Va. police investigate whether stabbing spree suspect is responsible for unsolved 2009 killing

Va. police eye stabbing suspect in 2009 slaying

LEESBURG, Va. — A Virginia police chief says his department is investigating whether the suspect in a three-state stabbing spree is responsible for another unsolved death.

Police in Leesburg, Va., believe Elias Abuelazam (ee-LY’-uhs A’-boo-LAH’-zuhm) attacked three people there. He is also a suspect in 15 stabbings in Michigan and Ohio, five of them fatal.

Leesburg Police Chief Joseph Price said Friday that police have learned that Abuelazam was in the Leesburg area in March 2009 when 44-year-old Jammie (JAY-mee) Lane was stabbed. At one point, Abuelazam lived directly across the sidewalk from him in a townhouse community.

If authorities connect Abuelazam to Lane’s death, he could face the death penalty. Michigan, where the other deadly attacks occurred, does not have capital punishment.