Man Indicted in Slayings of 2 at U.S. Capitol

A federal grand jury charged Russell E. Weston Jr. on Friday with murdering two policemen and attempting to murder another at the U.S. Capitol last summer.

Weston, 41, who has a 20-year history of mental illness, was indicted on two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and three counts of using a pistol during a violent crime. He could face the death penalty.

“It’s definitely not a surprise,” said Barry Boss, an assistant public defender representing Weston.

An arraignment was set for Wednesday, when the defense may begin unfurling an insanity defense. Weston was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic years ago.

Capitol Police Officers Jacob J. Chestnut and John Gibson died of gunshots from a .38-caliber revolver fired by Weston during the July 24 incident, prosecutors say. A visitor, Angela Dickerson, 24, of Chantilly, Va., was slightly wounded.

Weston remains in custody without bond, hospitalized with gunshot wounds he received from Gibson, who blocked Weston’s entry into a suite of offices for Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas), the House majority whip.

A team of defense psychiatrists has been authorized to visit Weston, and its evaluations likely would form the basis for any insanity claim. Prosecutors have lined up their own doctors, but they have not been allowed to visit Weston.

Weston, whose family lives in Valmeyer, Ill., near St. Louis, remains under guard in a locked ward at District of Columbia General Hospital, where he has had at least five operations. At a court appearance last month, he was still unable to walk, defense lawyer A.J. Kramer said.

Prosecutors have offered no suspected motive for the shootings.