FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 1, 2013
Contact: Heather F. Williamson
Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office
20 East Market Street
Leesburg, VA 20176-2809
(703) 777-0242
ORANGE COUNTY MAN SENTENCED FOR
MALICIOUS WOUNDING
JUDGE IMPOSES 16 YEARS
LEESBURG, Virginia – October 1, 2013. Bryant Matthew Parker, 67, appeared before the Circuit Court of Loudoun County, in custody, for sentencing on one count of malicious wounding. Judge Thomas D. Horne sentenced Parker to 16 years of active incarceration in the Virginia Department of Corrections.
In early December, 2011, Parker stabbed his estranged wife twice in the chest while she slept in her bed. The victim suffered a collapsed lung, along with numerous contusions and lacerations to her head, wrist, chest and eye.
Parker pleaded guilty to the charge of malicious wounding on September 4, 2012.
During the sentencing hearing, Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Gigi Lawless submitted evidence including numerous photos of both the crime scene and the victim’s injuries. Lawless also played 28 voicemails left by Parker for the victim in the weeks prior to the incident.
The victim testified in detail about her physical and emotional wounds, describing how she “lives in fear every single day,” because her husband “tried to maim and kill” her.
Prior to imposing a sentence Horne addressed Parker directly, telling him that when he pleaded guilty he “admitted that this was a purposeful act on [his] part.” Horne further explained that the evidence supported that the incident was a purposeful act and that the sentencing guidelines were “woefully inadequate.”
In addition to the total active sentence of 16 years, Horne imposed an additional four years of suspended time. Upon his release from prison, Parker will be placed on supervised probation for a period of four years.
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