Crime & Safety
Killer Sentenced In Columbia Condo Stabbing
The 29-year-old murderer was called "brutal and callous" at his sentencing hearing in Howard County District Court, officials said.
ELLICOTT CITY, MD — The deadly stabbing of a Columbia man in 2016 has resulted in a 45-year sentence. The killer appeared for a sentencing hearing on Wednesday in Howard County Circuit Court in Ellicott City.
Martin Edward Mullineaux, 62, was found deceased on Sept. 13, 2016, after his manager at Green Valley Marketplace reported he had not come to work in two days, officials said. He was found motionless on the bedroom floor of his condo in the 8700 block of Hayshed Lane stabbed and with blunt force trauma to the head. Authorities said there were no signs of forced entry.
Joseph P. Loverde, 29, of Pasadena, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder on Oct. 23, 2017.
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Mullineaux had allowed Loverde to stay with him in the past, police said, and as investigators worked on the homicide case, they found Loverde bought things with Mullineaux's credit cards, used the victim's cell phone after the murder and was driving Mullineaux's Kia Sorento, missing when the body was found.
Detectives took Loverde into custody in the 500 block of North Crain Highway, where he was walking around the day after the murder, and officials said the vehicle was found in a nearby Glen Burnie parking lot.
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"Brutal and callous" were words that Assistant State’s Attorney Stephen Yaeger used to describe Loverde's behavior, during Wednesday's sentencing hearing.
“This is not the behavior of someone who killed in a fit of rage and instantly regretted it," Yaeger said. "It is the behavior of someone who had no regard for the life he just took."
Howard County Circuit Court Judge William V. Tucker ordered Loverde Wednesday to serve life in prison with all but 45 years suspended, as well as to submit to a mental health evaluation and treatment through the Maryland Department of Parole and Probation.
Court records show that the judge recommended Loverde serve 50 percent of his sentence before parole.
When Loverde is released from prison, the state's attorney reports he faces five years of supervised probation, a period during which he must abstain from alcohol and illegal substances.
Booking photo of Joseph Loverde courtesy of the Howard County Police Department.
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