Warrant: Video footage links accused killers to body dump site

Three murder-conspiracy suspects accessed a Churchville man’s bank account and purchased items found near his body in Bedford County, according to a search warrant viewed Friday by The News Virginian.

Bedford County Sheriff’s Office investigators probing the killing of Sean Peter Placko, 42, searched Tuesday through a 1997 GMC Yukon, discovering receipts, credit cards and other items, the warrant said.

Christopher Michael Dudley, 28, and his wife, Susan Jeannie Dudley, 24, and their friend Andrew Clay Ottinger, 22, are charged with conspiring to murder Placko. The trio lived with Placko from January until the time of his death, authorities said.

“Bank records recovered from the victim’s residence revealed that the account of Sean Placko had been accessed and utilized by the occupants of the residence to be searched,” the search warrant states. “Video surveillance collected by investigators showed the occupants of the residence purchasing items that were recovered with the body in Bedford County.”

Placko was last seen Feb. 14, and his body was discovered three weeks later floating in the James River in Bedford County, authorities said.

Mary Placko, mother of Christopher Dudley and sister-in-law of Sean Placko, said deputies showed her video footage in which she watched the suspects purchase gloves and an item like a “body bag” among other things.

Earlier this week, Mary Placko, of Deerfield, said she warned her brother-in-law about allowing the trio to live under his roof. He dismissed her warnings, though, she said, responding, “‘No sis, they have a baby and I want them to be OK.’ ”

Authorities Dec. 15 charged Christopher Dudley with possession of a Schedule I or II drug with intent to manufacture, sell, give or distribute, according to court records. He faces a preliminary hearing scheduled for Aug. 26 on that charge in Augusta County General District Court.

A judge in 2004 sentenced Dudley to three years in prison on a malicious wounding conviction, according to court records. Dudley violated his probation in 2007, when officials could not locate him, court records state.

Dudley also has a juvenile record.

Since the beginning of the year, Ottinger has been scheduled to appear in Augusta County General District Court five times, on traffic and public swearing charges, according to court records.

All three suspects are being held without bond at Blue Ridge Regional Jail in Bedford.

Bond hearings for the trio tentatively are set for 1:30 p.m. Monday in Bedford General District Court.