LEESBURG, Va. (AP) — A judge has found probable cause to certify weapons charges against an Ashburn man who also is wanted for questioning in the deaths of three Alexandria residents over the last decade.

The ruling Wednesday by Judge Deborah Welsh means that 53-year-old Charles Severance will remain in custody while prosecutors pursue a formal indictment.

He is charged with illegally possessing firearms despite a felony record. His lawyers, though, say the charge is a sham to hold Severance while Alexandria police continue to investigate the unsolved shootings there, which are unconnected to the weapons charge in Loudoun.

Alexandria Police have tried to question Severance but have declined to identify him as a suspect.

Severance’s lawyer argued that the firearms in the Loudoun case actually belonged to Severance’s live-in girlfriend.

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