Severn Man Convicted In Drug Deal Murder Over $40K

SEVERN, MD — A Severn man was convicted Thursday in the murder of a Baltimore County man missing since November 2015, even though no body has ever been found. Prosecutors say Richard Wayne Brooks, 52, lured Mark Hatmaker, of the 3100 block of Freeway in Baltimore County, to a Glen Burnie office for a drug deal, stole $40,000 and then killed Hatmaker.

Authorities say a motor home with large quantities of blood and human tissue matched to Hatmaker is proof that he was killed. The victim was last seen at 10 a.m. on November 24, 2015, when he left home to meet someone, whom prosecutors said was Brooks.

An Anne Arundel County jury convicted Brooks of first- and second-degree murder, along with robbery and theft.

Assistant Public Defender Caitlin O’Donnell, who represented Brooks, said Anne Arundel County Police “jumped to the worst-case scenario hypothesis” about Brooks without considering other possibilities, reports the Capital-Gazette.

Relatives reported Hatmaker missing to Baltimore County Police two days later when they could not get in touch with him. Baltimore County investigators learned that on the day he was last seen, Hatmaker met with Brooks at the Empire Towers in the 7300 block of Richie Highway.

Brooks had a motor-home that had been parked close to the meeting site, but the vehicle was moved around Nov. 26, 2015.

Investigators say Brooks had someone rent a U-Haul truck for him around the time he met with Hatmaker. Inside the truck, investigators found traces of human blood that had been cleaned up. Blood samples from the truck were matched to Hatmaker, police said.

Once police located Brooks' motor-home they reportedly found a large amount of human blood and pieces of human tissue inside that were also matched to Hatmaker.

Police have not found Hatmaker's body.

The victim is described as 50-year-old white man, about 5'11" and 245 pounds, bald, and wears glasses.

»Photo of Richard Brooks of Severn, courtesy of Anne Arundel County Police