A Buena Vista man is charged with killing his dad before setting the house on fire. State Police say it all happened last Friday, when the body of 59-year Phillip Patterson II was discovered inside his burned-out home. Troopers have now charged his son, 35-year-old Jonathan Patterson, with murder and arson. The victim served on Buena Vista’s police force for 32 years before leaving in 2014 as Assistant Chief.
NEWS RELEASE: ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY, Va. – The Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Salem Field Office has arrested Jonathan K. Patterson, 35, of Buena Vista, Va., on one felony count of murder and one felony count of arson in connection with an incident that occurred at a Buena Vista residence last Friday. Patterson is being held at the Rockbridge County Jail without bond.
On Friday (Feb. 11, 2022) at 9:40 a.m., the Virginia State Police received a request from Buena Vista Police Department to investigate a suspicious fire at a residence in the 1300 block of Cherry Avenue in the City of Buena Vista. The Buena Vista Police Department had responded to a request for a “welfare check” at the residence that morning. When officers arrived, they discovered the home was on fire. The Buena Vista Fire Department immediately responded to the scene. Once the fire was extinguished, firefighters discovered the remains of a male subject inside the residence.
The remains were transported to the Office of the Medical Examiner in Roanoke for autopsy, examination and positive identification. At this stage of the investigation, state police have confirmed that Phillip Edmond Patterson II, 59, of Buena Vista, Va., was deceased prior to the fire being set. The cause of his death remains under investigation.
Working with the Buena Vista Police Department and Rockbridge County Sheriff’s Office, Jonathan Patterson was identified as a suspect in the fire and his father’s death. By 10:40 a.m. Friday, the Rockbridge County Sheriff’s Office located and took Jonathan Patterson into custody at his residence on Still House Drive in Buena Vista. The Virginia State Police charged Patterson with the homicide and the arson.
The Virginia State Police investigation remains ongoing at this time.
