2002 death gets fresh look from homicide detectives

Suspicion centers on the victim’s wife, and her son’s stunning admission about her involvement is adding fuel to their investigation.

Clarence Downs was a friendly bear of a man who grew up in Maryland, worked in Baltimore City’s Forestry Division, ran a deli and loved his kids.

Close friends called him “Buddy.”

“He was a great guy,” said daughter Belinda Dryden.

However, everything changed Christmas Day in 2002 when he died in a fire in his Baltimore County house.

His stepson, Matthew Haarhoff, and his wife, Cynthia, escaped.

She later told investigators her husband was drinking and smoking a cigarette downstairs while she slept.

She said there was no way to get to him.

The medical examiner ruled the death an accident.

But Downs’ autopsy revealed a fractured skull and broken bones in both his forearms.

“Detectives weren’t just going to turn and walk away,” said Bill Toohey, Baltimore County police spokesman.

Now, Haarhoff is accusing his mother of murdering her husband.

“What [Cynthia] told me was that she killed him and put the house on fire, and if they want to move forward in the case and try to prosecute my mom, I will testify,” he said.

“I’ve always been a prime witness. I know she did. She’s told me as much.”

His admission, in part, now has triggered an investigation.

“It is being looked at very, very closely now by a second set of very experienced eyes,” said Toohey.

The other trigger was the sordid past of Downs’ wife, also known by her maiden name, Cynthia McKay, 52.

She was sentenced to prison for murdering one of her more recent lovers, Anthony Fertitta, 50, and setting his body on fire in Millersville.

Haarhoff pleaded guilty to helping her with the coverup.

“I would describe her as the most diabolical woman our county has ever seen,” said Kathleen Rogers, Anne Arundel prosecutor.

But did McKay have a motive to kill Downs?

Police records show she was the sole beneficiary of his $300,000 life insurance policy. Just weeks after his death, she reunited with an ex-husband and bought a house on the Eastern Shore.

McKay also was on the run from the law. While married to Downs, she stole thousands from a Baltimore City seminary and knew police wanted to question her about that.

Determined to stay out of prison, McKay faked her own death in Ocean City and had plastic surgery. In June 2003, police finally caught up with a very different looking woman.

“She touched down and caused destruction wherever she went,” said Rogers.

“She just screws everybody else,” Haarhoff said.

To this day, McKay denies any involvement in Downs’ death. Police said Haarhoff has made conflicting claims, including he killed Downs.

“You just can’t dismiss it. You have to follow up and see what’s going on,” said Toohey.

McKay is serving a 30-year prison sentence for Fertitta’s murder.