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Jury finds Largo man guilty in Bethesda woman’s murder

Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2005

A Largo man is guilty of murdering a 24-year-old Bethesda woman by beating her to death with a ceramic bookend, a jury ruled Thursday.

A jury of seven women and five men deliberated for about seven hours Thursday night before convicting Antoine L. Gatewood, 33, of first-degree murder, robbery and burglary in the March 2 killing of his former girlfriend Emily Cagal.

Prosecutors presented witnesses and evidence showing that Gatewood killed Cagal and robbed her of a large amount of cash she made from selling drugs. Gatewood was a former boyfriend and occasional security guard for Cagal, who worked as an exotic dancer. Gatewood admitted to the killing during his testimony on Nov. 9, but said he acted in self-defense.

‘‘The suggestion by the defendant that her murder was somehow justified was both insulting and debasing to both she and her family,” State’s Attorney Douglas F. Gansler said Monday. ‘‘Fortunately the jury did not buy it and Mr. Gatewood was convicted on each and every charge and will now spend a very long time in jail.”

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 5 in Montgomery County Circuit Court. Gatewood faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole.

Gatewood’s attorney Steven D. Kupferberg said he would appeal the conviction.

‘‘We were very disappointed with the results,” Kupferberg said. ‘‘And we believe he’s got significant appellant issues.”

In closing arguments of the eight-day trial, Deputy State’s Attorney John McCarthy described Gatewood as a cunning, manipulative killer who beat Cagal to death over thousands of dollars in cash. The murder occurred when a plan to steal a key to Cagal’s apartment and rob her while she was out of town went awry, McCarthy said.

Evidence against Gatewood included dozens of surveillance photos showing him entering and leaving Cagal’s apartment shortly before and after the time of her killing. The photos showed two men believed to be Gatewood and his roommate, Dion Desir, carrying out electronic equipment and a wicker basket containing Cagal’s body.

Desir testified against Gatewood earlier in the trial after pleading guilty to accessory after the fact. As part of a plea bargain with prosecutors, Desir will likely receive a reduced sentence of 15 months in jail for his role in cleaning up the crime scene and disposing of Cagal’s body.

McCarthy played two messages Gatewood left on Cagal’s answering machine a week after he killed her, in an effort to create an alibi.

‘‘Yeah, here we go again...you’re not returning my calls,” Gatewood said in the recording.

‘‘She’s dead a week,” McCarthy said. ‘‘She’s buried for six days. That sing-songy voice is revolting when you know what he’s done prior to that call. That’s the Antoine Gatewood who killed Emily Cagal, not the actor who took the stand yesterday and cried those crocodile tears.”

Gatewood testified that he hit Cagal, who had been drinking, in the head with a gargoyle statue bookend after she pulled a gun on him. During Kupferberg’s closing arguments Thursday, he reminded jurors of a medical examiner’s testimony that Cagal was drunk at the time of her death.

‘‘I asked that question to show you that she might not have been acting as rationally as you or I,” Kupferberg said. ‘‘You know what they say about drunks. There are good drunks and bad drunks.”

McCarthy dismissed the self-defense theory during his closing remarks and told the jury that there was no evidence that Cagal was holding a gun at the time of her killing.

‘‘I would suggest to you that a woman of her size and her condition posed even less of a threat,” McCarthy said. ‘‘This 5-foot-nothing young woman, trapped between a wall and her bed by a man this size...while he bludgeoned her.”