Convicted Murderer Of Johns Hopkins Researcher Sentenced To More Prison Time
BALTIMORE (WJZ)— The man convicted of murdering a Johns Hopkins researcher received more prison time Friday.
Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge John Addison Howard sentenced John Wagner to more than seven years in prison for violating the terms of his probation when he murdered Stephen Pitcairn.
The probation violation will be served in addition to the life-plus-20-year sentence Wagner received on Oct. 21 for murdering Pitcairn.
Wagner was on probation for a 2008 conviction for second-degree assault at the time of the fatal attack at knifepoint as the researcher walked from Penn Station to his home in Charles Village on July 25, 2010. For the violation, Judge Howard sentenced Wagner to the full balance of his 2008 sentence: seven years, eight months, and six days.
Wagner's co-defendant, Lavelva Merritt, is scheduled to have a probation violation hearing on Dec. 19. Last month, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Gale E. Rasin sentenced her to 30 years in prison, 15 of those years suspended, and three years of supervised probation for her participation in the robbery and murder of Pitcairn.
"I commend Judge Howard for imposing the full balance of time and making it consecutive to the murder sentence," State's Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein said. "This proceeding reflects our commitment to using absolutely every tool at our disposal to ensure that repeat, violent offenders remain in jail and off of our streets."
