Fair. Trusted. Reporting in Rappahannock County and across Virginia’s Piedmont.

Donate

In partnership with the

Chester Brown murder trial postponed awaiting lab analysis — including DNA of another person

by | Feb 12, 2026

(Photo/Luke Christopher)
A Rappahannock County Circuit Court judge on Monday postponed the murder trial of Chester Brown for seven months to allow time for forensic and DNA analysis to be completed as well as provide Brown’s attorneys time to prepare. Brown is charged in the 2023 murder and strangulation of Washington resident Doris Critzer.

Included in the lab analysis is DNA related to an undisclosed person who Commonwealth’s Attorney Art Goff said has a “strong alibi” at the time of the murder.  Goff declined to comment further on the pending DNA analysis, but wrote in an email to the Rappahannock News that there is not a new suspect in the case.

Brown’s five-day trial, originally scheduled from March 30 to April 2, is postponed to Oct. 26-30 with jury selection beginning Friday, Oct. 23. If a Rappahannock jury cannot be chosen, Judge Robert Smith said he has arranged for a Loudoun County jury and courtroom to be available. 

Goff objected to the postponement, citing scheduling challenges for the prosecution’s 28 witnesses, including many from the state forensic lab who are hard to nail down because they often are testifying in other, larger jurisdictions.

“It’s like herding cats … It took a lot to get this together,” Goff said. “The sooner we can get this tried the better.” He suggested waiting until Feb. 19, the next Circuit Court date in the case,  to see if the pending evidence is returned by then. 

Ryan Ruzic, one of Brown’s attorneys, had asked that the trial be moved to a later date, not only because of the pending forensic and DNA analysis but also because he and co-counsel, Paul Fore, were assigned the case in December. 

“That only leaves the public defender’s office really only about two months to prepare for a jury trial,” Ruzic told Smith. “It’s not as simple as having [case information] in hand … it takes work, especially in a case as serious as this.”

Ruzic also said the defense had been “literally handed new evidence this morning” which he identified as a “certificate of authenticity” adding that he had not yet had a chance to review it.

Goff told the judge that he is awaiting test results on a white T-shirt, that the lab estimated would be returned in about a week, and DNA analysis related to the other individual, which is estimated to be returned in two to three weeks. 

Brown has been described in court documents and previous court proceedings as “wearing sweatpants [and] a white t-shirt” the day Critzer was killed. In a December court appearance, Brown said he wanted some of his clothes brought into evidence that he said were not entered by investigators. It was not clear in Monday’s proceedings if the new evidence was being tested for the defense or prosecution. 

Ruzic could not be reached for comment before the newspaper’s deadline. 

Smith granted the trial postponement, noting that the crime lab estimated one piece of evidence would not be returned for another two to three weeks, leaving less than 30 days for the defense to review new material before trial. “I see no reason to delay making the decision,” Smith said.

Author

  • Ireland Hayes

    Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner.
    Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.
Republish License

Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. AP and Getty images may not be republished. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics.

By Ireland Hayes

Read more articles by Ireland Hayes
Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner. Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.