Local
Man charged in wife’s murder threatened male lover
Husband of Georgetown socialite claimed to be Iraqi general
A 47-year-old man accused of threatening to kill his boyfriend of five years in 2004 was charged last week with second-degree murder in the death of his 91-year-old wife, whose marriage he described as a relationship of “convenience.”
D.C. police on Aug. 16 arrested Albrecht Gero Muth for the death of his wife of 21 years, retired journalist and Georgetown socialite Viola Drath.
Police said Drath was found dead on Aug. 12 in the bathroom of her house at 3216 Q St., N.W. in Georgetown. The D.C. Medical Examiner’s office said it determined through an autopsy that the cause of death was strangulation and blunt force injuries.
The Washington Post reported last week that Muth was well known to many in Washington’s political establishment, including journalists and federal government officials, as a colorful figure who claimed to be a brigadier general in the Iraqi army.
Officials with the Iraqi embassy in Washington said Muth had no association whatsoever with the Iraqi army or with the government of Iraq, saying they were dismayed that Muth – who often appeared in public wearing an Iraqi military uniform – was falsely making such claims.
The Post also reported that Muth told the Post that he was romantically involved with D.C. area resident Donald Davis beginning around 2002, when he became estranged from his wife and sought to move in with Davis.
Davis told the Post his relationship with Muth became strained around 2004 and he asked Muth to move out of his apartment. Muth responded by threatening to “have me killed and I should be careful when I get into my car,” the Post quoted Davis as saying.
Court records show that Davis obtained a protective stay away order against Muth that year in response to Muth’s alleged threats against him.
According to a four-page police affidavit in support of Muth’s arrest for his wife’s murder, there were no signs of a forced entry into Drath’s upscale Georgetown house. The affidavit says detectives working on the case discovered from court records that Drath had filed domestic violence charges against her husband on several occasions since 1992.
“On Jan. 12, 2008, the defendant was arrested and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon arising out of an incident in which it was alleged that he had assaulted the decedent with a wooden chair,” the affidavit says. “However, the case was dismissed when the victim declined to go forward with the case.”
The Post reported that Muth confirmed he had a five-year romantic relationship with Davis and moved into Davis’s D.C. apartment in 2002 after becoming estranged from Drath.
The affidavit says Muth denies he killed his wife and insists an intruder committed the murder, even though he acknowledges he was home around the time police believe Drath died and did not hear signs of a struggle or break-in.
He told police he slept in the basement of the house during the night his wife was killed, while she slept in an upstairs bedroom, because she didn’t like air conditioning, the affidavit says. It says Muth told police he chose to sleep in the basement, where it was cooler.
Muth told the Post that the protective orders obtained by his wife and by Davis alleging domestic violence or threats were unjustified. He said his wife obtained at least one of her protective orders against him because she was upset that he moved in with Davis, the Post reported. He said Davis filed his protective order against him out of anger that Muth moved out of Davis’s apartment and returned to his wife’s house, according to the Post.
The police affidavit says detectives interviewing Muth shortly before his arrest noticed he had scratches on his forehead that appeared to have been inflicted by someone else in a struggle. It says police obtained a search warrant to take DNA samples from Muth, with the intent of comparing them with traces of someone else’s DNA found on his wife’s body.
The affidavit also says a witness who knew Muth and Drath told police that Muth presented Drath’s family members with a letter immediately after Drath’s death that Muth claimed his wife wrote and signed. The witness told police the letter called on the family members to pay Muth $150,000 from Drath’s estate “if something were to happen” to Drath.
The letter called on the family to provide Muth with an additional $50,000 if her liquid assets exceeded $600,000.
“Your affiant asked Witness 1 if the signature on the letter appeared to be genuine,” the affidavit says. “W-1, who is well acquainted with the decedent’s signature, indicated that it was not the decedent’s signature,” the affidavit says.
Muth told homicide detectives working on the case that he had no formal job during most of the years he and Drath were married and that Drath had been giving him a monthly “allowance” of $2,000 until she reduced it recently to $1,800.
“Detectives asked the defendant about the significant age difference (some forty-four years) between him and the 91-year-old decedent,” says the affidavit. “He said that the marriage was a ‘marriage of convenience,’” the affidavit says.
Maryland
Layoffs and confusion at Pride Center of Maryland after federal grants cut, reinstated
Trump administration move panicked addiction and mental health programs
By ALISSA ZHU | After learning it had abruptly lost $2 million in federal funding, the Pride Center of Maryland moved to lay off a dozen employees, or about a third of its workforce, the Baltimore nonprofit’s leader said Thursday.
The group is one of thousands nationwide that reportedly received letters late Tuesday from the Trump administration. Their mental health and addiction grants had been terminated, effective immediately, the letters said.
By Wednesday night, federal officials moved to reverse the funding cuts by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, estimated to total $2 billion, according to national media reports. But the Pride Center of Maryland’s CEO Cleo Manago said as of Thursday morning he had not heard anything from the federal government confirming those reports.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].
Congratulations to Vida Rangel, JD/MPP on her promotion to Deputy Director of the Mayor’s Office of Talent and Appointments. Rangel is now the highest-ranking transgender official in the history of District government. On accepting the position Rangel said, “I am proud to step into this leadership role and to continue serving my communities. Our District is full of passionate and knowledgeable people who are committed to public service, and it is an honor to help them explore opportunities to serve their neighbors.”
Rangel has previously served in this office as Director of Operations. Prior to this as Bargaining Committee Chair, Organizing Committee, NCTE United, Nonprofit Professional Employees Union IFTPE Local 70. As Policy Counsel, National Center for Transgender Equality; and Elizabeth Warren for President, lead organizer, Illinois 4th Congressional District. She has worked with, and served on boards of, The Black & Pink National, Federal City Performing Arts Assoc., and LAGBAC.
Rangel earned her bachelor’s in sociology from Sam Houston State University; master’s of Public Policy from Loyola University, Chicago; and Juris Doctor, Loyola University, Chicago.
Congratulations also to James Conlon new PFLAG vice president of Development & Philanthropic Partnerships. Upon his appointment Conlon said, “It is an absolute privilege to join PFLAG National and lead their Development & Philanthropic Partner team into a new era. Right now, LGBTQ+ people and their families are terrified of what the future might bring, and PFLAG must continue to be there. My job is to ensure PFLAG strongly endures and thrives, because never has there been a clearer time for our community to unite in fighting for the dignity and well-being of every LGBTQ+ person.”
Brian Bond, CEO, PFLAG National, said, “At a time when PFLAG National programs and participation in them have grown significantly, even as corporate giving has left a $1.3M gap in our funding, James is a critical new addition to the team. With his vast expertise, James will drive our growth and ensure that PFLAG continues meeting the needs of families and communities across the country.”
Conlon is a seasoned fundraiser who has spent extensive time working with advocates, supporters, and leaders, of the LGBTQ+ movement to understand how to effectively support the community. He began his career as an intern in the Massachusetts State House. He has helped raise more than $60 million for critical causes and candidates. Prior to joining PFLAG James oversaw LGBTQ+ investments and fundraising, with the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Prior to that he served in the same role for Harris-Walz 2024, and additionally served in senior fundraising positions for the Senate Majority PAC, as well as for Representatives Josh Gottheimer, and Conor Lamb.
Conlon earned his bachelor’s degree in political science and government from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
District of Columbia
D.C.’s annual MLK Peace Walk and Parade set for Jan. 19
LGBTQ participants expected to join mayor’s contingent
Similar to past years, members of the LGBTQ community were expected to participate in D.C.’s 21st annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Peace Walk and Parade scheduled to take place Monday, Jan. 19.
Organizers announced this year’s Peace Walk, which takes place ahead of the parade, was scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. at the site of a Peace Rally set to begin at 9:30 a.m. at the intersection of Firth Sterling Avenue and Sumner Road, S.E., a short distance from Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue.
The Peace Walk and the parade, which is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at the same location, will each travel along Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue a little over a half mile to Marion Barry Avenue near the 11th Street Bridge where they will end.
Japer Bowles, director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, said he and members of his staff would be marching in the parade as part of the mayor’s parade contingent. In past years, LGBTQ community members have also joined the mayor’s parade contingent.
Stuart Anderson, one of the MLK Day parade organizers, said he was not aware of any specific LGBTQ organizations that had signed up as a parade contingent for this year’s parade. LGBTQ group contingents have joined the parade in past years.
Denise Rolark Barnes, one of the lead D.C. MLK Day event organizers, said LGBTQ participants often join parade contingents associated with other organizations.
Barnes said a Health and Wellness Fair was scheduled to take place on the day of the parade along the parade route in a PNC Bank parking lot at 2031 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., S.E.
A statement on the D.C. MLK Day website describes the parade’s history and impact on the community.
“Established to honor the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the parade united residents of Ward 8, the District, and the entire region in the national movement to make Dr. King’s birthday a federal holiday,” the statement says. “Today, the parade not only celebrates its historic roots but also promotes peace and non-violence, spotlights organizations that serve the community, and showcases the talent and pride of school-aged children performing for family, friends, and community members.”
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