Teen Says He Witnessed Deadly Assault on Loudoun Couple, Helped Attackers After

A 17-year-old Loudoun County youth told police in April that he witnessed portions of the beating death of William Bennett along a Lansdowne parkway in February, that the two men who killed Bennett laughed about the crime as he drove them away, and that he helped them burn their blood-soaked clothes after the random attack.

The teenager was in court facing a first-degree murder charge in the case. At the end of a nearly four-hour preliminary hearing, a Loudoun juvenile court judge dismissed the charge because of a technicality: Prosecutors were unable to prove he was younger than 18. The teenager was not released because the judge found probable cause that he had assaulted another gang member with a beer bottle six days later.

Loudoun Chief Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney James P. Fisher said he would seek to refile the murder charge against the teenager, either by refiling a petition in juvenile court or by asking Juvenile Court Judge Avelina S. Jacob to reopen the case so he could file proof of the defendant's age. The judge said there was probable cause to send the case to a circuit court grand jury, where prosecutors want to try the teenager as an adult, but "you did not prove the age of the child."

Barry Zweig and Kimberly Irving, the teenager's attorneys, raised a raft of issues during the heated hearing that could foreshadow a complicated murder trial, including an apparent promise by police that the teen would not be charged in exchange for telling the truth. In addition to the youth, Darwin G. Bowman, 18, of Annandale is charged with capital murder. The youth implicated a second man, Anthony R. Roberts, 20, of Middleburg, who has not been charged in the slaying but is being held in the April burglary of a gun store.

The attack on Bennett, 57, and his wife, Cynthia Bennett, 55, as they took an early Sunday walk on Riverside Parkway sent chills through their upscale Loudoun community. Both were severely beaten, and Cynthia Bennett was critically injured and hospitalized for more than two months. Evidence presented in court Wednesday indicated that she was raped, and prosecutors said they would seek to file rape charges.

Police soon came to believe the episode was a random attack, and when Loudoun sheriff's deputies arrested the 17-year-old in April on an unrelated incident, their theory proved correct.

The Washington Post typically does not identify juvenile defendants unless they are certified to stand trial as adults.

The teenager told investigators that he was a member of the 18th Street gang and that on Feb. 28 he had been involved in a fight with members of Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13. Investigator Jeff Scalzo testified that on April 24 the teenager acknowledged hitting a rival gang member with a bottle but did not believe he had done any serious harm.

Then, investigator John H. Smith went in to talk about the Bennett case. The teenager initially denied any involvement, Smith said. But after about 30 minutes, the teenager said, "I didn't beat them; I was just driving."

The teenager said Bowman had called him for a ride from Leesburg back to Sterling, Smith said. The teenager drove to Leesburg and picked up Bowman and Roberts, Smith testified.

The teenager said that when Bowman and Roberts got in the van, they told him they had just robbed a woman and "there was discussion about ripping someone else, looking to rob someone else," Smith testified. Soon the white van came upon the Bennetts walking alone. The teenager said Bowman and Roberts told him to pull over, and the two got out, Smith testified.

The teenager said that Bowman and Roberts disappeared for 20 minutes and that Bowman didn't answer his cellphone, Smith testified. When Bowman did answer, he told the teenager to pull ahead. When he did, the teenager "saw Roberts was on top of the male, hitting him with his fist, and the man was down laying on the ground," Smith testified.

When Bowman and Roberts got back in the van, the teenager "saw blood on Bowman's hands and that Roberts was covered with blood," Smith testified.

As they drove away, Bowman and Roberts were laughing about their actions, Smith said the teenager told him. But shortly afterward, they told the teenager to turn around and return to Riverside Parkway and Rocky Creek Drive. The Bennetts were lying unconscious on opposite sides of the parkway.

Smith said the teenager reported that he and the other two men went in search of the Bennetts' shoes, which they grabbed and took to the van. The trio then drove to a gas station in Sterling, where the teenager said he bought gas for the van and helped Roberts fill a bottle with gas, Smith testified.

The teenager then drove to an industrial park, where Bowman and Roberts stripped down to their underwear, he told Smith. They soaked their bloody clothes in gas and burned evidence of the assault, Smith said the teenager told him.