An Anne Arundel County judge set bail at $3 million Wednesday for a Baltimore woman accused of killing her former employer, Glen Burnie dentist Albert Woonho Ro, after hearing that others might have been involved in the slaying and that Ro might have been tortured.
Assistant State's Attorney M. Virginia Miles told the judge that the defendant, Shontay Joyner Hickman, may face more charges because police believe she "systematically" stole money from Ro's dental practice, where she worked as the office manager.
Police also suspect that others — beyond Hickman and a relative who also was indicted Friday in the slaying — took part in the crimes and that Ro might have been tortured before he was killed, Miles said.
Making her court appearance via a monitor, Hickman, 35, of Baltimore, said nothing and bit her lip as District Judge Shaem C.P. Spencer set the bail.
Hickman and Dante Jeter, 23, were indicted on charges of first-degree and second-degree murder, second-degree burglary of Ro's storehouse, robbery and attempted robbery of cash, and conspiracy to commit burglary. Hickman was arrested Monday; Jeter had been jailed in Baltimore to await a trial, scheduled for Monday, on a 2009 murder charge. Prosecutors describe him as a relative of Hickman's, but not a close one.
It is not known whether Hickman would be eligible for the death penalty if convicted.
Well known in the area's Korean community, Ro, 51, was found beaten and stabbed the night of Sept. 26, 2006, in his office in the Chatham Executive Office Park in Glen Burnie. His face was so badly bludgeoned that he was barely recognizable. His family had called police to the office that night because he did not come home or respond to phone calls for several hours.
As an office employee, Hickman handled paperwork and payments in Ro's main office in Lutherville and the Glen Burnie satellite office. Miles said there were indications that Ro might have learned there were financial discrepancies in patients' payments.
"She had been systematically stealing money from Dr. Ro, and she may be facing charges in the future," Miles said. Ro's family has previously said they suspected that Hickman stole patient and insurance payments.
Some of Ro's wounds appeared superficial, and police believe Ro may have been tortured by his attackers before he was slain, Miles said.
"The state does believe there are additional uncharged co-defendants in this case," Miles said. Both she and a detective declined to elaborate outside the courtroom.
When police came to her door Monday night in the 700 block of N. Kenwood Ave., Hickman did not come out, though she later told officers she knew they were there, Miles said. Police "had to make an entry" into the home to retrieve her, Miles told the judge.
As she argued for holding Hickman without bail, the prosecutor said that "last month she filed an application for Social Services at an address at which she did not live," noting that address turned out to be the home of another of Hickman's relatives, not where Hickman resides with her husband and three children.
Assistant Public Defender Michele M. Cinque, seeking bail, said Hickman was not a flight risk and had no criminal convictions. She asked that the judge not consider possible future charges, calling them "conjecture."
Court records show that in 2004, St. Agnes Health Care obtained a judgment against Hickman for about $2,000.
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