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UPDATE: Medical examiner says victim was still alive during attack | LoudounTimes.com

BREAKING NEWS: Combs-LaFleur convicted of first-degree murder

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UPDATE: Medical examiner says victim was still alive during attack
Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011 by Laura Peters | 7 comments | Email this story

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Catherine Cacey Combs-LaFleur was still alive while being struck up to seven times in the head with a two-pound sledgehammer, according to a medical examiner who testified on Nov. 16 during day three of the Steven Combs-Lafleur murder trial. There was tissue reaction and blood that had come to the surface, the Assistant Chief of Medicine for the Virginia Department of Health Dr. Constance DiAngelo said. Her heart is still beating when the injuries were sustained. Steven Combs-LaFleur, 61, was charged with first-degree murder of his wife, Cacey Combs-LaFleur on Sept. 18, 2010. His defense attorney, Matt Snow says the murder was a mercy kill. Steven Combs-LaFleur could face life in prison. According to one of Steven Combs-LaFleurs stories to investigators, he had fallen off a ladder when his wife opened a door and bumped into it while at their home in Leesburg.
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DiAngelo said none of the wifes injuries were consistent with a fall off a ladder and could not have caused the damage to the wifes skull. She said it looked more like a fall from a great distance or being hit with a heavy object. DiAngelo also said there was no evidence of CPR being performed on Cacey Combs-LaFleur at the couples home. The medical examiner was unable to conclude if the wife was conscious or unconscious during the incident. Testimony on Nov. 16 revealed a possible motive in the murder of Cacey Combs-LaFleur. Scott Sanfore, Steven Combs-LaFleurs cell mate at Middle River Regional Jail in Staunton testified that the defendant had a mistress and thought his wife was getting in the way of their happiness. He said Cacey was getting in the way with the good times he was having with [her], Sanfore said. Sanfore said the defendant approached him while in prison about his crime. He graphically described the incident, at first he said it was an accident, Sanfore said. He said that he took a hammer and bashed in his wifes head. He wanted to put her out of her misery and pulled a hammer to her head and killed her, he continued. Sanfore, now known as a snitch in jail, has been put in protective custody while serving out his remaining time in Fairfax County. He cooperated with the commonwealth in order to get a reduced parole violation sentence in Fairfax County. I felt it was the right thing to do and I didnt want to see a murderer go free, Sanfore explained why he came forward. Sanfore said Steven Combs-LeFleur spoke of his mistress often and called her daily. As for his

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Sanfore said Steven Combs-LeFleur spoke of his mistress often and called her daily. As for his wife knowing of the affair, Sanfore said Steven Combs-LaFleur said she wouldnt understand. The science Cacey Combs-LaFleurs head went forward during the impact, according to Virginia Department of Forensic Science Marjorie Harris, because of the blood saturating her hair and the blood stains on her clothes. When she was struck she was entirely upright, Harris said.
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The size of the blood stains on Steven LaFleurs clothing was a small pattern on the front of his shirt and in the groin area of his pants, according to Harris. Blood stain pattern analyst for said the smaller the size of the blood spatter the greater the force that created it.

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Harris also said the pattern in the groin area of Steven Combs-LaFleurs pants indicates that his legs had to be spread in order for the blood to get in that area.

Nathan Himes, a forensic scientist for the Virginia Department of Forensic Science performed DNA analysis on the sledgehammer and shoes and shirt that were on Steven Combs-LaFleur. He said there was no way to refute that the DNA sample that he gathered was the blood of Cacey Combs-LaFleur. The case was being prosecuted on Nov. 16 by Assistant Virginia Commonwealth Attorney Nicole Whitman. The mistress Devi OConnell first met Steven Combs-LaFleur at Tuscarora Mills restaurant in Leesburg eight years ago. OConnell said they had started a sexual relationship seven years ago and have continued contact through his time in jail. According to OConnell, Catherine Cacey Combs-LaFleur wasnt aware of the relationship between her and her husband. The two had vacationed together many times, once in Florida and another at Steven Combs-LaFleurs vacation home in Kitty Hawk, N.C.

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Steven Combs-LaFleur has kept continuous contact with OConnell while in jail, calling her up to three times a day and writing her letters. OConnell said she burned every letter he had written her. He has been abandoned, no one has been in touch with him, OConnell said on why she answers his phone calls. They had a large circle of friends and no one stays in touch with him. I thought it was important to stay in touch. I think its important to have contact with someone on the outside. OConnell admitted to not only having drinks with Steven Combs-LaFleur but with his wife. OConnell even spoke alone with the defendants wife numerous times at Tuscarora Mill restaurant and considered her a beautiful person. According to OConnell, Steven Combs-LaFleur told her he loved her on numerous occasions. OConnell said their relationship wasnt romantic and she may have told him that she loved him, but they were more of close friends. No matter how horrifying this experience is its important for someone to be thinking of him, she said. Steven Combs-LaFleur is set to take the stand either Nov. 17 or 18. Check LoudounTimes.com for updates on this trial.
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Comments
Thu, Nov 17 at 11:30 AM by nohopeforhumans | Report this comment

That mistress needs her head examined. The guy killed his wife, and she says ...its important to be thinking about him...Sick world we live in.