Maryland authorities provided an update on Friday regarding the murder of Washington County Circuit Court Associate Judge Andrew Wilkinson, who was gunned down in the driveway of his residence while his wife and child were at home.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office named a suspect, Pedro Argote, 49.
Authorities confirmed during a press conference that Wilkinson had presided over a judgment hearing in Argote’s divorce case on Thursday in which he granted sole custody of the their four children to his wife.
“This was a targeted attack on Judge Wilkinson,” Washington County Sheriff Brian Albert said during the press conference.
Argote filed for divorce in June 2022 and his wife, Eugenia, was given a temporary protection order against him at the time. She was reportedly fearful of him and claimed he was abusive.
“I have been trying to get out of this relationship for the longest time, but for the fear that he will try to get custody of the kids,” Eugenia wrote in the petition viewed by USA TODAY.
“I can’t get out of the house without his knowledge,” she wrote.
She had to intervene when he allegedly tried to become violent with their daughter in October 2020, according to the petition, also obtained by The Daily Record.
“I got in the middle and told him for him to get to her he needed to hit me or kill me,” she continued.
She called Ruth’s House, a partner violence center, in 2012, she wrote but never got enough help to leave.
“I need help,” she added. “Physical violence is not the only kind of violence … I don’t know what to do.”
The arguments were becoming “too much” for the couple’s four children, aged 12, 11, 5 and 3, she added. […]
Argote’s wife ultimately asked to dismiss her petition for the temporary protection order because the couple agreed on a separate living arrangement in the same house, court records show.
The case left the judge with “the uneasy sense that Father engages in absolute control over Mother, their finances, and their lives,” Wilkinson noted at the time.
“This is not in the best interest of their children.” (New York Post)
Authorities said Argote was not present in court during Thursday's divorce proceedings.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office is asking the public for assistance in their search for Argote, though they cautioned he is considered armed and dangerous.