Virginia Murder Suspect Was a 'Sociopath in Training'

Suspected killers of Nicole Lovell, 13, attend court hearing
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted May 23, 2016 7:45 PM CDT
Updated May 24, 2016 6:21 AM CDT
Virginia Murder Suspect Was a 'Sociopath in Training'
This undated photo provided by Tammy Weeks shows her daughter, Nicole Lovell, posing when she was 10 in Blacksburg, Va.   (Tammy Weeks via AP)

The alleged killers of a 13-year-old Virginia girl sat in court Friday as police painted a grim portrait of them, People reports. Former Virginia Tech students Natalie Keepers, 19, and David Eisenhauer, 18, heard how Nicole Lovell was allegedly lured from her home on Jan. 27, murdered by Eisenhauer, and dumped beside a rural North Carolina road. Keepers "told us that she was part of a secret club, and it was the best club in the world because Eisenhauer understood her," testified Detective Ryan Hite. Keepers called Eisenhauer a "sociopath," per Hite, and referred to herself as "a sociopath in training." Investigators say Keepers broke into tears and gave them a detailed confession but denied involvement in the actual killing, the Roanoke Times reports.

Without giving a motive, investigators say Keepers and Eisenhauer planned Nicole's murder the day before she vanished. Eisenhauer denies killing Nicole, but he allegedly threw a bloody knife in the woods, got help from Keepers relocating the body, and joined her in washing their bloody clothes at a laundromat. The pair also left a trail of electronic evidence including store surveillance footage and instant messages, the New York Times reports. "It will never be traced," Eisenhauer is said to have texted Keepers. She texted him about smelling "like cleaning supplies" after they allegedly washed Nicole's body. "I don't want to smell like that," she added. "I want to take a shower." A judge at the probable cause hearing ruled there was enough evidence against them to proceed to a grand jury, which will convene July 26. (Nicole's mom says the girl met Eisenhauer on "some off-the-wall" website.)

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