Trial of double murder suspect begins

By Linda Cicoira

A jury has been selected and testimony began Tuesday in Accomack District Court in the trial of a Painter man accused of 13 crimes, including robbery and the premeditated murder of a local couple four years ago.

The defendant, 44-year-old Julian Travis Scarborough of Linhaven Circle in Painter, a convicted drug dealer, pleaded not guilty. The murder victims were 36-year-old Princeton Howard Bragg, who had eight children according to the obituary, and 38-year-old Lolita Monique Boggs, who had nine children according to the obituary.

The charges included two counts of murder, two counts of robbery, four counts of use of a firearm in connection with a serious crime, two counts of concealing a corpse, two counts of intentional desecration of a corpse and one count of destruction of evidence in connection with a serious crime.

Scarborough was also charged with the premeditated murder of the couple's unborn child, but that charge will not be pursued.

The trial is scheduled to last four days. Initially, there were fears that no jury would be appointed because 26 of 65 potential jurors did not show up for their duty.

This is the first time the charges against Scarborough have been made public. They were presented directly to a grand jury and then kept under seal until the defendant could take the charges to court. When charges are handled this way, they can go unnoticed by local journalists and not become public knowledge.

According to witnesses, family members reported Bragg and Boggs missing after they did not answer their phones, pick up their children, or answer their door on March 25, 2020. They were last seen running errands that day. After being alerted, the Accomack County Sheriff's Office notified other law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout and pinged the victims' cell phones. Boggs' phone responded 3.4 miles northeast of Belle Haven Tower, narrowing the search area.

Not long afterward, the couple's 2012 BMW was found in the woods near Doughty Farm Road, a remote, muddy and difficult road. The vehicle was discovered with two doors open. Boggs' body was found on the floor of the back seat. Bragg's body was in the trunk.

In his opening statements, prosecutor Spencer Morgan said Scarborough was “involved in, if not the mastermind of, the murders.” He said the defendant tried to buy drugs from Bragg, purchased a firearm and asked a neighbor of the victims for information about “what they were driving and where they might be going.” He said Scarborough suggested others as suspects, but “the most concrete evidence pointed to the defendant.”

The victims lived on Coal Kiln Road. Bragg was a suspected drug dealer and was under surveillance by the local drug squad. A camera on an adjacent property filmed the comings and goings in his house.

Evidence showed the front door was kicked in after the pair disappeared and a shoe print was left. Morgan said cellphone data showed Scarborough was in the same locations as the victims.

Defense attorney Patrick Bales told jurors there were a small number of cell phone counts that stretched over long distances. He said, “The DNA evidence is mixed.” Bales said another suspect was the defendant's son and that the case would end with a reasonable doubt.