Maryland judge update: Police announce suspect in Andrew Wilkinson murder found dead
Rachel Schilke
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The man whom Maryland police suspected in the death of a circuit court judge has been found dead.
Pedro Argote, 49, was suspected of killing Maryland Circuit Court Judge Andrew Wilkinson, who was fatally shot outside his home in Hagerstown last week. Argote allegedly shot Wilkinson just hours after the judge granted custody of the suspect’s children to his wife in a divorce hearing.
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The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that police located a body in a heavily wooded area between Clear Spring Road and Bottom Road, approximately 1 mile from where the suspect’s vehicle was located. Authorities identified the body as Argote but did not disclose how he died.
Police said on Oct. 21 that they found a silver 2009 Mercedes driven by Argote in Williamsport, Maryland. Washington County Sheriff Brian Albert said the car could have been there since Oct. 19, when the shooting took place. Police were offering a $10,000 reward for information that could lead to Argote’s arrest.
Just hours before Wilkinson was killed, the 52-year-old judge granted custody of Argote’s four children — ages 12, 11, 5, and 3 — to his wife during a divorce hearing, denying Argote visitation rights due to a history of domestic violence.
In court testimony via CBS News, Argote’s adult daughter from a previous relationship said she spent most of her teenage years confined to her bedroom and that Argote had cameras installed throughout the house to be “watching my every move.” She said he would also beat her with a belt or other objects.
“The manner in which Mr. Argote has isolated these children and mom over the past two years, I think that has gone on throughout the marriage, and it’s shocking,” Wilkinson had said during the court hearing. “I think he is abusive in multiple ways.”
Wilkinson said in a March 2023 written opinion that he had “the uneasy sense that Father engages in absolute control over Mother, their finances, and their lives.”
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Argote’s wife had requested a protective order, saying Argote was carrying a gun and surveilling her. But they later settled on a “nesting arrangement” in which he would live on the first floor of their house and she would live upstairs.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office plans on holding a press conference at 3 p.m. Eastern time in Hagerstown.