A woman pleaded guilty to first degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison on Monday for arranging the murder of her boss, 51 year old Dr. Albert Woonho Ro in a brutal crime that took place July 26 2006 in his dental office at the Chatham Executive Office complex on 1414 Crain Highway in Glen Burnie.
The dentist was stabbed 39 times, beaten beyond recognition and his body stuffed in a supply closet. With every bone in his face broken, Albert also suffered superficial wounds, theorizing that he may have been tortured before he was killed.
Thirty seven year old Shontay Joyner-Hickman from the 4600 block of Ashbury Avenue in Baltimore and her cousin 24 year old Dante Jeter from the 1600 block of East 30th Street in Baltimore were arrested in July 2010 after the case remained unsolved for almost four years until a fingerprint that was found on a box of toothbrushes inside the office led to Dante.
According to published accounts, Shontay, who worked as an office manager for the dentist, arranged her boss's murder to cover up the fact that she had been stealing from him for about five months. After he was murdered, investigators discovered that she stole 28 checks totaling $17660 and deposited them into her Bank of America account.
Albert must have suspected something was amiss because a week before he was killed he hired a new office worker to find and fix any problems. On the day he was killed, around 3:45pm, Shontay left the office telling the receptionist she had to pick up her three kids from school because her husband couldn't. Shortly after, Albert left a message on her voice mail saying she needed to get back to the office. Around 5pm, he told the receptionist she could leave for the day while he left to go to a nearby Mars Supermarket to get a plunger for a toilet that was overflowing in a bathroom at the office. While he was gone, a woman who was waiting for a friend in the parking lot later told police she saw Shontay drive up and let three young black men into the office using a key. She said she saw Shontay looking out the door and at one point she saw her remove a framed diploma off of a wall. The witness told police she then saw Albert come back and try to get in his office only to find it locked. He then used a key from his MiniCooper and let himself in to his own death.
When he didn't show up at home at 7pm as usual, his concerned wife called family members to investigate. When they went to his office, they found the door unlocked, signs of a struggle and his car still parked outside. Worried, they called police.
Police long suspected Shontay from the beginning because when she was told about her boss's murder she didn't appear surprised or upset. Also, she told police she left the area around 4pm and hadn't been back since but cell phone records proved otherwise.
Albert was a family man and his family filled up two rows of seats at the courthouse during sentencing. His wife lost her home, her business and filed for bankruptcy after her husband was murdered.
Shontay pleaded guilty on the first day of what would have been her two week trial and a day before her 37th birthday.
"I can't change what happened. I have destroyed a lot, his family and mine." Shontay sobbed as she apologized and wiped tears from her eyes before Judge Pamela L. North sentenced her to life in prison.
Dante, who was arrested in 2008 on another unrelated murder charge will stand trial in mid May for the dentist's murder. In his previous murder conviction, he was sentenced to 60 years in prison for shooting 27 year old Tyrone Freeman over a $150 drug debt.
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