The night before his trial on coldcase sex offense charges, an inmate at the Anne Arundel Detention Center tried to hire an undercover cop to intimidate his victim from coming to court, police said.
Walter Mitchell, 53, of Westminster, met with an undercover state police detective Monday evening and asked the officer to prevent his victim from testifying Tuesday in Anne Arundel Circuit Court, charging documents state.
“She is not showing up for court, right?” Mitchell asked the cop, who was posing as a hit man, police said.
When they discussed money, Mitchell told the officer he would trade “a favor for a favor,” but also was willing to pay $500, police said.
Mitchell said he wanted “something to happen” to the victim’s house or car, according to charging documents.
Police learned about Mitchell’s plan from a confidential source who sent detectives a letter July 17, advising Mitchell was “trying to hire someone to murder [the victim],” according to charging documents.
Mitchell’s trial on a 1988 sex offense was postponed Tuesday because of the new charges.
Mitchell is charged with first- and second-degree sex offenses as well as assault and weapons violations, according to charging documents.
Mitchell’s attorney Gary Proctor said he and the prosecutor requested the postponement in light of the new allegations.
“It happened around midnight, and I haven’t seen the charging documents,” he said.
The victim, who had been walking along Ritchie Highway on Nov. 27, 1988, accepted a ride from Mitchell, who brandished a large knife and drove to a wooded area near Church Street where the sex offenses occurred, according to charging documents.
Anne Arundel’s crime lab matched Mitchell’s DNA in November 2006 to semen at the scene, police said.
Mitchell was served with a warrant in May 2007 at the Carroll County Detention Center, where he was serving a 16-year prison sentence for arson and burglary in 1994.
Veteran private investigator Sharon Weidenfeld, who had been working on Mitchell’s case for Proctor, said she found witnesses unusually reluctant to talk.
“Now I might know why,” she said.
