Handyman

I had a new home built four years ago. Unfortunately, the flashing for the windows was poorly done and rain can easily make its way underneath the siding. Over the years, and unknown to me, my house has been rotting. The problem became apparent only when I had water leaking into my basement. A handyman removed some siding, and the rot was so bad at points, that insulation could be seen sticking through the rotted fiberboard. The handyman has located other parts of the house that will need to be repaired.

A West Baltimore handyman was convicted yesterday in city Circuit Court of manslaughter in the 2002 shooting death of a 15-year-old who was trying to steal a red mountain bike from the man's yard. In an nearly inaudible voice, Edward Day, 57, entered an Alford plea, meaning that he did not admit to the crime but agreed that prosecutors had sufficient evidence against him. Still in dispute is whether Day intended to simply scare David Stewart or shoot the teen dead as a punishment for attempting to steal the bike.

I WOULD JUST like to say, here at the outset of this little story from the edges of human experience, that I have respect for Jim and Christy Ferrens, and you will not hear me ridiculing what they did. Far be it from me! They did what I believe most men and women would do for $340 - stoop to a new low, slog through mire, pan through muck. It's not as if this young couple - and new parents - from the Towson area submitted themselves as contestants on NBC's Fear Factor, although it was something like that.

After his third trial, a former Annapolis handyman was sentenced to life without parole yesterday for killing an Arnold woman nearly 12 years ago. Albert Gustav Givens had been tried twice before for the killing of Marlene Kilpatrick, who was found in her home Jan. 3, 1992. A 1993 conviction was thrown out on a technicality, and a second trial resulted in a hung jury. "We're more than pleased," said Kathleen Rogers, an assistant state's attorney. "The family has had a long, hard road."

An Anne Arundel County jury yesterday convicted an Annapolis handyman of first-degree murder in the 1992 slaying of his friend's mother - the third time Albert Gustav Givens has been tried for the crime. Prosecutors said they will seek a sentence of life in prison without parole, the same sentence Givens was serving after his first conviction for the killing, which a judge overturned. A second trial ended with a hung jury. Circuit Judge Philip T. Caroom scheduled sentencing for Feb. 27. "We are ecstatic and relieved," said Lisa Kilpatrick O'Connell of Pasadena, daughter of Marlene Kilpatrick, who was murdered in her Arnold home.

For the third time in 11 years, Anne Arundel County prosecutors told a jury yesterday that handyman Albert G. Givens killed his friend's mother in her Arnold home - and defense lawyers disputed it. Marlene Kilpatrick's body was found Jan. 3, 1992, by her daughter. She had been sexually assaulted, beaten and stabbed. At his first trial, in 1993, Givens was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole. A judge erased that conviction in 1999, ruling that a shoddy job by defense attorneys led to an unfair trial.

LOS ANGELES - In a setback to prosecutors, a judge threw out part of the capital murder case against Robert Blake yesterday, ruling that the evidence "carries very little weight" toward proving the actor conspired with his handyman to kill his wife. Blake, 70, still faces a murder charge and a possible sentence of life in prison without parole for allegedly shooting Bonny Lee Bakley two years ago outside a Studio City restaurant where they had dined. But the dismissal of a felony charge before trial is rare and could indicate problems ahead for the prosecution, according to criminal defense lawyers who have been following the case.

Elzie Roosevelt Watkins Jr., a retired handyman, died of respiratory failure July 22 at Future Care Old Court in Randallstown. He was 68. Mr. Watkins was born and raised in Annapolis, and graduated from the old Bates High School. He served briefly in the Army in 1957 before being discharged with a medical disability. A Randallstown resident, Mr. Watkins had worked for many years in construction and later was a self-employed handyman. "He was a great cook and was known for his soul food," said a niece, Tawana Avent of Baltimore.

An Anne Arundel County jury deadlocked yesterday in the murder retrial of Albert G. Givens, telling the judge that after about 12 hours of deliberations over three days, members of the panel had differing interpretations of the evidence in the 1992 crime. A spokeswoman for the state's attorney's office said they plan to try the Annapolis handyman for a third time on charges that he killed Marlene Kilpatrick, 55, in her Arnold home. Prosecutors and defense lawyers will meet Wednesday with Circuit Judge Philip T. Caroom.

A Baltimore handyman who police say robbed and fatally beat his employer in November 2001 pleaded guilty to first-degree murder yesterday in Baltimore Circuit Court. Erik T. Green-El, 33, of the 2000 block of Penrose Ave. is to be sentenced by Judge John M. Glynn on March 24 in the killing of Michael Patrick Roberts, 49, of Marriottsville. Under a plea agreement, he will be sentenced to life but ordered to serve only 30 years, said Assistant State's Attorney Frank Rangoussis. He will also be on five years of supervised probation.