A Carroll County grand jury indicted a Union Bridge man on first-degree murder and assault charges Thursday. The man is accused of punching a Westminster man in a fight about money on Feb. 26.

Wayne Anthony Wimsett, 39, of the first block S. Main St., surrendered Monday to Westminster police. He has since been held without bail at the Carroll County Detention Center, after a a scheduled bail review hearing was postponed last week.

The indictment charges Wimsett with the malicious and premeditated murder of Jack Austin White, 46, of the 200 block of E. Main St. in Westminster.

According to charging documents, Wimsett told police that White owed him money, that they fought about 6 p.m. Feb. 26 in the 200 block of Railroad Ave., and that he punched White 10 to 15 times in the head, knocking him unconscious.

At 7: 22 p.m., police were called and found White unconscious outside his home in the 200 block of E. Main St. White was taken first to Carroll County General Hospital, then to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he died the next day. The state medical examiner's office Feb. 28 ruled the death a homicide, attributing it to head trauma.

Westminster police officers received a report of a man staggering near Willis and Center streets shortly after 6 p.m., but said the man told them he didn't need help.

Pub Date: 3/07/99