Severance speaks out day before closing arguments

FAIRFAX, Va. - One day before closing arguments begin in his case, Charles Severance, who has spent much of his trial staring silently ahead, broke his silence.

Severance began by saying a "witness against himself," an idea for the Fifth Amendment that he told the court came up during the Northwest Indian War that ended in 1795. He then began speaking about himself in the third person, saying he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial and that charges against him should be dismissed.

Severance is accused of killing real estate agent Nancy Dunning in 2003, transportation planner Ronald Kirby in 2013 and music teacher Ruthanne Lodato last year. He has pleaded not guilty.

Closing arguments begin Wednesday morning at 10 a.m.