A 44-year-old Gwynn Oak man was convicted Monday of second-degree attempted murder and second-degree rape in the first of three city trials in which he is accused of sexual assault and murder.
A Baltimore jury deliberated roughly three hours before returning the verdict against William Vincent Brown, who faces up to 50 years in prison, according to the Baltimore State's Attorney's Office.
Brown was accused of acting as an illegal "hack" taxi driver and picking up the victim in April 2003, assaulting and brutally beating her. He nearly severed her ears from her head, according to the woman's pre-trial testimony, and dumped her comatose body in Leakin Park.
The case was cold for years, until 2008 DNA evidence linked Brown to the woman's attack along with two other assaults and murders. He's scheduled for trial on March 14 in the rape and beating death of a 25-year-old woman, who remained in a coma for six months before dying in early 2004. And his third trial, on charges of raping and murdering a 15-year-old girl in March 2004, is slated for April 4.
Sentencing is set to occur prior to the next trial, according to the State's Attorney's Office.