Man Charged in Wife's Murder Works for NSA: Officials

Bail is set at $500,000 for the Laurel man charged with murder in the death of his wife, according to a statement from the Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Jason Worth Martin, of the 9500 block of Glen Ridge Drive, was initially held without bail; however, District Court Judge Wayne A. Brooks amended that decision Thursday morning, after Martin appeared before him via closed-circuit television for a bail review hearing, the statement said.

The public defender representing 41-year-old Martin told the judge he has no criminal record, he works for the National Security Agency as a mathematician and he is pursuing his Ph.D. at Cornell University in math, according to the statement. The attorney also said Martin taught math at James Madison University.

Related: Laurel Man Charged with Murder in Wife’s Death

Martin has been held at the Howard County Detention Center on charges of second-degree murder as well as first-and second-degree assault since authorities found his wife Tuesday night with facial and head injuries in the couple’s basement, according to charging documents. A dumbbell near her body was covered in blood.

Despite first responders’ attempts to save her, Carla Martin was taken to Laurel Regional Hospital, where she was pronounced deceased, charging documents show.

Police said the preliminary cause of death for the 42-year-old woman was blunt force trauma

Authorities were called to the home at 10:56 p.m. Tuesday by neighbors, who said that Martin came over with blood on his shirt and informed them that he thought he had killed his wife during a fight, and admitted he used a dumbbell, charging documents state.

Police reported there were three children in the home at the time who did not see what happened. They were placed in the custody of Carla Martin’s parents, according to police.

Judge Brooks prohibited Martin from having contact with his children and mandated that the Division of Parole and Probation place him on pretrial supervision.

Martins’ parents were in the courtroom during the bail hearing, according to the state’s attorney’s office, which had asked the judge told hold him on no-bond status.

Booking photo of Jason Martin courtesy of the Howard County Police Department.