The trial of Dale Anthony Crawford, a former Manassas car salesman, was scheduled to start May 1. However, a last-minute crisis will leave Crawford awaiting trial a little longer. Crawford’s defense attorney Liz Murtagh was diagnosed with a serious illness April 26; the trial will be rescheduled next week once Murtagh knows the course of her treatment.
Crawford stands accused of murdering his estranged wife, Sarah Louise Crawford, and dumping her body in Room 118 of the Quality Inn off Emmet Street on November 18, 2004. He then allegedly fled to Florida where, a week later, he was discovered in Jacksonville. Charlottesville police ordered him extradited back to Virginia to face the charges against him: use of a firearm, abduction and first-degree murder.—Nell Boeschenstein