HYATTSVILLE – Prince George’s County Police officers detained a man suspected of stabbing an elderly man to death in his home less than a mile from the campus yesterday afternoon, though police said the suspect has not been arrested or charged with homicide.
H. Evan Duquette was found dead in his home on the 3300 block of Cool Springs Road, a wooded, secluded neighborhood near the Route 193-Adelphi Road intersection, home to many students and university faculty.
An officer on the scene said two county officers responded to a cell phone call from an “anonymous citizen” at about 4:30 p.m. and arrived to see Duquette laying on the floor near the front entrance with a Hispanic man standing over him. The officers called for backup, including a SWAT team, and formed a barricade around the house.
The suspect remained inside, unaware of the police presence, and eventually emerged through the front door, an officer said. When he saw the officers, he lay on the ground and was apprehended. The suspect sat slumped in the passenger seat of a police cruiser outside the house until about 7 p.m.
The officer said police found bloody knives and a shattered glass door at the rear of the house. Officers told neighbors, including university music professor Chris Vadala, to remain inside their houses at about 6 p.m.
“It’s very scary,” Vadala said. “It’s a very quiet neighborhood. We’ve never had anything like this happen before. It kinda shakes you up.”
Duquette, a widower and retired U.S. Naval officer, lived alone with his caretaker, though an officer said Duquette might have rented a room to Hispanic tenants. One neighbor said Duquette hired youths to mow his lawn to help them financially.
The neighbor described Duquette as a friendly neighbor failing in health but still able to drive and get around. He would greet Duquette while Duquette picked up his morning paper and said Duquette would sometimes ask him for donations for his philanthropic projects.
“He seemed ready and willing to help,” the neighbor said. “He always had these charities, and he would come and ask for donations.”
At least 18 county police vehicles remained at the scene last night, lining the street and driveways of neighboring single-family homes.Vadala said police told him he could come out of his home just before 7 p.m.
University graduate student Martha Betz said she returned home from the campus and followed a police cruiser, which spend down Cool Spring Road and stopped at Duquette’s house.
Joining an officer already on the scene, Betz said the officer jumped from his car, left the door open and seemed to try to enter the home through the garage.
