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Gov. Northam could testify in murder trial of man accused of killing stepdaughter

Wesley Hadsell is accused of killing his 18-year-old stepdaughter in 2015. Northam was the treating physician at the time of the teen's death.

SOUTHAMPTON COUNTY, Va. — Gov. Ralph Northam will likely testify in an upcoming murder trial where a Virginia man is accused of killing his 18-year-old stepdaughter in April 2015. 

Last week, a judge ruled that Northam will be subpoenaed to testify during the trial of Wesley Hadsell, who is facing a first-degree murder charge for the death of Anjelica 'AJ' Hadsell.

According to WVEC, Northam was the treating physician at the time of Anjelica's death. 

"There was some issues of how she died and reason for the death," Wesley Hadsell's attorney James Ellenson said. "We just need to get all the facts out of it." 

Wesley appeared in court for a pretrial on Monday. He will be back in court for the start of his trial at the end of February. 

It is not known exactly what day the trial will begin for Hadsell, or when Northam might actually testify. 

The medical examiner's office determined AJ Hadsell died from acute heroin poisoning. 

Wesley Hadsell wasn't indicted until November 2018 on charges of first-degree murder, non-capital murder, and felony concealment of a dead body. He pleaded not guilty to the crimes in February 2019.

Hadsell is currently serving a 10-year sentence for an unrelated federal ammunition charge that dates back to 2013. 

During the pretrial, Hadsell's attorney James Ellenson tried to remove evidence from being used in the trial, claiming it was false.

"Wesley went through certain items that were in the search warrant that were untrue," Ellenson said. 

The judge ruled that there wasn't enough evidence to prove Hadsell's case.

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