A marijuana robbery led to three homicides by stabbing in Springfield, Va., authorities said.
Delante T. Cook, of Prince George's County, has been indicted for conspiring to rob brothers Ryan Strope, 26, and Terence Strope, 38, in November 2008. The two brothers and a visiting friend, Andres Yelicie, were stabbed in their rented home in Springfield, Va. All three men later died of their wounds.
Authorities said that their killers had been watching them.
According to court documents, Cook and an accomplice, Jelani Slay, had been surveying the Stropes' house during the fall of 2008.
Cook and Slay made their move on the evening of Nov. 19, 2008, prosecutors said. Possibly aided by others, the two dressed up in law enforcement clothing and armed themselves with knives, according to court documents.
An eyewitness had told Fairfax County police that two men wearing shirts that said "SWAT" entered the house that evening. Neighbors heard a scuffle, and then witnesses saw the men dressed in police clothing leave the house.
According to charging documents, Cook and Slay stabbed all three men in the house. One of the victims, Andres Yelicie, made it out the front door to a neighbor's house, where he asked for help as he bled. All three men died at a hospital a short time later.
The men escaped with cell phones, two laptop computers, cash and a cache of marijuana, court documents said.
