Sheppard v. Commonwealth

On Sunday, November 28, 1993, Richard A. Rosenbluth and Rebecca W. Rosenbluth, his wife, were murdered in their Chesterfield County home. The police discovered their bodies there two days later; multiple gunshot wounds were found in each body. On December 3, 1993, near 5:00 a.m., defendant Mark A. Sheppard was arrested in Henrico County after he was apprehended while preparing to set fire to Mr. Rosenbluth’s Nissan Pathfinder motor vehicle.

Subsequently, defendant, age 23, was charged in nine indictments as follows: three indictments for capital murder, two indictments for robbery, and four…