Murder case moves forward against husband accused of shooting wife
Katie Leckie
October 24, 2009
The Frederick News-Post
http://www.wtop.com/index.php?nid=25&sid=1793598
A Frederick County grand jury Friday indicted a Frederick man on a charge of first-degree murder in the Sept. 29 shooting death of his estranged wife, State’s Attorney Charlie Smith said.

The grand jury also indicted Marshall Franklin Metz Sr. on charges of first-degree assault and the use of a handgun in a crime of violence, Smith said.

Metz, 65, of the 700 block of Dogwood Court, is accused of shooting Ann Sue Metz, 60, twice in the chest as she returned home to care for a collection of box turtles she rescued, according to Frederick police.

Metz waited an hour before calling police about 12:40 p.m., court documents state.

When police and rescue crews arrived, Marshall Metz was sitting in a chair on the front porch.

Lying on her back on the kitchen floor, Ann Metz had a faint pulse, police said. She died upon arrival at Frederick Memorial Hospital.

The indictment forwards the case against Marshall Metz to Circuit Court. No trial date has been set.

If convicted, first-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Contacted at the jail, where he is being held without bail, Metz declined a request for an interview.

Metz told police the couple had argued over money and family issues, according to court documents. He told them Ann Metz first pulled a gun on him.

In other cases of violence considered Friday, Smith said the grand jury indicted:

Christopher Lee Stevens, 18, of Keymar, and William G. Szarvas, 19, of Boonsboro, on charges of robbery, second-degree assault and theft less than $500.

The two are accused of taking a bag of food from a man walking home about 10:45 p.m. Aug. 17 in the 100 block of Key Parkway.

Police said the men implied they had a gun.

John William Thompson, 48, on charges of first-degree arson, first-degree malicious burning and reckless endangerment.

Thompson is accused of setting fire to his father’s Mount Airy home when his 87-year-old father, William Thompson, was evicting him about 11:30 p.m. Sept. 21, a deputy state fire marshal said.

William Thompson was treated for burns at a Baltimore hospital and released.

The indictments against Stevens, Szarvas and Thompson also forward their cases to Circuit Court.

No trial dates have been set.