BY CHELYEN DAVIS
An Orange County sheriff's investigator who was shot earlier this month died yesterday, and his estranged wife was charged with murder.
State Police Sgt. Les Tyler said Robert Vincent Canosa, 55, died around noon at the University of Virginia hospital of complications related to multiple gunshot wounds.
His estranged wife, Brenda Lee Canosa, 49, of Rochelle in Madison County, was already being held without bond in the Central Virginia Regional Jail in the case.
Deputies responded to a 911 call to a home in Unionville just after 6 a.m. Dec. 11, and found Robert Canosa suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Canosa was separated from his wife and had been staying in the house, which belonged to Orange County Chief Deputy Tim Murphy.
Canosa was an investigator and had been with the Orange Sheriff's Office since 2007. He was employed with the Culpeper County Sheriff's Office from 2004 to 2007. He was off-duty at the time of the shooting.
The Orange Sheriff's Office asked the Virginia State Police to take over the investigation because it involved one of the department's own members.
Police arrested Brenda Canosa at her home the evening of the shooting, and charged her with attempted first-degree murder, one count of malicious wounding and one count of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. She has now been charged with first-degree murder, Tyler said.
Orange County Sheriff Mark Amos said the Canosas had been separated since March.
Chelyen Davis: 540/368-5028
Email: cdavis@freelancestar.com