Monday, October 18, 2004

Virginia teenager conditionally pleads guilty to killing his father

The Norfolk paper reports here ("Chesapeake teenager pleads guilty to killing his father," 10/18/04) and the AP reports here that an 18 year-old entered a conditional plea of guilty today in Chesapeake Circuit Court to first-degree murder in connection with the death of his father.

The conditional plea will allow the defendant to appeal the trial court's ruling that the defense would not be allowed to use evidence that he was the victim of sexual abuse.

The AP article notes that after the father was killed, the defendant eventually headed to the western part of the state:

"The slaying was discovered after hikers on the Appalachian Trail in southwestern Virginia found a confession note in a backpack on May 8, 2003. The note had been left in a shelter and was signed with the name Shane Cubbage, according to authorities.

The note's author described how he had killed his father in Chesapeake and escaped to the mountains near Roanoke, according to court records."

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