Police arrested a Virginia Beach man late Wednesday who was wanted in connection with three killings and an arson.
Cola W. Beale IV, 30, was arrested “without incident” just before midnight at a home in the Buckroe Beach area of Hampton, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
Beale was charged with three counts of second-degree murder. Police say one of the dead — 31-year-old Czavi’er Hill, of Virginia Beach — was Beale’s girlfriend. Neighbors told The Virginian-Pilot Beale was the son of another victim — 73-year-old Clifton Baxter — though Baxter may have been a father figure rather than biologically related.
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Bealealso was charged in the death of 32-year-old Downing D. Mclean, of Virginia Beach, whose body was found Monday in a Norfolk home. Police have not said how the pair are connected.
The first slaying was discovered last Thursday when firefighters extinguished a blaze at a townhome in the 5500 block of Baccalaureate Drive in Virginia Beach. Hill was found inside the home with a gunshot wound, according to police.
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The second killing was discovered Friday in the Bayside area of Virginia Beach. Police were called to check on the welfare of a resident in the 700 block of Linda Court when they discovered Baxter with a gunshot wound.
The third victim, Mclean, was found Monday inside a home in the 3000 block of Sewells Point Road. Norfolk police said he had gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police declined to comment on the relationship between Mclean and Beale and would not say whether they believe the homicide occurred inside the home.
Beale has a criminal record and was placed on Virginia’s registered sex offender list in 2018 after being convicted of sexual battery of a minor. His address on the registry is for the home on Linda Court where Baxter was found dead.
Beale is being held at the Virginia Beach City Jail.
The investigation was a partnership among the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force and the Virginia Beach and Norfolk police departments.
Jessica Nolte, 757-912-1675, jnolte@dailypress.com