Dec. 17--A Louisa man pleaded guilty Monday to nine felony charges he faced after county authorities used a beer can to link him to a burning SUV.
William C. Drymond, 27, pleaded guilty to two counts of grand larceny of an automobile; one count of arson of an automobile; two counts of grand larceny; two counts of felony petty larceny; one count of attempting to sell stolen goods; and one count of perjury, Louisa Commonwealth's Attorney Rusty McGuire said in a news release.
Louisa authorities found a Toyota Highlander stolen from Albemarle County in flames on April 12. During the investigation of the blaze, a Bud Light beer can similar to cans inside the vehicle's remains was found outside the vehicle.
Forensic scientists extracted Drymond's DNA from the can outside the SUV, McGuire said. The beer manufacturer said the unique identifiers on the cans indicated that they were made in the same factory within a 15-minute time frame.
Authorities arrested Drymond on April 15 near a car that was reported stolen from a house less than a half a mile from where the Highlander was burned. Inside the second car were "numerous stolen items" taken from inside cars parked at hotels in the Charlottesville area, McGuire said. Also inside the car were documents from Drymond's recent incarceration at the Central Virginia Regional Jail and a blood stain that forensic scientists said matched Drymond's DNA.
In July, Drymond testified under oath that he lived with his father and worked for his brother. He was granted bond, McGuire said, but was held under surveillance at the jail because of concerns about him being a flight risk. While at the jail, authorities heard conversations between Drymond and his family members that indicated that he lied under oath.
"In one phone conversation at the jail, Drymond pleaded with his sister to post his bail, saying he would never be found and 'catch me, catch me if you can,' assumingly referring to himself as the gingerbread man," McGuire said in an email.
After this conversation, Drymond was charged with perjury and held without bond.
Drymond is scheduled for sentencing in Louisa County Circuit Court in March. He faces as many as 120 years in prison, McGuire said.
Copyright 2013 - The Daily Progress, Charlottesville, Va.
