Son pleads guilty in mother's death

Arundel man not criminally responsible in shotgun slaying

About 10 o'clock on the night of the murder, Neiman had eaten and gone upstairs to use his computer, while his mother and stepfather watched television on the couch. He came back downstairs five minutes later holding his father's shotgun, and fired at his mother twice, shooting her twice in the upper back, Alban said. His stepfather shouted, "What are you doing?"

Neiman was "mumbling" and seemed "really agitated," as he attempted to strike David Bajus with the butt of the gun. The two men struggled in the kitchen, and David Bajus managed to flee from the house. Rae Bajus was pronounced dead at the home about 10:15 p.m.

Neiman apparently hid in woods near the home, but was arrested a short time later, Alban said. He was "sweating profusely" and covered in mud, the prosecutor said.

In an initial evaluation at Perkins on Feb. 13, 2007, Neiman was found "competent and criminally responsible," Alban said. But doctors later "felt that the defendant was masking his illness."

According to the prosecutor, the family was aware of his mental health issues. Rae Bajus wrote in a journal that she was "afraid for their safety and he might try to kill them." He had received treatment previously at the Baltimore Washington Medical Center and was scheduled to see a doctor to deal with his mental health issues a week after the murder.

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