A Fairfax County jury convicted a Falls Church area man of capital murder Tuesday, and Mark E. Lawlor, 45, could now face the death penalty.
Attorneys for Lawlor admitted their client beat, sexually assaulted and killed, with 30 blows from a hammer, a woman in her Seven Corners-area apartment on Sept. 24, 2008. The victim, Genevieve Orange, 29, was a resident of a studio apartment in an apartment building where Lawlor was a leasing agent. A native of Roanoke, a 2001 graduate of Virginia Tech, she was a popular member of the McLean Bible Church where she sang in the choir, helped with a children’s group and attended Bible study. She was watching TV in her apartment when Lawlor, who according to reports was high on crack cocaine, broke in to assault her.
The same jury that convicted Lawlor will now determine his sentence.
