remains unsolved

State prosecutors have dropped charges against two men indicted last year for a 20-year-old murder in Bethesda, citing a lack of evidence to prosecute.

Grand juries indicted Craig Benjamin Doring, 36, of Islamorada, Fla., and Sean Joseph Haring, 36, of Cleveland, Ohio, last summer for the 1983 murder of 74-year-old Rae McConaghy of Fenway Drive, and the related burglary of her home. The indictments followed a reopening of the case requested three years ago by McConaghy's survivors, who felt the case had never been resolved.

The state was unable to gather enough evidence to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt, so prosecutors told Circuit Court Judges Ann S. Harrington on Jan. 14 and S. Michael Pincus on Jan. 15 that they would not continue to prosecute the case.

"We didn't dismiss this case because these men are innocent," said Deputy State's Attorney Katherine Winfree. "We dismissed this case because we didn't have evidence to take this case beyond the standard of probable cause ... which is required to prove guilt at trial."

But attorneys for Doring, who posted bond in May after serving a month in jail, and Haring, who was released after six months from the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Clarksburg after the state dropped charges on Jan. 14, disputed those claims.

"This isn't a case of a guilty man walking free on a technicality," said Doring's attorney Daniel Lopez. "This is a case of a wrongly accused man being set free."

Haring's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Louis Leibowitz, agreed.

"Since he spent [time] in jail as an innocent man, I wouldn't be surprised if there was further action taken," Leibowitz said.

Although charges were dropped, Doring and Haring would have to formally apply to have them expunged from their criminal record, Winfree said.

Attorneys for both sides point to a set of palm and fingertip prints found at the crime scene in 1983, but that have since been misplaced, as contributing factors in the outcome.

The prints did not match Doring in the 1980s and would have proved his innocence, Lopez said, adding, "so it was really meaningless that they didn't have them."

But Winfree said that while the lost prints had not matched known fingerprints of Doring, palm and fingertip prints were never taken from Doring in 1983 to make a comparison.

By the time Doring was charged with the murder 20 years later and could be compelled for additional fingerprints, the prints from the crime scene had been lost, Winfree said.

"We would be in a completely different situation if those latent fingerprints had not been misplaced," she said.

Prosecutors could choose to bring charges against Doring and Haring if the missing fingerprints were found or one of the men confessed to the crime, Winfree said.

Montgomery County District Court charging documents give the following account of the case:

A longtime family friend checking on McConaghy's welfare found the elderly woman dead in her home on the morning of Aug. 14, 1983. McConaghy was found on her kitchen floor, with a pillowcase from her bed over her head. The dining room had been ransacked, and silverware was scattered all over the floor.

An autopsy revealed that McConaghy died of a heart attack during a burglary between 10:40 p.m. Aug. 12 and 8 a.m. Aug. 13.

Doring's mother, who lived in Bethesda with her son at the time, called police on Aug. 14 and said she suspected her son of having committed burglary. She had found items in their home for which she could not account.

Doring admitted that he and Haring stayed out the night of Aug. 12 until 6 a.m. the following morning breaking into cars, including some in McConaghy's neighborhood.

Several residents of Fenway Drive, then a quiet street with only 16 homes, later reported seeing two white men getting in and out of cars on the street in the early morning hours of Aug. 13. Their descriptions matched the appearances of the teens, and the white Buick Opel owned by Doring's mother that the teen had driven that evening.

Police searched Doring and Haring's bedrooms, and found two gold rope chains. The teens told police they had stolen the necklaces from cars, although no such necklaces had been reported missing by the more than 25 residents from whom the teens said they had stolen.

Instead, the necklaces had been listed among the items missing from McConaghy's home, but were never shown to her family members. After the case was reopened three years ago, police showed McConaghy's daughter and granddaughter the necklaces, which they identified.

During the course of the original investigation, Doring and Haring were not charged with McConaghy's murder. According to information submitted by Lopez on behalf of his client, police had identified other potential burglars who were suspects in the case. No one was ever charged in the murder.

Instead, Doring, then 16, was charged with larceny after confessing to stealing from cars and pleaded "involved" -- the juvenile equivalent of guilty. He was placed under the jurisdiction of juvenile court and his juvenile record was deleted when he reached 18, Lopez said.

Montgomery County police arrested Doring last March and charged him with McConaghy's murder. A grand jury indicted him on murder and burglary charges in May. Doring had already posted bond, but came to Maryland for the indictment and then returned to Florida, where he owns a charter boat service. Supporters described him as an active member of his community who donates time to the Boy Scouts of America, according to testimony filed in support of him.

Detectives traveled to Ohio to interview Haring last April, and asked for his help in further investigating the case.

Haring admitted being on McConaghy's street on the night of her death, but denied breaking into any houses. He said he was drinking heavily at that time of his life, and often had blackouts that prevented him from remembering things. Haring added that he had not had contact with Doring since 1983.

Police officers determined that Haring was not a flight risk, according to information submitted by his attorney. Police arrested him on June 4 and he was indicted later that month. Haring works for Marriott Corporation in Ohio, but remained in jail following his indictment until charges were dropped Jan. 14.