- Argote was found dead on Thursday morning
A father accused of shooting the Maryland judge who approved his wife’s divorce last week has been found dead.
Pedro Argote went on the run after Judge Andrew Wilkinson, 52, was shot dead in front of his family in the driveway of his Hagerstown home on Oct. 19.
The judge had banned Argote, 49, from seeing his family and ordered him to pay $1,120 a month in child support after learning of a “shocking” litany of abuse by the father of four.
His Mercedes SUV was found abandoned in a wooded area south of Hagerstown on Saturday.
His body was found today a mile from the car, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.
The body of 49-year-old Pedro Argote was found this morning, a week after he was named by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office as a suspect in the murder of Judge Andrew Wilkinson
Maryland Judge Andrew Wilkinson, 52, was killed in his driveway in front of his family
Wilkinson had served as an assistant district judge in Washington County since 2020. He was pictured with his wife Stephanie at his swearing-in ceremony on January 10, 2020
“The deceased was located in a heavily wooded area between Clear Spring Road and Bottom Road, approximately one mile northwest of where the suspect vehicle was found,” the office added in a statement.
“The deceased individual has been positively identified as Pedro Argote, the suspect wanted for the murder of Maryland Circuit Court Judge Andrew Wilkinson.”
News of his death came just hours after court records released statements from Argote’s family hours before his disappearance.
His adult daughter said he locked her in her bedroom for most of her teenage years and beat her “with whatever he had around,” Washington County Court heard.
The father of four installed cameras throughout his Frederick home and “watched my every move,” she said, while his wife, Eugenia, said he was stuffing a towel into their crying baby’s mouth.
This is breaking news.