Homicide Watch D.C.

Note: this map has been updated to reflect MPD’s reported location of the homicide.

There are reports this morning that a man was fatally shot in Columbia Heights Tuesday night, but the location of the shooting is unclear.

The following message is on the Third District listserve this morning.

The Third District is working a shooting in the 1400 block of Fairmont St NW.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Metropolitan Police Department on 2027279099 or 888919CRIME or text at 50411.

Commander Jacob Kishter
Metropolitan Police Department
Third District

[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/dcalerts/status/103723188244070400”]

NBC Washington reports that the man was found shot at University and Euclid and that two male suspects were taken into custody just blocks from there.
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MPD tonight announced that Albrecht G. Muth has been arrested in connection with the homicide of his wife, Viola Drath, at their shared Georgetown home.

He is suspected of second-degree murder.

Read MPD’s statement below.

August 16, 2011

Arrest Made in the Homicide of Viola Drath

( Washington, DC)-Detective’s from the Metropolitan Police Departments Homicide Branch are investigating the homicide which occurred in the 3200 block of Q Street, NW.
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The Washington Post, WUSA, NBC Washington, MyFoxDC, WTOP and WJLA are reporting that Viola Drath‘s husband, Albrecht Gero Muth, was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder Tuesday in connection with Drath’s death.

Reports WJLA:

Kris Van Cleave witnessed Metropolitan Police Officers handcuff and lead away Muth Tuesday evening outside of his Georgetown home at 3206 Q St NW. D.C. homicide detectives searched the streets of Georgetown for Muth. After following him for several blocks on foot and in an unmarked car, they handcuffed and searched the man. He was then loaded into a police car.

Before he was arrested, ABC7’s Kris Van Cleave ran into Muth on Wisconsin Avenue. He wouldn’t talk on camera, but said he believed police were not seriously considering him a suspect. There were no signs of forced entry into the home, leading him to believe it was a professional hit.

Reports WUSA:

In his last email correspondence with 9News Now, Muth gave a timeline for his activities Thursday and Friday. He wrote:

“…I was in the house 945PM, 11 August - 8AM, 12 August, when I found her
but for walking 2 cigars for one hour, 11PM-Midnight/ 11/12 Aug
and again same drill, 7-8AM, 12 August, Times approximation within 15 minutes
I am told sometime between 8PM/ 8 AM she was killed.
I was in the house, or walking, while someone killed my wife! Or, she was dead at time of my arrival, 945PM, 11 August.
In either case, I failed her, she being dead, Im alive.”

In response to the arrest of Albrecht Gero Muth, the family released the following statement:

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our mother and grandmother, Viola Drath. Her intelligence, independence and grace remained intact to the end. Our family is incredibly appreciative of the excellent work of the Metropolitan Police Department, in particular Detectives Gus Giannakoulis and James Wilson.”

- The Drath Family

The arrest didn’t make the evening’s early newscasts, but many focused their coverage on Muth. Muth spoke and emailed with reporters prior to his arrest.
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MPD this evening announced an arrest in an October 2010 homicide that killed 24-year-old Ronald Johnson in Northwest DC.

Anthony Donnell Peoples is suspected of second-degree murder while armed in the case and has been arrested, MPD said.

MPD’s press release is after the jump.
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Another roundup of links and what we know about Viola Drath’s killing in Georgetown.

The Washington Post, WUSA and WJLA have more details about Drath’s relationship with her husband, including emails he has sent this week saying he believes police think he is a suspect in the case.
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Dominique Bassil was ordered held today after Judge Karen Howze found probable cause to believe that Bassil killed her boyfriend, Vance Harris, early Saturday by stabbing him.

The decision to hold the 25-year-old woman was met with anger and disbelief by more than a dozen family members who attended the hearing hoping for her release.

“Hang in there Dominique!” one woman shouted as the group ran screaming and sobbing from the courtroom following Howze’s finding.

Charging documents in the case allege that Bassil, suspected of second-degree murder, stabbed Harris during an argument. Neither Bassil nor Vance appear to have a record of domestic violence in D.C.

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Updated at 5:15 p.m. Monday

From Georgetown Patch to Berner Zeitung, media outlets around the world are carrying the story of Viola Drath’s death inside her Georgetown rowhouse Friday. Drath, 91, was determined to be a homicide victim Saturday after an examination by DC’s medical examiner.

Here’s a links roundup of coverage from close to home and around the world.

Handelsblattes, in a Google translation of their original German report, said of Drath “she was always perfectly formed “Grande Dame.” Viola Herms Drath exuded grandeur.”
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An early morning stabbing in Southeast D.C. Saturday killed 28-year-old Vance Darnell Harris II.

Twenty-five-year-old Dominique Bassil was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder in connection with the case.

MPD’s press release is after the jump.
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A 91-year-old woman was a victim of homicide in Georgetown this weekend, MPD said in press release Sunday.

Viola Drath was found dead Friday inside a building in the 3200 block of Q Street, NW. Officers were responding to a call for an unconscious person.

On Saturday the death was declared a homicide. There was no word on how she was killed or any suspects.

According to the Associated Press, Drath was a German-born journalist who wrote columns for the Washington Times. She was also a correspondent for German newspaper Handelsblatt and was a member of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy.

Reports the Washington Post

Viola Herms Drath, a German journalist, philanthropist and advocate for American-German relations, was found unconscious Friday morning on a bathroom floor in her two-story Georgetown rowhouse. She was pronounced dead hours later.

Authorities initially believed the 91-year-old woman might have died of natural causes. But after an autopsy Saturday, D.C. police are investigating her death as a homicide.

Detectives searched Drath’s rowhouse in the 3200 block of Q Street NW, on Sunday afternoon, and police said they have interviewed some of Drath’s family members.

An obituary was submitted to the Post on Saturday.

In her Facebook profile Drath wrote in her “about me” section:

M.A. Philosophy UN Nebraska.Author, Academic, Playwright. 9 books: among them “Willy Brandt: Prisoner of his Past” and “Germany in World Affairs”. 2 plays.Executive Board National Committee on American Foreign Policy.

MPD’s press release is after the jump.
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In brief:

Corey Yates, a man currently in custody in Maryland on suspicion of first-degree murder there, was indicted by DC’s grand jury on a murder charge here in connection with the shooting death of Darrel Hendy.

A woman was found stabbed to death in downtown D.C., outside the Old Post Office Pavillion Monday. Police have identified here, but have not released her name.

Terrance McNeal was arrested in connection with the murder of Charles Hicks in Southeast D.C. in June. He was presented with a charge of second-degree murder while armed.
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