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An 89-year-old Chantilly man was sentenced Jan. 9 to five years in prison for fatally shooting his ailing wife as she slept, ending a marriage of nearly 65 years and devastating a family that once viewed him as a devoted husband and caregiver.

Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Christie Leary imposed the sentence on Douglas Sommer, whose long career in the Navy, community service and reputation as a caring family man stood in stark contrast to the killing of 87-year-old Marilyn Sommer.

“His life stands in stark contrast to his actions that brought us here today — and which have shattered his family,” Leary said.

The shooting occurred Feb. 28, 2025, at the couple’s home in the 13000 block of Pennypacker Lane in Chantilly’s Greenbriar community. Police arrived at 6:09 a.m. and arrested Sommer, initially charging him with second-degree murder and using a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Marilyn Sommer died at the scene. Her husband remained jailed without bond after his arrest.

On Oct. 20, 2025, Sommer pleaded guilty under an agreement to the reduced charges of voluntary manslaughter and unlawfully discharging a firearm in an occupied dwelling. The agreement recommended a prison term of five to 15 years.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Kate Steier said Sommer retrieved a loaded .32-caliber pistol early that morning, approached the reclining chair in the den where his wife was sleeping and shot her five times at close range in the head and chest.

Sommer then called police and reported that someone had been injured, Steier said.

The couple’s daughter, Jennifer Chivers, had been temporarily staying at the house to help her parents prepare to move into an assisted-living facility. She emerged from her room after hearing two shots and also called police. When officers arrived, Sommer calmly admitted shooting his wife, according to Steier.

The prosecutor said Sommer did not want to move into assisted living. An autopsy determined that Marilyn Sommer died from the gunshot wounds.

Daughter Says She Lost Both Parents

Before the sentence was announced, Chivers described how the killing upended her life.

“I miss her every day — her laughter and wit,” she said, adding that her mother had looked forward to moving into assisted living and becoming part of its community.

Chivers said she felt she had lost both her mother and father. She told the court she was seeing a psychiatrist, taking medication and suffering from sleep, concentration and health problems. Noises at night cause her to relive the shooting, she said.

Addressing her father, Chivers said she had removed his photographs because she could no longer look at them. She said the killing had affected every part of her life and the lives of Marilyn Sommer’s grandchildren.

“I’m so mad at him, and I don’t understand why he did it,” she said.

Neighbors Recall a Quiet, Caring Man

Public defender Amy Jordan called five witnesses who described Sommer as a calm neighbor, committed volunteer and attentive husband.

Brian Dodd, who had known the couple for decades, called them quiet, good neighbors. He said Sommer participated in the Greenbriar Civic Association, volunteered at Inova Fair Oaks Hospital and once visited Dodd’s dying mother in the hospital.

Dodd said Marilyn Sommer’s health problems had affected her husband, but he had never seen indications of marital trouble or imagined Sommer hurting anyone.

Next-door neighbor Jerry Weirich, who had known the couple since 1985, also said he never witnessed problems between them. Sommer had told him that his wife’s medication did not appear to be working and expressed concern that he could no longer care for her alone, Weirich testified.

Michele Dettor said she and her husband had known the Sommers for more than 30 years. She recalled Douglas Sommer serving as a neighborhood block captain and volunteering at the hospital three or four days a week.

During Marilyn Sommer’s final year, Dettor increasingly saw her using a wheelchair or cane. She described her husband as caring and said she never saw him angry or heard him raise his voice.

Joe Dettor knew Sommer through Greenbriar Civic Association meetings, where Sommer served as treasurer. As a Realtor, Dettor had also been asked to help sell the couple’s house. Sommer once told him that the preceding six months had been the worst of his life, but did not elaborate or indicate that he wanted to cancel the sale.

Ginny Hackney, Sommer’s younger sister, testified that her brother spent 24 years as a naval officer and served in Vietnam. His career took the couple to Charleston, Key West, Newport and other locations, sometimes requiring him to be away for nine months.

Hackney said the couple had a loving relationship. As Marilyn Sommer’s health deteriorated during her final two years, her husband cared for her. By April 2024, she was living and sleeping in the recliner where she was later killed.

Marilyn Sommer had undergone hip replacement surgery, suffered from pneumonia and lung problems, and once required a ventilator, Hackney said. Chivers regularly spent several weeks with her parents to assist her mother and give her father a break.

Hackney described her brother as depressed but said he did not complain.

Prosecutor Rejects Compassion Defense

Steier argued that the killing was driven by Sommer’s desire to escape his circumstances, not compassion for his wife.

According to his presentencing report, Sommer recalled seeing his grandmother sick and bedridden for three years and said he never wanted to end up in that position. In a jail call to a neighbor, he said he had “lost it” and “fell apart” because he could not remain in the house.

In a letter, Sommer wrote that he could no longer care for his wife, was broken and had snapped because he could not face her sadness.

Steier said assisted living offered the couple another solution. Marilyn Sommer had been excited about the move and the chance to join a community, the prosecutor said.

“He ripped the last years of her life away from her and her daughter and grandchildren,” Steier told the court.

Steier also accused Sommer of lying during the initial emergency call by claiming there was an intruder and said he later described the killing as “water under the bridge.” She asked the judge to impose the maximum recommended sentence of 15 years.

Marilyn Sommer’s daughter and granddaughter described her in victim-impact statements as a strong, compassionate woman who was not ready to die. Chivers wrote that her mother’s life — and what the crime did to the family — mattered.

Defense Points to Caregiving Toll

Jordan sought the minimum five-year term, arguing that it was unreasonable to believe Sommer’s character had suddenly changed after decades of service to his family, country and community.

Marilyn Sommer had endured several lengthy hospital stays during the previous year, taking a toll on her elderly husband, Jordan said. Although the couple planned to sell their home, Sommer struggled with surrendering his independence.

The couple had raised three children and already endured the deaths of two of them. Jordan said Sommer cared for his wife despite the physical difficulty of doing so in his late 80s.

She also said Marilyn Sommer questioned that night why she was still alive and could no longer care for herself. Jordan characterized the shooting as a compassionate killing and disputed the prosecution’s claims that it was motivated by hatred, malice or selfishness.

Sommer stood in court and apologized, calling Marilyn his “rock” and accepting responsibility for the grief and betrayal experienced by their daughter and grandchildren.

“I understand I robbed my daughter, grandchildren and family members of their chance to say their final goodbyes to her,” he said. “This is not fair, and I’m sorry for the pain my actions caused.”

Judge Accepts Five-Year Agreement

Leary said the testimony offered a portrait of a man devoted to his wife and family who had served his country for decades. She also said the case touched on difficult realities surrounding caregiving, aging, illness and the transition to assisted living.

No prison term could bring Marilyn Sommer back, Leary said. She noted that Sommer had accepted responsibility and would never forget what he had done.

Because any sentence would likely mean that Sommer dies in prison, the judge accepted the plea agreement’s minimum term.

Leary sentenced Sommer to 10 years for voluntary manslaughter, suspending five. She imposed another five years for the firearm offense but suspended that entire term. Sommer will face five years of probation if he is released.

Outside the courtroom, Hackney called the sentence fair and said her brother expected to serve prison time. She doubted he would ever be released.

Hackney said she would continue visiting him but could not forgive the killing.

“He loved Marilyn ’til he killed her,” she said. “Never in a thousand years would I have believed he could have done this.”