RICHMOND

For the second year in a row, the Virginia Senate passed legislation Monday that would make accessories to murder eligible for the death penalty.

In a 24-19 vote, the Senate passed HB933, which would eliminate what is known as the “triggerman rule,” which means that only the person who commits a murder faces capital punishment in Virginia.

The House of Delegates on Friday passed a similar bill which was sponsored by Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg.

Obenshain said the legislation is identical to a bill that passed the Senate last year. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine vetoed that legislation last year.

Obenshain argued under current Virginia law, D.C.-area sniper John Muhammad and California mass murderer Charles Manson would not have been subject to the death penalty in Virginia.

Sen. Henry Marsh, D-Richmond, said the legislation is unnecessary in Virginia, which has the second most executions in the United States.

“It may expand the death penalty beyond what we really want to do,” said Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke.

Since 1996, legislators have expanded the categories of the crimes that qualify for the death penalty eight times, Edwards said. Three of those categories already include people who are accessories to murder.

The Senate also unanimously passed HB949, which changes the definition of a “slayer” under Virginia law.

The legislation, which was sponsored by Del. Sal Iaquinto, R-Virginia Beach, would expand the definition to include someone who was acquitted or murder or involuntary manslaughter but determined by a court to have committed the slaying.

The bill also states that the slayer would not be able to collect benefits or property resulting from the killing.