Roger Bradford told a Loudoun judge he will represent himself and does not want bond.

A first appearance after extradition is custody and a calendar. It is not a plea. FOX 5 DC reported Roger Bradford told Judge Kelly King he will represent himself and that he does not want a bond hearing. The judge said the arresting documents charge second-degree murder. Prosecutors said afterward that the warrant was a placeholder and that they intend to pursue first-degree. A prosecutor's plan for a count is not the indictment, and Nov. 18 is the preliminary hearing.

FOX 5 DC reported Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, that Roger Bradford, also called Paul, appeared by video from the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center for his first hearing in Loudoun County. The station reported he was transferred Tuesday after extradition from Pennsylvania, on the day of his wife's funeral. He is charged in the shooting death of Lisa Bradford, 54. Deputies found her dead on Sept. 22 at a home in the 24000 block of Quimby Oaks Place in Aldie. Earlier reporting from the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, Patch, and Loudoun Now described the charge that day as first-degree murder and use of a firearm in a felony, and said he was arrested about 3:15 p.m. in Bedford, Pennsylvania. Wednesday's hearing is the first time that case was in a Loudoun courtroom. An extradition and a video appearance are process. They are not a plea.

FOX 5 DC reported that Bradford first said he planned to hire his own lawyer, then told Judge Kelly King, "I will be representing myself. I don't trust lawyers, they are the worst criminals." He declined a bond hearing. "I'll make it easy on you. I don't want no bond hearing. I'm right where I need to be," FOX 5 reported he said. The judge cut him off and told him not to make further statements about the case. When the court tried to set an Oct. 28 review to confirm who would represent him, Bradford asked for another date and said it was his wife's birthday. He said he had not reviewed the documents and that he did not have his glasses or his Bible after "14 days in a dungeon in Pennsylvania." The judge set a preliminary hearing for Nov. 18 at 10 a.m. Bradford said he should be available. A defendant can ask to represent himself. That request is not a waiver the court has finished ruling on, and a preliminary hearing is not a trial.

The count on the paper and the count prosecutors say they want are not the same thing yet. FOX 5 DC reported Bradford asked why the documents he was given said second-degree murder. Judge King told him the arresting documents did say second-degree. Bradford said, "Thank God, that's a big difference." Prosecutors told the station after the hearing that the initial warrant was a placeholder and that they intend to pursue first-degree murder based on the evidence. They said additional charges, including use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, remain possible. The September accounts that named first-degree murder and a firearm count were describing what authorities said at the arrest. Wednesday's hearing described the warrant in the courtroom as second-degree. A prosecutor's statement after court about what the office intends to file is not the indictment.

FOX 5 DC also reported that prosecutors addressed an alleged hit list found in the investigation. They said any related matters would fall under federal jurisdiction or be handled in Iowa, where the list allegedly involved data centers, and that Bradford previously served time in Iowa for wire fraud. An allegation about a list is not a new Loudoun charge. The handgun described in the September accounts had not been recovered as of that reporting. Nov. 18 is the next date on the murder case. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.