Suspect in Gallaudet Murders Caught

Feb. 13 -- Washington, D.C., police have charged 20-year-old JosephMesa Junior of Gaum with two counts of murder in the deaths of deaf studentsBenjamin Varner and Eric Plunkett.

Police Chief Charles Ramsey tonight said the motive in both murderswas robbery. The freshman lived in the dormitory next to wherefellow freshman Varner and Plunkett lived and were found murdered.

Ramsey says Mesa is expected to bearraigned in D.C. Superior Court on Wednesday.

Early this morning investigators searched a dormitory, Krug Hall, as part of the investigation into student Benjamin Varner’s death.

Police would not reveal what, if anything was recovered and what exactly was searched.

Varner, a 19-year-old freshman from Texas, was found stabbed to death in his Cogswell Hall dorm room on Feb. 3. It’s the same building where Plunkett, also 19, was found dead in September.