Joanna Findlay
A lecturer in the English department was charged with second-degree murder over the weekend after police found her Saturday night in a St. Mary’s County home with a man who had been shot.
Joanna Findlay teaches ENGL398C: Writing Case Studies and Narratives and two sections of ENGL393: Technical Writing in the Professional Writing Program, a total of 88 students, according to Testudo. Students described her as a witty and engaging instructor with a passion for firearms.
According to the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office, Findlay, 40, and the victim, Gary Alan Trogdon, 55, may have been involved in a domestic dispute. The two co-owned a house on Little Cliffs Road in Hollywood, Md., according to property records.
“Deputies responded to a residence on Little Cliffs Road … for the report of a domestic assault in progress with shots fired during the dispute,” according to a sheriff’s department press release.
Cindy Allen, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office, said she had no further comment. Findlay is being held in the St. Mary’s County Detention Center without bail, according to police and court records.
Students in Findlay’s classes received an e-mail yesterday morning saying that their instructor “will not be able to teach your class for the next several weeks” for an unspecified reason. Professional Writing Program Director Lea Chartock, who sent the e-mail, said in an interview she had no further information about the incident and wouldn’t comment further.
In her e-mail, Chartock said she hopes to have a substitute teacher in place by next week and assured students the program is committed to helping students complete the course on time. However, ENGL398C students will have their midterm postponed or canceled, the e-mail added.
Junior dietetics major Alex Wahlberg, who is taking ENGL393, said Findlay was one of her favorite teachers — even as she frequently diverted the class to discuss weaponry.
“A class period didn’t go by that she didn’t talk about gun laws or the number of guns she has,” Wahlberg said. “She would talk about how her house was a well-armored home. She owns tons of them. The last class we had with her, we had a huge discussion about where we stood on gun control laws. It’s really upsetting to us, but everything kind of makes sense.”
The news of Findlay’s arrest came as a shock to faculty members and previous students.
Although English professor Martha Nell Smith did not personally know Findlay, she was still surprised to hear the news and said it had not previously been discussed among members of the English department.
Senior criminology and criminal justice major Harris Brown took Findlay’s professional writing class last year and said she was one of his favorite teachers throughout his university career.
“I was pretty surprised to hear she was being charged for murder,” he said, noting he had considered asking her for letters of recommendation as he prepares to enter the workforce. “She was always understanding of the students and really a student type of teacher.”
Findlay received mostly positive comments on OurUMD reviews by students who described her as fun, entertaining and helpful. But the news came as a shock to many students who never knew Findlay’s easygoing demeanor in the classroom.
“That’s insane. It reminds me of Chicago,” said freshman government and politics and linguistics major Katie Wofford, referring to the musical and movie in which a woman shoots and kills her boyfriend. “Maybe she’s secretly seen Chicago too many times.”
According to her online biography, Findlay moved from Scotland to study English and creative writing at the University of Nebraska. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees and is working on a doctorate in modern Scottish literature and the postcolonial novels of Africa, India and Britain from the same university, the biography said.
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