Free Republic

ELKTON, MD (WBFF) - A woman is in custody with multiple arson-related charges following a house fire in Cecil County. Just after 1:15 p.m. on Thursday, Singerly Fire Company and surrounding fire departments responded to the unit block of Cherry Lane in Elkton for a reported house fire. Witnesses reported observing a woman, later identified as Gail J. Metwally, 47 of Elkton, setting multiple fires within the home and then sitting in a chair on the front lawn, where she watched the fire engulf the home. After a few minutes, Metwally walked away from the scene. While the home was...

The elderly Delaware couple killed in a grisly double murder at a veterans cemetery has been identified by state police. Lidia Marino, 85, and husband, Paul Marino, 86, both of Elkton, died last week after being shot while visiting the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery in the hamlet of Bear, authorities said Monday.

BEAR, Del. - A second victim has succumbed to his injuries just days after a shooting took place in a cemetery in New Castle County. The shooting happened at the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery located on Chesapeake City Road around 10:15 a.m. Friday. Delaware State Police say 85-year old Lidia Marino was pronounced deceased on scene. Her husband 86-year-old Paul C. Marino was taken to the hospital in critical condition, where he died on Saturday. The couple was from Elkton, Maryland. Delaware State Police have identified the suspect as Sheldon C. Francis, 29, of Middletown, but have not said if...

A man wanted for shooting an elderly couple at the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery was found dead after exchanging gunfire with police. The couple, from Elkton, Md., was shot Friday morning after going to the cemetery in Bear. The woman, 85, died at the scene, according to Delaware State Police. Her husband, 86, died Saturday at a hospital. Their names had not been released as of Sunday. Police said the suspect, Sheldon Francis, 29, of Middletown, Del., was spotted about an hour after the shooting running into a wooded area near the cemetery.

A man wanted for shooting an elderly couple at the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery was found dead after exchanging gunfire with police. The couple, from Elkton, Md., was shot Friday morning after going to the cemetery in Bear. The woman, 85, died at the scene, according to Delaware State Police. Her husband, 86, died Saturday at a hospital. Their names had not been released as of Sunday. Police said the suspect, Sheldon Francis, 29, of Middletown, Del., was spotted about an hour after the shooting running into a wooded area near the cemetery.

Cecil Circuit Court Judge Dexter M. Thompson Jr. decried lawyers' arguments that a child custody hearing should be closed to the public Wednesday, saying such a move would be akin to creating atmospheres similar to historically totalitarian states. The heated exchange came at the start of a hearing in which the county's social services department attempted to retain custody of John Joseph Dougherty's three daughters. Dougherty, 53, faces a second-degree murder charge after police found his brain-damaged wife dead on a mattress, surrounded by moldy food and her own excrement. "Maybe we should be more like Germany or Russia," the...

A grand jury has indicted an Elkton man on a murder charge, six weeks after police found his emaciated wife dead in a bedroom amidst squalid conditions. John Joseph Dougherty, 53, faces a second-degree murder charge in the indictment, handed up last week after the grand jury heard new evidence against him. Dougherty already faced manslaughter and abuse charges in an indictment handed up March 17. The new indictment, unsealed yesterday, included those charges and added the murder charge. Dougherty is accused of causing his wife's death by keeping her locked in a bedroom for six years without access to...

An Elkton man accused of murdering his brain-damaged wife by keeping her locked in a bedroom regained custody of his three daughters Wednesday. Judge Dexter M. Thompson Jr. returned the children to John Joseph Dougherty, 53, after a hearing that lasted all afternoon in circuit court. The county's social services department took custody of the children Feb. 25, after police found their mother dead on a mattress amidst squalid conditions in their Chestnut Drive home.

ELKTON - New evidence against an Elkton man accused of locking up the mother of his children for six years until her death has prompted a Cecil County grand jury to increase the charges against him from manslaughter to second-degree murder. John Joseph Dougherty, 53, told authorities that he started keeping Mary Elizabeth Kilrain, 46, in a bedroom in 1999 after she suffered an aneurysm and became verbally aggressive toward their daughters, according to police. He told authorities that he wanted to keep her from wandering around the house. Kilrain did not have access to food, water and hygiene, prosecutors...