After Hearing 911 Call, Judge Tosses Murder Charge

In a recorded 911 call played in court yesterday, a shaken 35-year-old Arlington County man said he had just killed a man. What he said next persuaded the judge to dismiss the murder charge against him: "He was going to kill me."

But immediately after General District Court Judge Thomas J. Kelley Jr. issued his ruling during a preliminary hearing, prosecutors said there was no evidence that the killing was done in self-defense and that they would seek an indictment from the grand jury when it meets Monday.

Police had charged Willie Donaldson, an Internet consultant, in the Dec. 8 shooting death of Matthew Hicks, 32, of Loudoun County. Hicks was found dead of gunshot wounds in Donaldson's home in 2100 block of South Arlington Ridge Road.

Police said the incident began after Donaldson responded to an "erotic service" advertisement on Craigslist. A couple arrived at Donaldson's home about midnight Dec. 7. The three drank, according to a police search warrant affidavit, and at one point the woman hopped into a hot tub and passed out.

About 4 a.m., Donaldson called 911, saying he killed a man who had beat him and was trying to rob him. In court yesterday, prosecutors played a recording of the call, in which Donaldson could be heard saying, "I just shot and killed someone in my house."

Kept on the line by the dispatcher, Donaldson said the person he had killed with a 9mm handgun had "attacked me and assaulted me and said he was going to kill me."

At one point, his voice shaking, Donaldson said: "He's dead. He's dead." He told the dispatcher that the man "beat the [expletive] out of me" and that he tried to rob him and force him to go to an ATM to get money.

At yesterday's hearing, prosecutors did not provide any additional information about what led to the shooting, and they did not call any law enforcement officers to testify.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Lisa Bergman said that Donaldson's claim of self-defense on the 911 tape was "self-serving," and she argued that the defense did not produce any evidence to back up the claim. There was no proof that Donaldson "was in any imminent danger," she said.

Defense attorney Jason Rucker argued that the 911 call proved that Donaldson was acting in self-defense when he shot Hicks. "We've argued all along this was self-defense," he said after the hearing.

He said that Hicks, a former Navy SEAL, beat Donaldson, who was scared for his life, and pointed to a mug shot of Donaldson after his arrest that showed his face bruised and swollen.

According to the Navy, Hicks was stripped of the SEAL qualification, a highly unusual act, and was other than honorably discharged before his enlistment was up.