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August 15, 2018 | Serving Haymarket, Gainesville and Western Prince William County | Vol. 17, No. 33 | www.PrinceWilliamTimes.com | 50¢
Jury selection begins in Hamilton trial Woodbridge man faces charges in fatal shootings of wife, police officer By Amanda Heincer Times Staff Writer
Jury selection began this week in the case of a Woodbridge man charged with killing his wife and a police officer in 2016. Ronald Williams Hamilton, 34, pleaded not guilty to capital murder and other charges Thursday, Aug. 9, for the shooting deaths of his wife, Crystal Hamilton, 29, and Prince William County police Officer Ashley Guindon, 28, on Feb. 27, 2016. Hamilton is also charged with shooting two other police officers who survived. If convicted of capital murder, Hamilton could be sentenced to death or to life in prison.
Officer Ashley Guindon, left, and Crystal Sheree Hamilton, right, were fatally shot Feb. 27, 2016.
Hamilton’s trial began with jury selection on Monday, Aug. 13. Jury selection is scheduled to take about three weeks due to the large number of potential jurors attorneys plan to question before selecting a jury. At least 300 potential jurors are set to be called. Opening statements in the trial are scheduled for Sept. 4 and the trial is expected to last about three months. Also at the Aug. 9 hearing, Prince William Circuit Court Judge Steven S. Smith denied defense attorneys’ motion to change venue and move the trial to another location. See HAMILTON TRIAL, Page 2
Innovation Park town center moves forward By Jonathan Hunley Times Staff Writer
PHOTO BY RANDY LITZINGER
Lemonade stand for a good cause: Michael Maradure, 12, made the most of a recent sunny afternoon by selling lemonade, banana bread and other treats from a stand he set up along Heathcote Boulevard in Haymarket. Maradure said he planned to use part of his earnings to benefit homeless residents of Manassas.
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See TOWN CENTER, Page 2
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Prince William’s Innovation Park is known for business and for George Mason University’s Science and Technology Campus, but a step was taken last week to boost the Manassas-area development by adding a town center, which could boast as many as 1,120 new homes. The Prince William Board of Supervisors agreed Aug. 7 to sell 23.7 acres in the county-owned corporate park to developer Miller & Smith for $5.2 million. The parcel is adjacent to another 125 acres already under contract to the developer. The two will combine to form a “mixed-use” town center.
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Gainesville/Prince William Times | www.princewilliamtimes.com | August 15, 2018
Jury selection begins in Hamilton trial HAMILTON TRIAL, from Page 1 Prosecutors say Hamilton shot his wife inside their home on the 13000 block of Lashmere Court in Woodbridge on Feb. 27, 2016, and then shot three police officers who responded to Crystal Hamilton’s 911 call for help. Guindon, the police officer who was fatally shot, was working her first day as a Prince William County police officer. She had been sworn in the day before. Crystal Hamilton was found dead in a bedroom in the house, police said. Described by friends and co-workers as vivacious, upbeat and compassionate, Crystal Hamilton worked for the U.S. Marine Corps’ Wounded Warrior Regiment at Quantico, where she helped Ma-
rines seriously wounded in combat navigate their sometimes long recoveries. The couple’s then-11-year-old son, Tyriq, was inside the home when the shootRonald Williams ings took place. Hamilton The boy’s father, Ronald Hamilton, forced Tyriq outside the front door of the house shortly after the officers were shot, according to court documents. The boy told police he was scared to leave the house because he didn’t know how the officers would react. He said he saw the wounded officers
lying on the front lawn and said one of them told him “just run,” according to a transcript of a video-taped interview police conducted with the boy on the night of the shootings. In a pre-trial hearing Aug. 3, the judge agreed to call the Hamiltons’ son to testify in the trial if Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Ebert deems it necessary. Ebert, however, said he would avoid doing so if possible. According to court documents, Hamilton made statements to Prince William County police Sgt. J.G. Medawar after the shootings and said he shot his wife and the officers. Hamilton said he shot the officers with an AK-47, according to the court documents. “I ruined my life. Take your gun and shoot me now. The officers were
storming in so I shot them. Are the officers OK?” Hamilton said, according to court documents. “The officers showed a lot of restraint,” Hamilton then said to Medawar, the court documents state. Medawar asked Hamilton if he were trying to commit suicide by cop. He said he wasn’t, Medawar said. “He said he snapped and he did not know why he fired at them,” Medawar said in the court documents. “He then said that he might have PTSD.” Hamilton was a staff sergeant in the Army at the time of his arrest. His military service included two tours in Iraq, according to his military records. Reach Amanda Heincer at aheincer@fauquier.com
Plans for Innovation Park town center move forward TOWN CENTER, from Page 1
The Innovation Town Center is planned to have 1,120 residential units, 200,000 square feet of retail, 200,000 square feet of office and a 125-room hotel. “It’s a great opportunity to bring a vibrant mixed-use town center,” said Miller & Smith vice president Bill May. The company has been working on the project for two or three years now, but it’s not expected to be complete for several more. County plans have called for a town center to be developed on the property since 2008. The residential component would include townhouses, apartments and senior housing as well as possibly some student housing and condominiums, May said. The retail portion would include two to four anchor businesses, though it’s too early to say what they might be. “Development of the town center will support the expansion of George Mason University’s Science and Technology Campus by provid-
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Innovation Park town center site: The Prince William Board of Supervisors agreed Aug. 7 to sell 23.7 acres in the countyowned Innovation Park to developer Miller & Smith for $5.2 million. The parcel is adjacent to another 125 acres already under contract to the firm. The two will combine to form a “mixed-use” town center that aims to provide apartments, retail outlets and either a hotel or senior-living complex adjacent to George Mason University’s Manassas campus. ing a mixed-use environment that is more attractive to students and faculty,” a county background report
Associate Editor John Toler, 540-351-0487 jtoler@fauquier.com Community Editor Anita Sherman, 540.351.1635 asherman@fauquier.com Staff Writers Amanda Heincer, 540-878-2418 aheincer@fauquier.com James Ivancic, 540-878-2414 jivancic@fauquier.com Leland Schwartz, 540-351-0488 lschwartz@fauquier.com Jonathan Hunley jhunley@fauquier.com Sports Editor Peter Brewington, 540-351-1169 pbrewington@fauquier.com Sports Staff Writer Jeff Malmgren, 540-874-2250 jmalmgren@fauquier.com ADVERTISING Ad Manager Kathy Mills Godfrey 540-351-1162 kgodfrey@fauquier.com Classified Sales Consulatant Jeanne Cobert, 540-878-2491 jcobert@fauquier.com
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said. “The commercial space in the town center will provide additional office product to attract targeted sector businesses, such as information technology, life science and government contracting companies.” The town center will be built on now vacant and undeveloped land adjacent to the Mason campus on the northeast side of Va. 234. County officials will have to agree to rezone the property to accommodate the residential units. The sale of the property is contingent on the supervisors’ approval of that rezoning, but it’s not clear when a rezoning might come before the board. As part of the sale deal, the county agreed to reimburse Miller & Smith up to $5 million to help with the development of infrastructure for the town center. Miller & Smith also developed the nearby Victory Lakes subdivision and the popular One Loudoun mixed-use development in Ashburn. “It’s been well-received,” May
said of that project. The supervisors voted 7-0 to approve the sale agreement. Supervisor Pete Candland, R-Gainesville, abstained from the vote because he said he wanted more information before making a decision. Supervisor Jeanine Lawson, whose district includes Innovation Park, said that a town center next to the George Mason campus has been a part of the plan for the area for decades but didn’t generate much interest from the commercial development community. “However, the tide has turned at Innovation Park,” Lawson, R-Brentsville, said in an email. “In my three years in office, we’ve been successful in attracting 21 new companies to Innovation, so it is no surprise that the developer of the highly successful One Loudoun jumped at the chance to bring their concept to Prince William.” Reach Jonathan Hunley at jhunley@fauquier.com
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Gainesville/Prince William Times | www.princewilliamtimes.com | August 15, 2018
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Megachurch Manassas woman killed with blunt youth leader object, man charged with murder arrested on Comfortable Commuting Staff Reports an with a blunt owner who was living in the home, object, according was arrested and charged with murnew charges of A woman found beaten to death to a press release. der in connection with the incident, late Friday at a home in the YorkThe home- according to police. shire area of Manassas has been sexual abuse Traveling to and from work can be c owner attempted Wolfe is being held atmore the Prince identified as Terri Jo Hilbrand, 54, of to intervene and William County Adult Detention Manassas. A man believed to be her Staff Reports was pushed aside Center without bond pending a Sept. acquaintance has been arrested and byyou the accused, 25 courtOmni date, the police Ride press reand affordable when use o Jordan David Baird, a former charged with her murder, according sustaining a mi- lease said. youth leader of a local megachurch who was convicted in February for sexually abusing an underage girl in his congregation, was arrested again this week on two more counts of sexual abuse involving an underage girl. Baird, 27, of Warrenton, was released from Prince William County jail Thursday, Aug. 9, after posting a $10,000 bond on the additional charges: two Jordan David counts of indeBaird cent liberties with a child by person in a custodial or supervisory relationship. The charges stem from incidents that took place in late 2014, according to indictments handed down by a Prince William County grand jury Monday, Aug. 6. Baird had been a youth leader at The Life Church, which has three meeting locations, in Warrenton, Manassas and Winchester, before he was arrested on initial charges last year. It’s not clear if Baird turned himself into authorities in the wake of the new indictments. Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Ebert did not immediately answer a call for comment Thursday. Sgt. Jonathan Perok, spokesman for the Prince William County Police Department, referred inquiries about the charges to Ebert’s office. Back in February, Judge Burke F. McCahill sentenced Baird to more than five years in jail for previous indecent liberties charges. Baird was also sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay $12,000 in restitution to the victim’s family. McCahill suspended all but eight months of Baird’s sentence on the earlier charges. It’s not clear how much time Baird actually served in jail following the February conviction. Baird’s conviction in February stemmed from sexually-suggestive messages and charges he groped an underage girl multiple times at The Life Church between January and September 2015. The teen testified during the trial she refused Baird’s unwanted sexual advances and told him what he was doing was wrong on more than one occasion. Reach us at news@fauquier.com
to Prince William County police. Hilbrand’s body was discovered by police at about 11:47 p.m. Friday, Aug. 10, when they responded to a call in the 8900 block of Rugby Road in the Manassas area of Prince William County. The 84-year-old homeowner was sleeping in his bedroom when he woke to the sound of a commotion inside the residence. Upon checking on the noise, he observed the accused physically assaulting a wom-
nor injury. The homeowner then fled the residence and went to a neighbor’s home where police were contacted, the press release said. Police arrived to find Hilbrand lying unresponsive near the front door. She was pronounced dead at the scene, the press release said. Dale Andrew Wolfe, 56, a family member of the 84-year-old home-
The investigation further showed that the accused and the woman were involved in an altercation that escalated. After being detained, officers discovered that the accused had a laceration to his arm. Both the accused and the homeowner were transported to an area hospital for treatment. Hilbrand’s body was transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Manassas, the press release said.
Minnieville Road just before 4 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 8, to investigate a crash involving a pedestrian, Prince William County police spokesman Sgt. Jonathan Perok said in a news release. Police determined that a 2010
Road due to traffic, police said. The pickup truck driver exited his vehicle and began to approach the Galant, police said. The driver of the Galant then “maneuvered into the left lanes.” As he did so, the driver of the pickup and
The driver of the Galant stopped and contacted police, the news release said. The pickup driver, identified as Larry Dean Walker, 53, of Woodbridge, died at the scene, police said.
Dale Andrew Wolfe
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