A man taken into custody when he attempted to clear an arrest warrant from his record at the Montgomery County, Md. sheriff’s office was released Thursday night due to insufficient evidence in a 1975 murder case.
State Attorney John McCarthy announced a murder charge against Bobby Coley, 63, of southeast Washington, will not be prosecuted at this time, but the Montgomery County Police Department Cold Case Squad will continue to investigate.
Coley was applying for a temp job Tuesday when a background check found the outstanding warrant. He was unaware it existed and unaware it was for murder when he went to the sheriff’s office, News4’s Chris Gordon reported.
The victim, Leopold Lynwood Chromak, disappeared on July 26, 1975. Two days later his wife contacted police and reported him missing.
“But Mr. Chromak was never located, never returned home,” said Lucille Baur, of Montgomery County police.
In 1984, a detective learned that the missing person case was actually a murder-for-hire, and that Chromak’s wife, Frances, had hired three men -- including Coley -- to kill her husband. According to police documents, the woman said her husband was abusive and had beaten her.
The three men allegedly smothered Chromak at Winexburg Manor Apartments in Silver Spring, Md., wrapped his body in a rug or carpet, took it to a van and dumped it along Central Avenue.
But Coley was not detained after the warrant was filed in 1984.
Coley’s public defender argued there wasn’t enough evidence to hold him. There’s no direct evidence against Coley, and Chromak’s body was never found.
The whereabouts of Frances Chromak, who is believed to have changed her name and moved to Laurel, Md., are unknown, but authorities believe she is still alive.
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