COURTLAND

A Norfolk man accused of murdering his adopted stepdaughter nearly four years ago pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Southampton County Circuit Court on Tuesday.

Records on the Virginia Courts System website confirm that Wesley Paul Hadsell, 40, entered his plea to the charges of first degree murder; murder: non-capital felony; and the concealment of a dead body. In this case, that of Anjelica “A.J.” Hadsell.

A freshman at Longwood University in Farmville, she was on spring break at the time of the disappearance on March 3, 2015. The search took Norfolk police investigators and a dive team to a pond off Walters Highway (Route 258) and Joyners Bridge Road on April 4, 2015.

Within the week, Norfolk Police came to Southampton County and told the Sheriff’s Office of a body found outside a house on the 34000 block of Smiths Ferry Road (Route 258.) The body was taken to the medical examiner’s office in Norfolk, where it was positively identified as that of A.J.

The trial is scheduled for Tuesday, May 21, in the county courthouse.