodies of Baskerville, her stepfather and mother.
In the Culpeper case, a $3,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest. Anyone with information is asked to call Crimesolvers at 540/727-0300.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Email: DJohn40330@aol.com
