Charles Severance is wheeled into the courtroom at the Fairfax County Circuit Court in Fairfax, Va., for his sentencing.

Jan. 21, 2016 Charles Severance is wheeled into the courtroom at the Fairfax County Circuit Court in Fairfax, Va., for his sentencing. Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post

Charles Severance, who was found guilty of fatally shooting three people between 2003 and 2014, is sentenced to life in prison.

Charles Severance is found guilty of fatally shooting three people between 2003 and 2014.

Charles Severance is found guilty of fatally shooting three people between 2003 and 2014.

Surveillance video from near the scene of a killing helped authorities link eccentric former Alexandria resident Charles Severance to the slayings of three prominent city residents, a recently unsealed search warrant shows.

Investigators obtained footage showing a red 1990s-model Ford Escort speeding away from the vicinity of the home of music teacher Ruthanne Lodato about the time she was shot and killed there in February, according to the search warrant in Fairfax County.

The video does not show the car’s license plate, but Severance drove himself to the Russian Embassy in the District about a month later in a 1999 red Ford Escort and sought asylum, the search warrant reveals.

The new details help fill in what has been one of the big unanswered questions about the high-profile case: What evidence ties Severance to the slayings of Lodato, transportation planner Ronald Kirby in 2013 and real estate agent Nancy Dunning in 2003? He was charged with murder this month in all three cases.

Alexandria police had previously only said the same gun may have been used in the killings, based on a forensic examination of ballistic evidence. All three victims were gunned down in the middle of the day near their homes’ front doors.

(The Washington Post)

The search warrant also sheds new light on other aspects of the case. All three victims were shot multiple times in the upper body with a small-caliber weapon, according to the search warrant.

The key break in the search for a killer came after authorities released a composite sketch of the man who shot Lodato. The search warrant says at least two people contacted Alexandria police to say the sketch looked like Severance. Detectives began investigating him.

The search warrant reveals that detectives stumbled upon a chilling Internet comment left by a someone whose handle was the same as a Web site Severance maintained: “Political power comes out of the barrel of a gun. Vive le terror.”

Severance was a fringe candidate for mayor in Alexandria in 1996 and 2000 and ran for other offices.

The search warrant was served in March.

Detectives filed it to search Severance’s parents’ home in Oakton, Va., where he maintained a room. Authorities recovered 32 items, including rifle rounds, computer disks, a cellphone and clothing. No guns were found, and police have said the firearm used in the killings has not been located.

Severance is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 23 in Alexandria.

Charles Severance has been indicted in three high-profile killings in Alexandria, Va. Severance ran for mayor of the city in 1996. During his opening statement of a mayoral debate hosted by the League of Women Voters, Severance spoke partially in Spanish and pushed for spending cuts in Alexandria. (Courtesy of Ginny Parry, former co-president of Alexandria's League of Women Voters)

Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report.