Carson Candler sentenced to 25 years

Carson Candler

Opening day of rifle season 2019, brought the tragic murder of Justin Samuels and the shooting of his dear friend, Bru Norconk. Carson Candler killed Justin Samuels and permanently injured Bru Norconk by shooting both men multiple times.

Samuels was described by everyone that met him as one of the most honest, hardworking, and charismatic men you could meet. The same could be said for his dear friend, Bru. Samuels’ life was taken when he was only 43 years old. Christine, his wife, is left every day to mourn the loss of her husband, a man she never wanted to live without. The same can be said for the rest of the Samuels’ family, both biological and chosen. Norconk was left not only with the loss of his friend, but with permanent physical injuries, forever changing his daily life.   

Carson Candler was arrested by the Amherst County Sheriff’s Office on November 17, 2019, and charged with murder in the second-degree, malicious wounding, and 2 counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. His preliminary hearing was scheduled to be heard on March 31, 2020, but was continued due the COVID pandemic. It was then reset for June 9, 2020, but again continued because of the pandemic and the victim of the malicious wounding was unavailable due to medical complications from the shooting. A preliminary hearing was held on August 20, 2020, and the charges were all certified to the next grand jury on October 13, 2020.

Justin Samuels

The cases had all been preset for a jury trial to begin on October 16, 2020. Jury trials were suspended at that time by the Supreme Court of Virginia due to the pandemic so the matters were continued generally on the court’s docket. On December 3, 2020, the defense filed a motion for an evaluation for sanity of the time of the offense and the court ordered that such an evaluation be completed. A jury trial was then scheduled for October 22, 2021.

On October 8, 2021, after consultation with the victim and the victim’s family, the defendant entered pleas of guilty to 1 count of murder in the second-degree, 1 count of aggravated malicious wounding, and 1 count of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Sentencing was argued before the Court on February 17, 2022, and included testimony from both Christine Samuels and Bru Norconk. The Commonwealth requested an active life sentence. The Judge instead sentenced the Defendant to 25 years active incarceration. The sentence given was above what the sentencing guidelines recommended, but based on the significant losses to the victims, their families, and the Amherst County community, our office felt that nothing short of a life sentence would equate to justice.