The appeal of a 42-year-old Ashburn man for a new trial on his first-degree murder conviction has been turned down by the Virginia intermediate appellate court.

David E. Cavalieri

On May 18, 2010, David E. Cavalieri was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted a few months earlier of killing his live-in girlfriend, Stacie Harper, March 29, 2009.
Cavalieri asked for a new trial on numerous grounds, the main one being that his crime did not constitute first-degree murder.

“I am very pleased the appeals court has ruled in our favor,” Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Plowman said. “There may be future attempts at appellate relief, but this is a pretty clear message that his appeals are going nowhere, and he will serve his life sentence for murdering Stacie.”

During the trial, testimony showed that Cavalieri strangled Harper to death during a heated argument, then tried to commit suicide three times before calling 911 in mid-April.

After Cavalieri choked Harper with his hands, he confessed to police that he smoked a cigarette and then wrapped a piece of twine around her neck and pulled it until his fingers were numb.

While prosecutors argued that Cavalieri committed first-degree murder, Cavalieri’s public defender Lorie O’Donnell argued that there was no premeditation, making the killing second-degree murder at the most.

Ultimately, the jury agreed with the prosecution and recommended that Judge James H. Chamblin sentence Cavalieri to life in prison for Harper’s death.

Chamblin upheld that sentence saying he saw no reason to deviate from it.

During the defense part of the sentencing, Cavalieri testified that what happened to Harper was “a horrible accident” and he was “shocked and completely confused” that the jury had found him guilty of first-degree murder since that indicates malice and premeditation.

Cavalieri said he thought the jury overlooked the fact that he was very drunk at the time and he had felt no heartbeat in Harper before he wrapped the twine around her neck.

“I will be sorry for the rest of my life wherever I am or whatever I am doing,” Cavalieri said

A large part of the prosecution’s case against Cavalieri was arguing that Harper was still alive after the initial strangling and ultimately died after Cavalieri smoked a cigarette then pulled a piece of twine around her neck.

“The trial was really an effort to show first degree murder which requires premeditation,” Plowman said. “We struggled with different ways to show that he had to specifically intend to kill her and avoid the fairly typical ‘I snapped’ defense.”

A key witness in the case was a martial arts expert who explained to the jury the use of various choke holds and the degree of effort needed to actually cause death by strangling.