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Canosa |
The estranged wife of a slain Orange County sheriff's investigator will stay in jail for the foreseeable future while waiting to face charges in his death.
Bob Canosa, 55, died Sunday morning as a result of multiple gunshot wounds he received Dec. 11. He and his wife had been separated since March, according to Sheriff Mark Amos, and she was arrested by Virginia State Police that evening and charged in the shooting.
Brenda Lee Canosa, who lives in Rochelle in Madison County, has now been charged with first-degree murder and the use of a firearm in commission of a felony. Previous charges of attempted murder and malicious wounding have been dropped, according to Commonwealth's Attorney Diana Wheeler.
Canosa underwent multiple surgeries for his wounds at the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville.
According to Chief Deputy Tim Murphy, Canosa was moved from the intensive-care unit last Wednesday and "was getting remarkably stronger every day." Murphy said he was told that Canosa "developed an infection, but someone also said he got a blood clot in his lung."
Canosa was returned to the intensive-care unit, where he died late Sunday morning.
Brenda Lee Canosa, 49, was scheduled to appear in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court yesterday afternoon, but snow from the weekend storm kept her attorney, Dana Slater, from making it to court.
Nevertheless, J&DR Judge Frank Somerville heard from Slater by telephone and as a result Canosa's status was not changed. Bail has not been sought and Canosa continues to be held in Central Virginia Regional Jail in Orange.
A preliminary hearing will be held in J&DR court Feb. 8 to determine probable cause for an indictment in Orange County Circuit Court. Wheeler plans to present bills of indictment to the grand jury March 22.
A bond hearing may be held before Wheeler presents evidence to the grand jury, but it has not been scheduled.
Canosa, 55, was a veteran law enforcement officer. He started his career in this area, continued with the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department in New York, and returned to this area after retirement.
He had worked for the town of Orange Police Department, the Culpeper County Sheriff's Office and, since 2007, the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
As an investigator for the Orange County, Canosa recently solved an armed robbery at the Wachovia bank near Lake of the Woods and an armed robbery at the nearby Wilderness Center Pharmacy.
Canosa was also the coordinator of the Citizens Police Academy, a popular weekly program that familiarizes citizens with law enforcement and the workings of the Sheriff's Office.
According to Murphy, funeral arrangements have not been made, pending an autopsy by the state medical examiner in Richmond.
Robin Knepper: 540/972-5701
Email: rknepper@earthlink.net
