Hearing delayed for man charged in kids' drowning
A competency hearing for a Rockville man accused of drowning his three children in a Baltimore hotel has been postponed. Prosecutors and defense attorneys met with Baltimore Circuit Judge Gale Rasin in her chambers for nearly an hour yesterday morning before the hearing was to take place. No new hearing date was announced. Attorneys are under a gag order. Mark Castillo was to be evaluated at a state forensic psychiatric hospital to determine whether he's competent to stand trial and competent to represent himself. Last month, Castillo told a judge that he wanted to fire his public defenders and plead guilty, and this month he told a judge he had not reconsidered this strategy. Police say Castillo confessed to drowning his three children - ages 6, 4 and 2 - in the bathtub of a downtown Baltimore hotel room in March.
Associated Press
Imprisoned sex offender charged in other incident
A 74-year-old man in prison for trying to kidnap a 6-year-old Essex girl in 2007 has been charged in Harford County with abusing an 8-year-old in 2003 and 2004. The man, Irvine Gary Oelke, is serving a seven-year sentence in a Maryland state prison after his Baltimore County conviction this year. In 2004, Oelke was convicted of sexual child abuse in Cecil County. He served 18 months on that charge and is a registered sex offender. Harford officials say there may be other victims who have not come forward.
David Kohn
Suspect in home invasion and stabbings arrested
A Columbia man, accused of a home invasion in which two people were stabbed, was arrested yesterday, Howard County police said. Gregory Imes, 26, is charged with two counts each of attempted murder, first-degree assault and reckless endangerment, and one count of first-degree burglary. Police said Imes broke into the residence of his former girlfriend's mother, Maria Elana Cokely, and attacked her and her fiance, Reginald Crudup, in a home in the 10300 block of Twin Rivers Road in Columbia about 6:15 a.m. Saturday. The two, both 51, were stabbed several times before Imes fled, police said. A knife was found at the scene, police said. Cokely and Crudup listed in critical condition Saturday at Maryland Shock Trauma Center. The hospital declined to release updated information on their conditions yesterday at request of relatives. Imes was arrested without incident yesterday in Laurel, police said.
John-John Williams IV
