McAuliffe commutes sentence of man found mentally incompetent

Governor Terry McAuliffe commuted the death sentence of William Burns to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Burns has been declared incompetent to stand trial on his pending claim that he cannot be executed due to intellectual disability, and the combination of these factors—his mental illness and potential intellectual disability—have left this case in a procedural holding pattern since the early 2000s.

Today’s commutation ends the cycle of court proceedings concerning this case while ensuring that Burns remains confined as a result of the horrendous crimes he committed.