Koontz found guilty of husband’s murder

Posted: 3:25 pm Thu, July 8, 2010
By Danny Jacobs
Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer

A Baltimore County jury found Mary Catherine Koontz criminally responsible and guilty of first-degree murder Thursday in the death of her estranged husband and the attempted murder of their daughter.

The verdict came after 15 hours of deliberation over three days, and the criminally responsible finding means Koontz will not be sent to Clifford T. Perkins Hospital Center for psychiatric treatment as her lawyer sought. Prosecutors are seeking life without the possibility of parole when Koontz is sentenced Aug. 10 in Baltimore County Circuit Court.

Richard M. Karceski, Koontz’s lawyer, said he will ask that Koontz be sent to the Patuxent Institution instead of a regular prison.

“The sentence hardly makes a difference,” said Karceski, a Towson solo practitioner, alluding to the fact that Koontz will turn 61 later this year and will probably spend the rest of her life incarcerated. “My fear is she will not get treatment.”

In addition to first-degree murder, Koontz was found guilty of attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault and handgun charges.

During the nine-day trial, Karceski did not deny that Mary Koontz entered her former home in Glen Arm and shot Ron Koontz multiple times in their bedroom on the morning of June 19, 2009. Karceski also did not deny that Koontz fired and missed the couple’s daughter, Kelsey, who then called 911.

Police found the couple engaged in a struggle on their front lawn, and Ron Koontz, a longtime Baltimore County Public Schools teacher and administrator, died from his wounds hours later at a hospital.

Instead, Karceski told the jury of seven women and five men that his client was “delusional” with a history of mental illness that unexpectedly erupted like an “earthquake” the morning of the shootings.

Following the verdict, Karceski said he believed the jury was stuck on whether Koontz should be held criminally responsible but ultimately decided the defense did not meet its burden of proof.

“It takes a lot of effort and a lot of thought,” Karceski said of pursuing a not criminally responsible defense. “You have to form a bond with your experts and learn something that’s fairly much Greek to a lawyer.”

But Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott D. Shellenberger said following the verdict that jurors had to find Mary Koontz guilty based on the evidence in the case. Deputy State’s Attorney Robin Coffin argued during the trial that Koontz’s actions amounted to “willful, deliberate premeditation” despite the mental illness, noting Koontz checked into a Towson hotel under a false name before the shooting and removed her shoes upon entering the home.

“The jury rightfully concluded the insanity defense failed,” Shellenberger said.

Shellenberger praised Kelsey Koontz for her cooperation and testimony in the case and cited her future as the reason why prosecutors have asked for Mary Koontz to serve a life sentence. Kelsey Koontz will be in college in the fall.

“We believe Kelsey needs to live the rest of her without looking over her shoulder,” he said.

Kelsey Koontz declined to talk with reporters outside the courthouse but stood arm-in-arm with friends and family as Shellenberger read a statement on behalf of Ron Koontz’s family. The statement praised the jury’s “diligence and patience” and criticized Karceski’s “unyielding attacks” on Ron Koontz’s character during the trial.

“We do not, however, feel the need to defend his honor because he left his legacy in the students he taught, the children he raised and the people he inspired,” the statement read in part. “If you really knew Ron Koontz, you were truly a better person for having known him.”

Karceski said an appeal of the verdict is likely but declined to discuss on what grounds. He described his client as in a “mummified” state when he talked with her after the verdict was announced.

“Her affect has not changed during the entire trial,” he said.

That Mary Koontz was found criminally responsible also means she remains a defendant in a multimillion-dollar civil lawsuit filed by Kelsey Koontz and Ron Koontz’s estate stemming from the shootings. A Baltimore County judge granted a preliminary injunction Tuesday that prevents Mary Koontz from marketing or selling the Florida condominium where she lived prior to June 2009.