Woman kills 3 roommates, then leads police on chase 400 miles away, Virginia cops say

A woman accused of killing her three roommates in Virginia was arrested after a high-speed chase nearly 400 miles away in New York, authorities said.

Alyssa Venable, 23, killed her 60-, 65- and 77-year-old roommates at the home they shared, according to a news release from the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office.

The evening of June 4, deputies said they received a request for a welfare check and found Gregory Powell, Carol Reese and Robert McGuire dead with “upper body trauma.”

“After further investigation and evidence collection, it was discovered that a roommate had committed this heinous crime,” officials said.

But Venable had fled the state, and a manhunt for her began, according to investigators. Deputies said Venable may have shaved her head and offered a potential reward for information leading to her arrest.

Shortly before 6 p.m. on June 6, New York State Police troopers spotted Venable’s 2009 Honda Civic and tried to pull her over in Steuben County, authorities said.

She wouldn’t stop, and she led police on a chase that reached speeds of 100 miles per hour until the pursuers deflated her tires and caused her to crash, deputies said.

She was taken to a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries and is expected to be extradited to Virginia, authorities said.

She was wanted on three counts of second-degree murder and use of a firearm during the commission of a felony, according to the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office.

Spotsylvania County is about a 60-mile drive north from Richmond.

This story was originally published June 7, 2024 at 2:44 PM with the headline "Woman kills 3 roommates, then leads police on chase 400 miles away, Virginia cops say."