WASHINGTON – A man killed in a bloody hatchet attack in Montgomery County died of a slash to the back of his neck during a dispute over drugs, according to court documents.
Claude Alexander Allen III, 20, of the 7200 block of Cliff Pine Drive, is charged with killing Michael Phillip Harvey, 25. The son of a former adviser to President George Bush, Allen appeared in court Tuesday via video conference wearing a green jump suit.
His private attorney Richard Finci declined bond at the bail review hearing. A public defender had been expected to represent Allen when Finci arrived at the proceedings.
“We felt that it was in his best interest to have his attorneys get some further information about the case, to investigate the case, find out what exactly is the story. Not rely on a statement of charges prepared by a police officer to figure that out before throwing a bunch of information before the court,” Finci told reporters after the hearing.
According to court records, Allen slashed Harvey several times with the hatchet in his family’s garage. Police found a bloody scene when they were called to the Allen home May 24 for a report of a burglary.
Officers were met by Allen, who initially told police that he killed a man who had tried to break into his house. But Allen later confessed that he killed Harvey over a drug deal and that the victim was unarmed.
An unnamed witness, who was in the home at the time of the killing, told police that Allen asked him to help get rid of the body. They put Harvey into a trash can and moved his body to a wooded area behind the house, court documents say.
Court records refer to the victim as “Mickey.” But the Montgomery police identified him as Harvey, and said the two men knew each other.
Harvey’s family sat in the back of the courtroom during the hearing. They met with Maryland State’s Attorney for Montgomery County John McCarthy afterward but declined to speak with reporters.
“We want to explain to them the process and the procedure, and if they have some preliminary questions, we’d like to answer them,” McCarthy said.
Allen is scheduled to return to court next month.
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WTOP’s Thomas Warren contributed to this report. Follow @tewarren and @WTOP on Twitter.
