A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of a man suspected of shooting a Maryland judge to death in a “targeted attack” outside his house.
The US Marshals Service announced Friday that it is looking for Pedro Argote, 49, in connection with the death of Washington County Circuit Court Judge Andrew Wilkinson on Thursday. Officials say Wilkinson was shot hours after giving Argote’s estranged wife custody of their four minor children.
A resident in the Williamsport, Maryland, region near the West Virginia border discovered Argote’s SUV at 11 a.m. on Saturday, according to Washington County Sheriff Brian K. Albert.
It wasn’t clear how long the truck had been there, and Albert said a first check found up no firearms. Authorities had stated that Argote was perhaps driving a 2009 Mercedes-Benz GL 450, a full-size SUV.
Albert said deputies, marshals, and local police were scouring through distant woodlands near Saturday’s find.
“We’re going to catch this guy,” he assured them. “It’s just a matter of time.”
The Marshals Service stated in a press release that Argote has links to various cities outside of Maryland, including Brooklyn and Long Island, New York; Columbus, Indiana; and Tampa and Clearwater, Florida. He also has ties to unidentified areas in North Carolina.
Although officials have stated that Argote should be regarded armed and dangerous and that any sightings should be reported to police immediately, Albert believes that locals in and near Williamsport are not in danger.
“We don’t feel the community’s at risk,” he said. “We just ask that you avoid the search area.”
Wilkinson presided over Argote’s divorce case, filed in June 2022. In a hearing Thursday morning, hours before the shooting, he gave Argote’s wife an absolute divorce and exclusive legal custody of their four children, aged 12, 11, 5, and 3.
Argote did not appear at the hearing.
According to the court statement, Wilkinson ordered Argote not to contact or see the children and prevented him from contacting his ex-wife unless she started it to utilize a 2009 Mercedes for required shopping trips and medical visits. Argote was also barred from accessing the family home and was ordered to pay $1,120 in child support each month.
The ruling was based on a finding of “cruelty of treatment” and “irreconcilable differences.” Albert stated on Friday that the shooting was motivated by the custody judgment.
When asked about law enforcement encounters with the family on Saturday, Albert said that deputies had attended to “verbal domestics,” or individuals fighting loudly, at the family house in recent years but that he was unaware of any reports of physical abuse.
The wife filed a domestic violence suit against Argote in June 2022, alleging physical abuse against one of their daughters.
She expressed concern that Argote would have a weapon on him and attempt to take the children away from her.
She also accused him of harassing her via emails and messages, spying on her through the home’s security cameras, and emotionally and financially manipulating her. She filed the petition less than two weeks ago, which was denied.
counsel Michael Gast, who temporarily represented Argote in the case, said Saturday that he convinced the wife’s counsel to dismiss the petition due to a lack of evidence. He refused to go into further detail.
Gast, who stepped down after representing Argote for around three months, described his former client as a “very quiet guy” who startled him with the alleged crime.
