Shortly after he tried to kill his aunt and uncle with a baseball bat Monday, North Laurel resident Joel Fowler called the police to report the injuries and then admitted to the crimes, police said.

He told officers that he had used a baseball bat to strike in the head John and Susan Hellyer, who had given him a room in their home in 8700 block of Teresa Lane.
 
Fowler said that, before the attack, he covered his hands and feet with plastic in an attempt to conceal his involvement.
According to charging documents released Wednesday, Fowler “admitted to the assaults and informed the detectives that it was his intent to murder all three subjects,” both his aunt and uncle and an unnamed witness.
 
Fowler, 28, lived with the Hellyers and their son, Jack.
 
“He stated he had stripped down to his underwear and placed plastic bags over his feet and hands,” and approached his aunt and uncle, who were in the kitchen cutting fruit, charging documents state. “After striking each victim, he called 911, went to his room, got dressed and went outside.”
 
Fowler called police at about 8:50 that night to report that his family members were injured, police said. Police responding to the scene found Fowler sitting out front and arrested him.
 
John Hellyer, 60, and Susan Hellyer, 53, were taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center with head injuries and are in stable condition, police said.

Police gave no motive for the attack and Fowler did not mention one during a bail review hearing Wednesday at the Howard County District Court.

At that hearing, Fowler appeared via closed-circuit cable from the Howard County Detention Center. He wore an orange jumpsuit and his long brown hair hung down to his shoulders.
 
He answered Judge Pamila Brown’s questions in a matter-of-fact manner, saying he’d been previously convicted for trespassing and malicious destruction of property in 2000 and failing to obey a police officer’s command in 2002 in Calvert County.

In March, he was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol after an accident at routes 216 and 29, court records show.
 
Fowler did not object when Brown told him she would not allow him to post any bond prior to his trial.

“That’s fine,” he said, before the judge denied him bail.
 
Fowler said he did not have a job and he was “on disability” payments from the government.
 
 He said he’s never taken medication for mental health issues.

When the judge asked him where he was living, Fowler indicated he didn’t think he had any place to which he could return.
 
“I was staying at ... Teresa Lane in Laurel,” he said. “But now I’m not.”
 
A trial date for Fowler has not been set.

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user comments (2)

user plantsonly says...

This guy, Fowler, is pathetic. He's "on disability", "from the government", staying with an aunt and uncle who took him in and then he takes a bat and whacks them in the head with the intent to kill. Since he was "staying at" his relatives home, "but now I'm not", maybe he'll be staying, courtesy of the tax payers, in jail. The description in this article was chilling.

Posted 11:36 AM, 08.13.09 | Permalink

user fearo18 says...

He's not pathetic you bastard he's mentally ill. Any one who actually see's what he's saying and how he's acting can see that. If the people who supposed to be doing their job had actually done it none of this would have happened. I'm not saying what he did was by any means condonable, but what he needs is to away from people he can hurt and in a place where he will be forced to take the medication he needs.

Posted 10:44 AM, 08.14.09 | Permalink