Public Defender Seeks Change of Venue in Dangleben Murder Case

The attorney for Richardson Dangleben Jr., the St. Thomas man charged in the 2023 shooting death of VIPD Detective Delberth Phipps Jr., is seeking a change of venue out of the territory, or at least to the district of St. Croix, given the intense publicity surrounding the case.

A 37-page motion requesting the change is one of 13 that Public Defender Matthew Campbell filed on his client’s behalf Wednesday in V.I. District Court, including to sever certain counts and dismiss others, and to suppress police interrogations of Dangleben while he was being treated for injuries at the hospital after the July 4 shooting, and again in the parking lot of the federal courthouse before his initial appearance three days later, on July 7, 2023.

Dangleben faces 13 counts including: first-degree murder; two counts of first-degree assault; two counts of third-degree assault; attempted first-degree murder; use of a firearm during a crime of violence resulting in death; two counts of discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence; possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number; receipt of a firearm while under indictment for a crime punishable by more than one year imprisonment; and wearing body armor during the commission of a violent crime.