Left: Pedro Argote (Washington County Sheriff’s Office); Right: Andrew Fisher Wilkinson (Maryland Courts)
A man is being sought in the “targeted” driveway murder of a judge in Maryland who decided against him in his court divorce and custody battle with his wife.
As Law&Crime previously reported, 52-year-old Washington County Circuit Court Judge Andrew Fisher Wilkinson was gunned down in his driveway on Thursday night. On Friday morning, law enforcement revealed the lead suspect is Pedro Argote, 49.
A petition for a protective order filed by the wanted man’s ex-wife accuses him of physically abusing one of their children – along with other complaints about his behavior, NBC News reports. The petition was filed on June 12, 2022, in Washington County District Court. The document claims Argote also committed harassment via text messages, constantly monitored the family via security cameras, and leveled false claims of child neglect against the mother to try and take custody of the couple’s four children.
“I am not taking this anymore,” the woman wrote in the petition. “I will protect my child.”
In the petition, Argote’s ex-wife alleged she got in between the man and their 11-year-old girl and said, “to get to her, he needed to hit me or kill me.” After that, the ex-wife said, Argote tried to push her away – but the intervention stopped the violence being meted out to the child.
The 11-year-old was the subject of Argote’s ire for several years, his ex-wife alleged in the petition.
According to the petition, Argote’s ex-wife tried several times to break free from her ex-husband’s alleged rage and violence – seeking help from a domestic violence center in 2012. That center, however, did not help her, she claims. The ex-wife also enlisted relatives to stop the alleged abuse, she wrote, but Argote forced them to leave the family’s house.
The petition was dismissed two weeks after being filed, according to NBC News.
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Court records reviewed by Law&Crime show Wilkinson presided over Argote’s divorce case and that a hearing was held as recently as 9:30 a.m. on Thursday. The suspect’s wife was granted a divorce and custody of the children. The judge also ordered Argote to pay $1,120 a month in child support – and prohibited him from entering the family’s home, according to the document obtained by NBC News.
The judgment attributed the divorce and custody decisions to findings of “cruelty of treatment” and “irreconcilable differences.”
Several hours later, the judge would be dead.
Wilkinson was a husband and father. He was shot and killed on Olde Waterford Road, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said.
“The victim, an adult male, was located in the driveway of a residence. The victim was suffering from what appeared to be gunshot wounds,” a press release reads. “He was transported to Meritus Medical Center, where he later succumbed to his injuries.”
The judge’s killing has been described as targeted by law enforcement in the Old Line State.
“Anyone with information on the location of Pedro Argote, 49, is asked to notify law enforcement immediately. Argote is 5’7″, 130 lbs. with black hair and brown eyes,” investigators said. “He may be operating a silver 2009 Mercedes GL450, displaying Maryland registration plates 4EH0408.”
Matt Naham contributed to this report.
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