Vienna woman acquitted of first-degree murder in husbands killing
A Fairfax County jury acquitted a Vienna woman of first-degree murder Friday in the killing of her husband, who a prosecutor said was shot “execution style” in the bed they shared in 2015.
The verdict in the trial of Kim Pham LaRocque, 36, came after a day and a half of deliberations and after jurors earlier told a judge they thought they were hopelessly deadlocked. The family of the victim, Eric LaRocque, 33, sat in stunned silence in the courtroom as the decision was read. Some family members wept while others doubled over as if hit with a punch.
Kim LaRocque betrayed little emotion, as her defense attorney Peter Greenspun patted her on the back. A relative of hers smiled broadly.
“Kim and her family are thrilled,” Greenspun said afterward. “They are grateful to the jury, who were attentive to the law and came to the correct verdict.”
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Kim LaRocque, Fairfax County prosecutors and Eric LaRocque’s family all declined to comment. If she had been convicted, she would have faced up to life in prison.
The verdict followed a two-week trial, during which prosecutors portrayed Kim LaRocque as a woman repulsed by her husband and who wanted to “get him out of the way” because she had become infatuated with a co-worker at Fannie Mae.
“Eric LaRocque was shot execution style as he slept in a bed in his home, which should have been a safe spot for him,” said Fairfax County Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert McClain in his closing statement.
Kim LaRocque countered that narrative in more than five hours of exhaustive testimony in her own defense. She repeatedly turned aside prosecutors’ attempts to poke holes in her account of the events of July 31, 2015, and reiterated what she has maintained from the beginning: her innocence. When Greenspun asked her to look the jury in the eye and say whether she had taken part in the killing of her husband, she said simply: “I did not.”
On that day nearly two years ago, Kim LaRocque called 911 to report finding Eric unresponsive in a blood-soaked bedroom after arriving home from work around 6:30 p.m. Kim LaRocque told the jury during her testimony her husband was alive, but sick, when she left home in the morning and she did not know how he ended up dead.
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Prosecutors attempted to cast doubt on that story, building a circumstantial case against Kim LaRocque.
McClain said Kim LaRocque had the opportunity to kill Eric, an engineer at Dewberry consulting, the night before she reported him dead. She was home alone with him and their two children after relatives who stayed with the family had gone out to a casino all night. On the morning of July 31, McClain said Eric LaRocque never called in sick to work and didn’t contact a friend with whom he was supposed to go kayaking. Kim LaRocque’s relatives, who were home on July 31, never heard a gunshot.
Authorities determined Eric LaRocque was shot with a .40-caliber gun, but the murder weapon was never recovered. McClain told the jury Eric LaRocque had borrowed a .40-caliber handgun from Kim LaRocque’s brother before the killing. Kim LaRocque’s brother testified during the trial that the gun was never returned to him and he did not know where it was.
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McClain had argued that numerous text messages between Kim LaRocque and a co-worker revealed what prosecutors put forward as a possible motive: She wanted to leave her marriage to be with the man. Kim LaRocque and the co-worker discussed their troubled marriages but also exchanged racy messages that used code words like “Sudoku,” “Connect 4” and “driveway” for sexual acts and body parts.
Kim LaRocque and the man both testified the relationship never progressed to anything more physical than a handful of kisses and inappropriate touches. Kim LaRocque called it “inappropriate” but said she had turned to the man after Eric LaRocque revealed he had an affair with another woman named Justine. However, prosecutors said detectives were never able to find Justine and doubted her existence.
The killing devastated two families and shocked friends of the couple. Kim LaRocque was on an upward path in her career and Eric LaRocque enjoyed hiking, biking and other outdoor activities. They had a comfortable home in Vienna, Va., and a son and daughter. The children are now 3 and 4 and have been in the custody of Eric LaRocque’s parents, who live in New York.
Greenspun said previously Kim LaRocque hopes to regain custody of her children and resume her life.
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