The platform of the Bowie train station is nearly empty after 11 p.m. Two people sit on a bench in the dark. The train has not yet arrived.
In a moment, spotlights light up the pair. A deputy U.S. marshal appears across the tracks and aims a rifle at one of them. Law enforcement officers run in from the side.
Jason Dean Billingsley has been on the run for days after an alleged crime spree of rape, arson and murder in Baltimore. Surrounded, he raises his arms and surrenders.
Surveillance video of his arrest last month was released to The Baltimore Banner under a public records request. The video shows Billingsley did not resist or try to escape. He lay on the pavement, then officers handcuffed him and led him away. A police spokeswoman said only Billingsley was taken into custody. The second person was released.
It was a quick, peaceful end to the dayslong manhunt that had set families across Baltimore on edge.
“This individual will kill and he will rape,” Police Commissioner Richard Worley had warned at a news conference. “He will do anything he can to cause harm. Please be aware of your surroundings.”
Billingsley, 32, was wanted on murder charges in the killing of the well-known, 26-year-old tech entrepreneur Pava LaPere. He’s also charged with attempted murder, rape and arson for an attack on a couple in a West Baltimore rooming house the week before LaPere’s body was found. A Baltimore judge has ordered Billingsley be held without bail. His public defender has declined to comment.
Billingsley is also charged with stealing a handgun in Baltimore County.
He’s scheduled for preliminary hearings next week in Baltimore District Court in the murder and attempted murder cases. He’s scheduled for trial next month in the county gun case.
