Subject of National Manhunt to Serve Life Sentence for Murder

The man who fled with one of his daughters after killing her mother in Dundalk last year has been sentenced to life without parole.

Timothy Virts, 39, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in March, court records show, in the death of Bobbie Jo Cortez, 36, who was found dead in her home in the 3100 block of Ardee Way in Dundalk on March 6, 2014.

Virts was sentenced to life without parole on Friday, according to the Baltimore County State’s Attorney.

He killed Cortez while she was trying to sleep on March 5, 2014, the state’s attorney reported. She awoke during the attack and died from stab wounds to her neck, chest and abdomen, the report said, noting she also had wounds on her hands and arm.

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Virts had been staying with Cortez, and the two were supposed to have a custody hearing on March 6, 2014, according to The Baltimore Sun. Instead, he killed her with a butcher knife beforehand because he was concerned he would no longer be able to see their children, the newspaper reported.

He then took his 11-year-old daughter from the home and fled out of state, triggering an Amber alert and national manhunt.

The day after the two disappeared, a hotel clerk in South Carolina called police when she recognized them from an Amber Alert post she saw on Facebook.

Facebook in January said that the case inspired the social media site to begin including Amber alerts in people’s news feeds based on their location.

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As part of his plea agreement, Virts pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, while the other charges against him were dropped. Those charges were first-degree assault; kidnapping; attempted second-degree sex offense; hiding a child out-of-state; kidnapping a child under 16; attempted sex abuse of a minor; theft from $1,000 to $10,000; and unlawful taking of a motor vehicle.