How the sister of a mass shooting victim came to own the gunman’s condo — and a mystery laptop

Like many who lose a loved one in a mass shooting, Debbie Borato sought justice.

But the legal battle she waged after her sister, Michelle “Missy” Langer, was killed on May 31, 2019, at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center resulted in a strange victory. Borato now owns the home of the disgruntled city employee who killed 12 people before he was fatally shot by police.

In an even stranger turn of events, the two-bedroom Virginia Beach condominium is now center stage in a controversy with potential to be a major embarrassment for law enforcement agencies that investigated the attack.

Borato won a wrongful death lawsuit in November 2021 and took possession of the condo last summer. As she cleaned it out, preparing to sell, she found numerous personal items, including a laptop computer.

The Virginia Beach Police Department and the FBI said they never recovered or were aware of a personal laptop that belonged to the gunman, despite reports he was known to carry one. The discovery of a computer inside the his former home has reignited criticism of the overall investigation. Should the laptop prove to be authentic, a state delegate pushing for further review says the finding represents a major lapse in the investigation.

A wrongful death lawsuit

The road to the discovery of the laptop began with Borato filing a wrongful death lawsuit in April 2021 against the administrator of the shooter’s estate.

Borato retained Chris Jacobs, an attorney with Kalfus & Nachman, to seek damages related to her 60-year-old sister’s death. Jacobs explained in an interview last month that because Borato was not financially dependent on her sister, she was not entitled to any worker’s compensation benefits like family members of other shooting victims might have been. That meant she had to bear the brunt of other costs associated with her sister’s death, not including funeral expenses which were paid by charitable donations.

[ Related coverage: 13 dead, including gunman, in shooting at Virginia Beach Municipal Center ]

“Debbie Borato is not in this to get wealthy, she’s not in this for anything other than to have her sister recognized as being wrongfully killed,” Jacobs said.

Borato, through Jacobs, declined to comment. Several other attempts to reach Borato were unsuccessful.

The gunman, DeWayne Craddock, did not have a will. So ownership of his condo was transferred to his next of kin — his mother and father — according to property records. Craddock’s family decided not to challenge the lawsuit, according to Sean Yacobi, who was appointed to serve as the administrator of Craddock’s estate and who was tasked with providing notice to his next of kin. Borato subsequently won a default judgment of $2 million.

The condo would help to cover some of the cost, though Jacobs noted it is worth less than 10% of the judgment. Online real estate listings show the condo, located near Witchduck Lake, is listed for $199,000.

On June 15, 2022, Craddock’s mother signed over the condo, which her son owned since May 2004.

“Craddock’s mother was nothing less than sympathetic ... She is a victim too, she is definitely a victim also, and Debbie Borato agrees with that,” Jacobs said.

“They did what’s right, I can’t fault the family of Craddock.”

Jacobs said he has an avenue to pursue the rest of the $2 million judgment, but declined to disclose details. But he said the beneficiaries of Craddock’s estate would have “no legal obligation for the wrongs of DeWayne Craddock.”

“It ain’t about the money because the judgment I obtained in the circuit court for $2 million pales in comparison to the loss of a life,” Jacobs said. “But I didn’t want to go get any type of crazy judgment because it would never get paid and I think it would be symbolic in the wrong way, and Debbie agreed.”

Attempts to reach Craddock’s mother and an attorney who represented her in the wrongful death lawsuit were unsuccessful.

The discovery of the mystery laptop

Borato, who lives in Florida, returned to Virginia Beach in November to clean the condo and prepare it for sale. Helping her on Nov. 22 was her friend, Beth Mann. The two spent the day clearing items from the condo. Coincidentally, another Hampton Roads mass shooting took place that night at a Chesapeake Walmart.

Mann, a former Virginia Beach employee who is suing the city alleging wrongful termination, provided a written account and spoken with The Virginian-Pilot to describe the discovery of the laptop and why she turned it over to a Virginia lawmaker.

She described the condo at the time as bare, without a refrigerator, washer or dryer, or any major furniture. Mann, who has a background in law enforcement, said she saw damage on the wall behind the front door, which she believes was from police kicking open the door during a search. All that was left were a few pictures, bar stools with legs that looked like they had been chewed up by a dog, a small entertainment center, Navy dog tags, a rug in the master bedroom, speakers, some Marvel comics-related books and art and engineering books.

But she said she noticed some electronics in a box that Borato apparently was planning to dispose of or donate. Those items included the laptop, 25 rewritable CDs, an Xbox hard drive and another storage device.

“I was like, ‘Well, whoever cleared this out must have put (the remaining items) here.’ That’s the only thing I can think of,” Mann said in an interview. “I don’t know who could’ve accessed (the condo).”

Mann said Borato gave her permission to take the items. Her plan was to hold them until a forensic data analyst could examine them.

“I don’t have anything to back up that it’s his computer other than I saw his name and it was in his house,” Mann said. “When I saw it there, I didn’t believe it was his laptop. I was like there’s no way that the police left it here or missed it because it’s right in the open.”

Mann went to David Cariens, a former CIA analyst and member of the Virginia Beach Mass Shooting Commission, for help finding an analyst. By late December she learned others knew about the items she had from Craddock’s apartment, which she said made her fear for her family’s safety. She independently made the decision to turn the items over to Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler on New Year’s Eve.

Two days later, the delegate issued a statement publicizing the discovery of the laptop, which set off a frenzy of interest in it and any information it contained.

The Pilot has not been able to independently review files on the computer or to verify whether the laptop belonged to the gunman. Convirs-Fowler has provided to The Pilot images of some files she found when she accessed the computer.

Others with knowledge of the legal proceedings are at a loss for whether the laptop could have been inside the condo the entire time or someone else might have left it there.

Yacobi, the appointed administrator of Craddock’s estate, said he didn’t have any contact with the family members that would shed light on who last accessed the condo. He said there are no “hard and fast laws” governing who is allowed into a dead person’s residence.

What happens next

The Virginia Beach Police Department has asked Convirs-Fowler to turn the laptop over to investigators so they can review the device and determine it’s authenticity and relevance.

Jody Saunders, a police spokesperson, said in “the interest of pursuing closure” for the victims of the mass shooting, the department hopes the delegate will turn over the laptop for forensic analysis.

“While VBPD does not currently know the origins of the laptop or how it was previously discovered, we remain committed to pursuing all investigative leads that may provide a full accounting of the events of May 31, 2019,” Saunders said in a statement. “We are eager to pursue any information that may shed further light on the shooter’s motivation and actions.”

Convirs-Fowler, who gave the computer to her attorney, said she doesn’t trust the department and will not turn it over voluntarily. She said she made the laptop’s existence public for her own safety and because she’s lost faith in the Virginia Beach Mass Shooting Commission, which she helped form. Half the commission’s board resigned in recent months amid amid concerns that it is failing to conduct a thorough investigation.

“I just don’t have any faith (in the commission) and so now it’s time to just like, throw everything out there then, you know? Just to get it out and let’s get some national attention,” Convirs-Fowler said.

The delegate has been critical of others in Virginia Beach law enforcement. Her husband, William Fowler, is suing Virginia Beach Sheriff Ken Stolle for wrongful termination from the agency.

“To me, the more public it can be, the safer I am, the safer everybody else is, because they’re not going to come after us with a higher profile, right?” Convirs-Fowler said. “I know it sounds conspiracy, but it’s happened to me.”

Mann said she has her own reasons for not turning the laptop in to Virginia Beach law enforcement.

Mann was charged with disturbing the peace in the days following the 2019 mass shooting. During a staff meeting three days after the shooting, she told her superiors the shooting could have been prevented if they had done more to address bullying in the workplace, according to Pilot reporting. Mann also was critical of her supervisor.

Mann was fired eight days later — on June 14, 2019. Asked why she didn’t turn the laptop over to the Virginia Beach Police Department, Mann said, “I don’t trust them, absolutely not — I would never give it to them.”

Mann said she went to Convirs-Fowler because the delegate earned her trust by showing up to her court date when she was charged.

“She reached out to me (after the shooting), not as a delegate, but someone to just be there because I have nobody here, I have no support system,” Mann said of Convirs-Fowler.

The laptop is in the possession of Convirs-Fowler’s lawyer, Joseph Sherman, as they determine the next course of action. Convirs-Fowler said she’d prefer to turn it over to the Department of Justice.

But Borato is now trying to get back the laptop. She retained former Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax as an attorney. He claims the computer belongs to her because she is entitled to everything that was in the condo when ownership was transferred to her.

Gavin Stone, 757-712-4806, gavin.stone@virginiamedia.com