On Monday, February 5, the capital murder trial of Anthony Dale Crawford got underway at the Charlottesvile Circuit Court.
Charged with killing his estranged wife in November 2004, Crawford, 48, is being represented by Rhonda Quagliana. Prosecutors contend that he shot his wife in Northern Virginia, drove to Charlottesville, left her naked body in a Quality Inn hotel room, and then high-tailed it to Florida. In addition to capital murder, Crawford is charged with rape, abduction, two weapons counts and grand larceny.
 Sarah Crawford had a restraining order against her husband, Anthony Dale Crawford (above), in the weeks leading up to her gunshot death. |
Crawford’s suspicious behavior stretches back to 1992, when he was acquitted by a South Carolina court of the marital rape of his then-wife, Trish. Crawford argued that a video, which showed the couple having sex while her hands and feet were tied and her mouth and eyes were covered with duct tape, was evidence of a consensual game that the couple regularly played.
The Manassas resident’s version of the events in November 2004 is equally bizarre. He says he and his wife, Sarah Louise Crawford, were driving through Charlottesville on their way to a weekend trip to the mountains when he accidentally shot her while in the process of trying to kill himself.
Prosecutors rebut this version by saying that Sarah Louise lived in fear of her husband, and would never have agreed to take a trip with him. Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jon R. Zug also says that the day she disappeared she was scheduled to have a date with another man, who was surprised when she didn’t show up.
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