Prince George’s police have arrested an Oxon Hill man in the killing of an Alexandria, Va., community activist whose body was retrieved Saturday from a 20-foot well in Fort Washington, and police say they expect to arrest others.
Linwood Johnson, 49, of South View Drive is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Lenwood Harris, 53, after allegedly confessing to detectives early Tuesday morning after his arrest, said Henry Tippett, a county police spokesman.
Tippett said the investigation is still ongoing, and police are expecting to arrest more suspects linked to the homicide.
“Police questioned him overnight and into the morning, and he ended up confessing to the murder,” Tippett said.
The body of Harris, who went missing in September, was first discovered Jan. 26 after an anonymous caller told county police they would find a body in a well if they went to the abandoned property in the 11900 block of Old Fort Road.
Johnson told police the motive for the incident was robbery, said Tippett, who noted that during Johnson’s arrest, detectives discovered the firearm they believe was used in the incident.
During a Monday morning joint news conference with the Alexandria Police Department, PGPD Chief Mark A. Magaw said police are anxiously trying to identify that caller, believing that the anonymous person may have additional information on the homicide.
“We’re looking at every aspect of the issue with this caller,” he said.
Magaw said an autopsy revealed that Harris had been in the well for “an extended period of time,” saying that police believe Harris’ body was dumped in the well shortly after he went missing in Alexandria on Sept. 21.
Magaw said Harris frequented the entire Washington Metropolitan area but was unsure of his possible connection to Fort Washington.
Fort Washington is about 12.5 miles from Alexandria.
Prince George’s police worked with several other agencies, including the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department, Prince George’s County Health Department, the Prince George’s County Department of Public Works and private excavation crew Dirt Plus Inc. of Upper Marlboro, to retrieve the body, given that the remains were deep underground.
“This was a very unique crime scene,” Magaw said. “The sole purpose was to preserve any evidence from the scene.”
Tippett said PGPD is thankful for the Alexandria Police Department for “laying the ground work” on the investigation. APD began conducting a critical missing person investigation Sept. 22. Tippett also said APD aided PGPD in identifying Johnson as a suspect.
Alexandria police Chief Earl Cook said police had been searching for Harris after it was discovered that he was missing when he did not show up to a presentation at the Charles Houston Recreation Center in Old Town Alexandria on Sept. 21.
“He had been going about his normal routine. There was no indication of foul play,” Cook said.
During the missing-person investigation, Harris’ cell phone was discovered on the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge in Alexandria and it was discovered that an unknown suspect used Harris’ credit card Sept. 22.
Cook said each of those incidents will now be a part of the homicide investigation.
Cook said he knew Harris personally and said he was “very committed to helping the community,” noting that he once owned a local business and co-founded Operation H.O.P.E. Inc., an Alexandria-based nonprofit organization for enhancing quality of life through education, services and outreach.
A phone number for Harris’ residence could not be located.
The well was constructed from stacked brick, as opposed to being mortared, and Deputy Chief Hank Stawinski of the Prince George’s County Forensic Science and Intelligence Bureau said it was a challenging process to retrieve the remains in their entirety without collapsing the well or losing its structural integrity.
The body retrieval lasted from the afternoon of Jan. 26 to early evening Saturday, totaling a roughly 50-hour process.
Stawinski said excavation crews dug into the ground outside of the well and penetrated the well where the body was located without tampering with evidence on the scene.
“The excavation crew brought equipment to the scene that evening and we moved steadily forward, reaching the remains by 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon,” he said. “By 5 p.m. we recovered the body and we transported the remains to the chief medical examiner’s office in Baltimore. Everyone was made incredibly available.”
Julie Parker, a Prince George’s County police spokeswoman, said that through private donors in Alexandria and Prince George’s County’s Crime Solvers, police are offering up to $38,000 to anyone who comes forward with information that leads to other arrests.
“I’m confident this collaborative partnership will bring this case to a final resolution,” Magaw said Monday.
Johnson has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Feb. 28 in Prince George’s County District Court in Upper Marlboro. He did not have an attorney listed with the court Wednesday.
djgross@gazette.net
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