A Virginia man accused of killing his wife allegedly carried a list of intended victims that included her name, according to court documents.
Roger Bradford, 60, was reportedly carrying the handwritten “hit list” in his vehicle when he was arrested in Pennsylvania.
Bradford had fled the $1.4 million home in Aldie where his wife, Lisa Bradford, 54, was found dead on September 22, records state.
A detective said in an affidavit supporting a search warrant that the list appeared in a journal and named several people Bradford allegedly planned to kill. The sheriff’s office said it included the words, “Lisa was to be killed on Tuesday.”
Bradford was extradited to Virginia earlier this week and appeared virtually before a court on Wednesday.
He was arraigned on charges including second-degree murder and a firearms offense related to his wife’s death.
Prosecutors have cited evidence they say indicates Bradford planned Lisa’s killing in advance.
The Commonwealth’s Attorney said there was “clear evidence of premeditation.”
Roger Bradford, 60, was allegedly carrying a “hit list” when he was arrested in Pennsylvania. He is accused of killing his wife, Lisa.
Lisa, pictured with her three children, Drew, Maddie and Kaitlyn, at a high school graduation, was remembered as a devoted mother who friends said “loved her children so much.”
Lisa was found dead inside the couple’s $1.4 million home in Aldie, Virginia, days before what would have been their 22nd wedding anniversary.
After allegedly killing his wife, Bradford called his sister-in-law and asked her to care for his children.
On the morning Lisa died, Bradford drove a rented Kia Sportage to a storage facility he shared with his brother, then stopped at Home Depot.
Surveillance footage allegedly showed him buying 36-inch nylon zip ties before driving to the family’s home on Quimby Oaks Place. He arrived at about 9 a.m., and detectives believe the shooting occurred soon afterward.
Deputies found Lisa face down in an upstairs bedroom with her hands bound behind her back, according to court records. Several bullet casings were scattered across the room, but the handgun investigators believe was used in the killing has not been found.
Around noon, Bradford’s sister contacted the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in a panic after allegedly receiving a call from him. Investigators said Bradford told her he had “shot and killed his wife.”
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He allegedly added that he planned to take his own life and asked his sister to pick up his minor daughter so she would not return to the house and find her mother.
Bradford instead fled in the rental vehicle. Authorities tracked him through Maryland and into Pennsylvania, where state police arrested him in Bedford County. He is being held at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center.
The couple’s marriage had reportedly been troubled, and Bradford had previously acknowledged that the relationship was under severe strain.
He spent 20 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud in a construction-related kickback scheme. In a court declaration filed earlier this year, Bradford wrote that the conviction had ruined his finances, harmed his mental health and contributed to the breakdown of his marriage.
‘My marriage with my wife Lisa is now headed to divorce,’ Bradford wrote, describing Lisa as an ‘incredible woman’ and saying the prospect of losing their marriage was ‘too much to bear.’
Prosecutors have pointed to evidence they say show Bradford had planned Lisa’s murder
Bradford previously served 20 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud over a construction-related kickback scheme. He described his incarceration as ‘extraordinarily difficult’
Lisa and Roger Bradford are pictured on their wedding day. Court filings reveal that years later Roger wrote that their marriage was ‘headed to divorce’ after his fraud conviction and prison
A vigil was held over the weekend for the beloved Virginia realtor
Friends, however, said they had seen little sign of the marital turmoil plaguing the realtor.
Lisa was known for forming close relationships with clients and colleagues, while friends described her as a devoted mother who adored her three children.
‘She was always smiling,’ friend Christy Stuart previously told Fox 5. ‘No matter every time I saw her, she would greet me with a smile and a hug.’
At a vigil held after her death, Lisa’s friend Jerien Okoh-Tisch played the cello in her memory. Lisa had once talked about learning the instrument herself and hoped one day to play Ave Maria.
‘She was such a light in our lives and such a light in this world,’ Okoh-Tisch said. ‘She loved her children so much.’
Now her three children are left to grapple with the loss of their mother and the horrifying allegations engulfing her brutal death.
Bradford indicated during Wednesday’s hearing that he wanted to represent himself, and he also asked for a bond hearing scheduled for October 28 to be moved one week earlier because the original date would have fallen on Lisa’s birthday.