Crime & Safety

Man Accused of Killing Vanessa Pham 'High on PCP' at Time of Attack

A Washington Post report says the man who goes on trial August 19 for the Falls Church college student's murder was also holding his 1-year-old baby at the time.

The man accused of killing Falls Church college student Vanessa Pham was high on PCP at the time, according to a news report by the Washington Post.

PCP, or phencyclidine, is a “dissociative” anesthetic that was developed in the 1950s as a surgical anesthetic, according to drugfree.org. Its sedative and anesthetic effects are trance-like, and patients experience a feeling of being “out of body” and detached from their environment.

In addition, Falls Church resident Julio Miguel Blanco Garcia, who will stand trial August 19, was holding his 1-year-old daughter at the time he asked Pham for a ride to the hospital, the news story says.

Police were able to match fingerprints from Garcia with fingerprints on a champagne bottle that was stolen from a Giant store in McLean, the Washington Post reports.

Garcia had stolen three bottles of Moet & Chandon from a Giant Food store in McLean, court records show. Police took his fingerprints after his conviction.

Also read:


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.