A bizarre homicide at the start of Monday morning’s rush hour led to a quick arrest in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
It didn’t take long for police to determine that 57-year-old Dennis Perry Sr. didn’t die in the fire that enveloped his RV just off Ritchie Highway around 5:30 a.m.
Instead, police said, he was beaten and died of blunt-force trauma. Charging documents say there was a key piece of evidence left behind by 35-year-old Jason Nichols of Glen Burnie — a bag of things that included his name and address.
Nichols lived about a mile away and matched the description of someone seen leaving the scene of the crime. He even admitted he had been there, though police said not everything in his story lined up with their investigation.
Nichols “named the victim as the person who was deceased,” the documents say, and “confessed to eliminating evidence, bloody clothing he wore, after leaving the crime scene.”
In addition, other residents of Nichols’ home told authorities that he “arrived at the residence in bloody clothing that he washed at the residence” and “admitted to having an argument with a man who lived in a camper where there was a fire and indicated the person was dead.”
Nichols, who was arrested in Catonsville, already had two other court appearances lined up in Anne Arundel County this spring: one in April for drug-related charges, and another in May for assault and other charges.
He is being held without bond.
WTOP’s Jack Pointer contributed to this report.
