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Alford plea accepted in Hooters stabbing
Florida man killed in '08 case
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009
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Carrying a package of leftover chicken wings, Florida resident Shelton Stephens headed from the Waldorf restaurant where he had stopped to grab a meal toward his truck and the boat he was towing to New York.
Surveillance footage from Hooters showed that just behind Stephens trailed a second man, dressed in a black coat and hat. Minutes later, Stephens, bleeding from a gashed neck artery, stumbled into the nearby Super 8 Hotel, collapsed in the lobby and died, a prosecutor said Monday.
At the court hearing earlier this week, Joseph John Plass, the former Washington, D.C., police officer charged with stabbing Stephens, entered an Alford plea to second-degree murder, meaning he did not admit guilt but did recognize that the prosecutor's evidence might secure his conviction if presented at a trial.
"Mr. Plass doesn't have a memory of the events that occurred outside the night of Nov. 12, 2008," said defense attorney Jeffrey Harding at the hearing.
The victim's nephew, Henry Stephens, said he doesn't believe Plass has no memory of the incident. Stephens and other family members of the victim, 52, of Dunnellon, Fla., filled the gallery at Monday's hearing, and several of them began crying as Plass was escorted into the courtroom wearing a black pinstripe suit.
Charles County Deputy State's Attorney Jerome R. Spencer said that Plass, 58, of Waldorf, met up with some friends at Hooters after he'd been drinking alcohol at two other establishments.
Stephens, who transported boats for a living, ended up at Hooters on a trip towing a vessel from Southern Maryland to New York. Police spoke to about 60 people inside Hooters, none of whom reported seeing any unusual interactions between Stephens and Plass, according to Spencer.
But when Stephens left the Hooters, Plass followed him, the prosecutor said. From a camera recording of the restaurant's exterior, it appears Plass was gaining on Stephens as they walked, Spencer said. Plass' attorney, Harding, told the court that one witness saw three people together in the parking lot, rather than two.
A group of people outside the neighboring motel reported seeing a man strike Stephens and said that the attacker walked back to Hooters, according to the prosecutor. After the assault, Stephens ran into the motel, leaving a trail of blood that stretched from the parking lot to the lobby of the Super 8.
"Even if a doctor had been present, there was still a pretty good chance Mr. Stephens would not have survived," Spencer said.
Witnesses told police that inside Hooters, Plass took off his hat and jacket and washed his hands and forearms in the bathroom, according to Spencer.
Sheriff's officers, who went to the scene of the killing at about 7:38 p.m., later found what appeared to be blood in the bathroom.
Investigators at the restaurant also noticed a stain on Plass' shirt and began questioning him. Plass told police he never left the restaurant, but his friends told police the Waldorf man had gone outside, according to Spencer.
Police found that Plass was carrying a knife, although no blood was discovered on the weapon, Spencer said, adding that the Waldorf man likely washed the blade. Investigators did find blood spots on Plass' pants leg and inside the pocket of his jacket.
Analysis showed the genetic material in the stain on his pants was consistent with Stephens' DNA, according to Spencer.
Harding said a stain on Plass' shirt turned out to be barbecue sauce.
Plass is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 27 and could face up to 30 years in prison.
"Detective Higgs and the Charles County Sheriff's Office deserve a lot of credit for apprehending Mr. Plass so swiftly and helping bring him to justice," Spencer said.
Henry Stephens said his uncle wasn't a confrontational person and called his killing a "travesty." He added that what upsets him the most is the way Shelton Stephens died.
"He knew for the last minute of his life that he was going to die, and there wasn't anything he could do about it," Henry Stephens said.
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