After hearing nearly a dozen witnesses lay out the prosecution’s case against Chester Brown in the murder of Washington resident Doris Critzer — including new DNA evidence — a Rappahannock County District Court judge on Tuesday found enough probable cause to send the charges to a grand jury.
The new DNA evidence includes a single one-dollar bill stained with a drop of Critzer’s blood. There also was the presence of male DNA under her fingernails. Tests could not eliminate Brown’s DNA profile, and it is statistically-likely to belong to him, according to the testimony of a forensic scientist.
“These are the best numbers you’ll see in this kind of testing,” senior forensic scientist Mimi Smith said.
The dollar bill was found in Brown’s backpack among 49 other one-dollar bills and other forms of currency totaling $1,640 the day after Critzer’s body was discovered. It was not disclosed at the hearing where the money came from.
Critzer, 74, was found murdered Aug. 23, 2023, two years ago this month, in the kitchen of her home on Rawls Lane. Brown, 64, a longtime friend who often worked for her, has been charged with first-degree murder and strangulation.
None of Critzer’s blood was found on other items of Brown’s that have been sent to the lab, including his bike pedals, shoes and a pair of sweatpants.
Law enforcement is still waiting on two more pieces of evidence sent to the Virginia Department of Forensics three weeks ago, including a white T-shirt dotted with a red stain.
A grand jury will consider the two charges against Brown — strangulation and first-degree murder — and decide whether to indict at a specially-called session on Aug. 21, the second anniversary of Critzer’s death.
During Tuesday’s hearing, members of Rappahannock and Fauquier County law enforcement, forensic scientists and a paramedic testified to their involvement in the investigation of Critzer’s murder and the conclusions they have drawn so far. A cashier from Baldwin’s Grocery and Critzer’s aunt, who discovered her body, also testified.
Critzer was discovered on the floor of her kitchen by her aunt, Montrue Frazier, who went to check on her that morning after not hearing from her for several days. When a paramedic and law enforcement arrived, Critzer was pronounced dead on the scene, with signs of strangulation and multiple “severe lacerations” to her neck, according to witness testimony.
Capt. James Jones, who was present at the autopsy in Manassas, said the medical examiner ruled Critzer’s death a homicide, specifically sharp-force trauma to the neck and compression of the neck. The doctor discovered her hyoid bone, located in the neck, was fractured, which often points to strangulation. “[It’s] usually a very strong compression force to break that,” he said.
When interviewed by Rappahannock and Fauquier County investigators in the days after Critzer’s body was found, Brown said he had been in Critzer’s home on Sunday, Aug. 20, but then changed his story to visiting the evening of her death on Monday, Aug. 21.
During Brown’s initial interview Aug. 24, investigators testified that they could smell alcohol on Brown. Brown’s attorney, Ryan Rakness, asked if the investigators ever asked him how much he had had to drink or performed any blood alcohol or field-sobriety tests on him before questioning him further. They said they had not.
Investigators testified that Brown told them he shopped at Baldwin’s Grocery, then went to Critzer’s home nearby. Brown said when he arrived Critzer was ending a phone call, and the pair sat on the couch and talked politics, then tried to have sex but were unsuccessful, according to their testimony.
The cashier working in the store that day, Constance “Connie” O’Donnell, testified that Brown’s visit “stuck out” to her because he purchased two bottles of wine after asking her to recommend a brand.
“He bought the usual things and some bottles of wine, which was unusual of Chester because he’d never bought wine before,” O’Donnell said from the witness stand. “He was looking for a recommendation … and said he was going to see someone and was hoping to get lucky.”
Brown told investigators when he left Critzer’s home, she closed the door behind him. He described Critzer as wearing a long, black T-shirt when he left. Investigators said those were the same clothes she was wearing when she was found.
When investigators told Brown that Critzer had been found murdered, they said he immediately denied involvement in her death. He later admitted to taking a gun from her nightstand, but maintained that he did not hurt Critzer.
The prosecution presented surveillance footage of Brown, obtained from The Inn at Little Washington, riding west down Main Street toward Baldwin’s Grocery around 3:30 p.m. Aug. 21. He then returned westbound around 5:30 p.m. Rakness pointed out that no blood or lacerations were visible on Brown in the later video, and investigators did not notice any injuries on him in the days after Critzer’s murder.
“I say to you that the only way Mr. Brown could have encountered Doris Critzer’s blood was at the scene,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Art Goff told Judge Ian Williams. “The evidence is overwhelming that he is the killer.”
