Six denied bail in murder scheme

Widow, relatives, others held in death of Ray Porter, a Towson-area gas station owner

At her husband's viewing Friday, Karla Porter, the grieving widow, shook hands and received words of consolation from the mourners. She passed out bookmarks with a wildflower to plant in William "Ray" Porter's memory, and a letter, signed in his name, urging that all of his organs be donated to help others.

But between the viewing and the funeral the next day, Baltimore County police descended on Porter's home and the homes of five others, including two of her siblings and a nephew, charging them all with Ray Porter's murder.

The six people accused of participating in a murder-for-hire scheme were ordered held without bond Monday in connection with the killing of the 49-year-old gas station owner and contractor. Police also said Monday that there could be more arrests.

"We're looking at additional suspects," Baltimore County Police Chief James W. Johnson said during a news conference.

Interviews with friends and neighbors of the victim, a review of court records and charging documents, and statements from police show Karla Porter and a group of family members and friends, none with serious criminal histories, allegedly engaged in a calculated killing that has the community baffled.

"That's the big question: Why?" said Bill Burnham, the owner of a sandwich shop near the White Marsh home the Porters shared with five children, most of whom are now grown.

Ray Porter, who friends said was recovering from heart troubles and on crutches from a snow-related accident, was shot multiple times in the head in the early morning hours of March 1 at the Hess gas station he owned on East Joppa Road near Towson. He died two days later.

Police say Karla Porter, 47, who initially blamed the crime on an unidentified "black male," in fact lured her husband to the station with reports of a tripped burglar alarm.

The alleged plot began to unravel when an unidentified witness claimed Karla Porter tried to hire him to kill her husband in December and January, complaining of "marital problems" and an "abusive relationship." Police arrested her Saturday after she allegedly paid the witness to keep quiet and leave town.

Police said they have never handled complaints of abuse or domestic trouble at the Porters' home. The only evidence of discord mentioned in charging documents or in interviews with neighbors was a disagreement about where the couple would live: Ray wanted to move to Florida; Karla did not.

Also charged are Karla Porter's sister, Susan Mowers Datta, 52, who allegedly supplied the murder weapon; her brother Calvin Lee Mowers, 53, who drove the supposed hit man and another defendant to the scene; her nephew Seamus Anthony Coyle, 27, who police claim introduced Karla Porter to the accused hit man; Walter Paul Bishop Jr., 27, who's accused of pulling the trigger; and Matthew Philip Brown, 28, who police say went along for the ride.

Karla Porter and Mowers, who both waived their Miranda rights and agreed to police interviews, said they intended for Ray Porter to be beaten, according to charging documents, though Porter admitted to helping to acquire the gun used in the crime.

The plot is confounding to the Porters' neighbors and friends. Betty Bailey, 67, who has lived next to the family for more than two decades, said they were friendly and successful. In addition to the Towson gas station they owned and operated, Ray Porter was a contractor who worked on homes, including a slew of area properties that the couple rented out.

As neighbors, Ray Porter was always willing to lend a hand, and Karla Porter would bring Bailey gifts from their vacations, she said.

"It's like she was another person inside of a shell," Bailey said.

Jeff Barnes, 48, organizes get-togethers for classic-car enthusiasts and said the Porters were regulars, showing off the husband's expensive vehicles. "You would never see him without Karla," Barnes said.

At the viewing Friday, Barnes said the normally put-together widow looked "all cried out." "Her eyes were just dead to the world. I could see that she was distraught, or what I thought was distraught. Maybe she was more concerned about being caught. In hindsight, you wonder."

Bailey said Karla Porter "went all out" with items for mourners to take with them. One was a letter dated March 2, signed in Ray's name but apparently lifted from a well-known poem, that urged that his organs be donated.

"If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weakness, and all prejudice against my fellow man," it read.

The next day, the Porters' driveway was filled with police vehicles, and Bailey encountered more police cars when she arrived at the funeral. Attendees said a relative on Ray Porter's side of the family was yelling at Karla Porter's relatives, calling them murderers.

County police spokesman Lt. Robert McCullough confirmed that police were called to the funeral home that night for a "disturbance" but did not make any arrests or file a report.