A Maryland man is in custody after he allegedly stabbed a 73-year-old woman to death and assaulted her teenage granddaughter.
Bel Air police said they were called to a home in the Homestead Village neighborhood shortly before 3 p.m. on Thursday and found Mary Catherine Bland with multiple stab wounds, WBAL reported. Bland’s 17-year-old granddaughter had been assaulted and suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
“There was some type of argument, which escalated, and it sounds like the victim tried to intervene, and that’s Ms. Bland, and that resulted in the assault,” Bel Air Police Chief Charles Moore said.
Both victims were taken to a local hospital, where Bland, a former nurse, died.
Angelo Terrell Spencer, 24, was arrested outside his home in Abingdon about an hour later. He was charged with first degree murder, two counts of first degree assault, and first degree rape.
“We know that it was him inside the residence. He was identified, walked away from the residence,” Moore said.
Spencer appeared in court on Friday, and prosecutors said that Bland was stabbed 25 times. Court records say Spencer bought a glass cutter and a pocketknife at Home Depot then tried to break into the back of the house. When that didn’t work, he went to the front and rang the door bell, then forced himself inside when Bland answered.
“Spencer pushed into the house. Mary Bland yelled, Spencer then stabbed Mary Bland in the shoulder,” court documents say. “Spencer claims he panicked and then continued to stab Mary Bland multiple times. Spencer denied sexually assaulting (the granddaughter) but stated that he did grab her around the neck during the attack.”
Police said Spencer had been in a relationship with the teenage victim but they had broken up.
Spencer was denied bail at the hearing.
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[Featured image: Angelo Terrell Spencer/Bel Air Police Department]
