A former Culpeper Police officer faces up to 25 years in prison for killing local housewife Patricia Ann Cook, 54, nearly a year ago on East Street.
A 12-member jury Tuesday found Daniel Harmon-Wright, 33, guilty of voluntary manslaughter, shooting into an occupied vehicle and shooting into an occupied vehicle resulting in death following about nine hours of deliberation Monday and Tuesday.
"I don't see this as a categorical statement with respect to law enforcement," said special prosecutor Jim Fisher, Fauquier County Commonwealth's Attorney, in a press conference following the verdict. "I think this was a unique situation with a unique defendant, who stepped out of line in a very aggressive fashion and broke the rules so the system has held him accountable."
A dramatic silence filled the courtroom in Culpeper County Circuit Court when word came in around 4:15 p.m. that a verdict had been reached. Harmon-Wright, prior to taking his seat beside attorney Daniel Hawes, kissed his wife on the mouth. The mother of his baby son attended all six days of the trial, beginning last Tuesday along with at least nine other family members.
Harmon-Wright, a former U.S. Marine, who served a tour in Iraq, covered his face with his hands as the verdict was read, and one female juror wiped away tears. The former Culpeper Police Officer was then handcuffed and escorted by three Culpeper County Sheriff's bailiffs to the Culpeper County Jail, adjacent to the courthouse.
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