Man gets life sentence for murder of N. Bethesda woman

Gatewood intended to steal money from exotic dancer

Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2006

A Largo man convicted of first-degree murder in the killing of a 24-year-old North Bethesda woman was sentenced Thursday to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Circuit Court Judge D. Warren Donohue ordered Antoine L. Gatewood, 34, to serve life in prison for the murder of his former girlfriend, Emily Cagal.

A jury found Gatewood guilty of Cagal’s first-degree murder and robbery in November. Prosecutors presented evidence during the trial that Gatewood beat her to death with a ceramic bookend. Gatewood intended to steal $50,000 in cash from Cagal, money he knew she kept in her apartment from selling drugs and working private parties as an exotic dancer.

‘‘We’re elated,” State’s Attorney Douglas F. Gansler said Friday. ‘‘Both men that were responsible for the commission of these crimes were held accountable.”

Gatewood’s roommate, Dion Desir, is serving a 15-month sentence after pleading guilty to accessory after the fact. Desir testified against Gatewood during the trial, telling jurors that he helped clean up the crime scene and dispose of Cagal’s body.

Though Gatewood will be eligible for parole after serving 25 years in prison, Gansler said the chances of him ever being released are minimal.

‘‘Even if a parole board were inclined to give him parole, he would still need the signature from the governor,” Gansler said.

Gatewood’s attorney, Steven D. Kupferberg, has said he plans to appeal the verdict. Gatewood admitted to killing Cagal when he took the witness stand during the trial, but said he acted in self-defense.

A jury of seven women and five men deliberated for about seven hours on Nov. 10 before convicting Gatewood of first-degree murder, robbery and burglary in the March 2 killing. 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, prosecutors 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 Desir carrying out electronic equipment and a wicker basket containing Cagal’s body.

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

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, 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.”