Security guards dressed in plain clothes and Anne Arundel sheriffs were ready to react.
And four police officers sat around Donta Walker, 24, and Brian Troxler, 25, both convicted murderers on trial for allegedly attempting to kill correctional officers while in the Maryland House of Correction in Anne Arundel.
Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Philip Caroom took extra precautions Thursday, as the officers rotated their posts to stay alert.
Troxler and Walker, both of Baltimore City, are among several inmates who allegedly ambushed two correctional officers in March 2006 and attempted to stab them to death with homemade knives, according to court records
Sgt. Damean Stewart, who was the first to be attacked, said he did not turn to see his attackers.
“I was just trying to get off the tier. They were going to kill me,” he said.
The prison floors and walls were smeared with blood from Officer Donate Malone, who intervened and suffered several stab wounds.
Some of his blood landed on the sweat suit of one of his attackers.
And forensic scientist Katherine Busch said during a testimony riddled with objections from the defense that the DNA taken from the waistband of the pants primarily matches that of Walker.
But Walker?s attorney, Brian Murphy, said multiple people?s DNA were on the pants, and the DNA could be contaminated because some items, including a sweat suit and two knives, were found stuffed in trash cans.
“You wouldn?t blow your nose around evidence. … You wouldn?t eat your lunch around it, and you wouldn?t dump a trash can on it,” Murphy said.
Troxler?s attorney, William Purpura, has maintained that Troxler was in his cell during the attack, and the lock on his cell was not tampered with.
Troxler?s DNA also did not match any samples taken from evidence.
The trial is expected to conclude today.
The Maryland House of Correction was closed in April 2006 because of violent incidents.
