It was a home invasion that shocked the nation. A lawyer and his wife, beaten, shot, stabbed and tased, then left for dead in their McLean home.

On Friday, a judge imposed the sentence recommended by the jury for their attacker, Andrew Schmuhl. Two life terms plus 98 years. And the judge said this attack was so brutal, premeditated, callous and cruel, there was no reason to reduce it. Even though sentencing guidelines call for far less.

The police dash-cam video gives a sense of the bizarre nature of this crime. When Fairfax County officers finally captured Andrew Schmuhl and his wife in the getaway car, he was wearing only a diaper.



Schmuhl, a former Army judge himself, invaded the McLean home of Leo Fisher and his wife in 2014, looking for money and revenge. Fisher had just fired Schmuhl’s wife, Alecia Schmuhl, from his high-powered Arlington law firm.



Schmuhl -- hopped up on Fentanyl, Dilaudid, and Xanax for back pain and depression -- slashed Fisher's throat and shot and stabbed his wife. Prosecutors said his plan was to leave two dead bodies and a burned down house.



“The community spoke on the crime,” said Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Casey Lingan, referring to the jury’s sentence. “The guidelines, as I said in court, the commonwealth felt in this case were not appropriate.”

Schmuhl, on the advice of his lawyers, declined to plea for mercy from the judge. Judge Randy Bellows said but for the miraculous work of doctors at the hospital, Fisher and his wife Susan Duncan would have died. He said they're left with permanent physical and emotional injuries.



He said that he saw no basis or good reason to reduce the jury's sentence that will see Schmuhl locked up for the rest of his life.

Schmuhl's lawyer asked the judge to reduce the sentence to the maximum 30 years recommended under sentencing guidelines. Life plus 98 years far exceeds the penalty meted out for similar crimes, his lawyer said. But the prosecutor said there is no similar crime.

Schmuhl is appealing the ruling.



His wife is slated to go on trial in two weeks.