Maryland police find car of suspect wanted for murder of judge

Maryland authorities say they have found a silver Mercedes driven by the man accused of fatally shooting a judge hours after he granted custody of the suspect’s children to his wife in a divorce hearing.

The 2009 model was found by a local resident on Saturday morning in Williamsport, Maryland, according to Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

Ric Dugan/AP

Sheriff Brian Albert said the car could have been there since Thursday.

Pedro Argote, 49, is considered armed and dangerous. He is suspected of killing Maryland Circuit Court Judge Andrew Wilkinson, who was fatally shot outside his home in Hagerstown on Thursday night. Williamsport is about eight miles southwest of Hagerstown.

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Just hours before Wilkinson was killed, the 52-year-old judge granted custody of Argote’s four children, ages 12, 11, five and three, to his wife during a divorce hearing, denying Argote visitation rights owing to a history of domestic violence.

Washington County Sheriff’s Office (left); The Herald Mail (right)

“We’re going to catch this guy. It’s just a matter of time,” Albert said. “We don’t feel that the community’s at risk… we just ask that you avoid the search area, and where we have cordoned off, and if anybody has any information, call your local law enforcement.”

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The U.S. Marshals Service has announced it will offer a $10,000 reward for any information that leads to Argote’s arrested.

In a news release issued late Friday, the Marshals Service said Argote has ties to multiple areas outside of Maryland, including Brooklyn and Long Island, New York; Tampa and Clearwater, Florida; Columbus, Indiana; and unknown cities in North Carolina.