Police Charge Homeless Man in White Elk Motel Fire

Police have charged a homeless man with first-degree arson in a Dec. 26 at the . 

Barry Lee Murphy, 48, of no fixed address, is being held at the Howard County Detention Center on several charges, including arson, burglary and assault.

Police said that on the morning of Dec. 26, there was “a physical assault on the female” whose room was later set ablaze at the White Elk Motel.

“She was kicked,” said Elizabeth Schroen, spokeswoman for Howard County Police Department (HCPD), in a phone interview. The woman’s name is not being released in accordance with HCPD policy to protect victims in domestic incidents. 

“The assault was reported earlier in the day but when we responded we could not locate her,” said Schroen.

At approximately 9 p.m., where the woman had been staying at the motel.

“Officers know [Murphy] to be an associate of hers. They followed up with her to determine what had happened, and if the two incidents were related,” said Schroen.

when the fire broke out, responding to a trespassing complaint that was called in by a motel employee at 8:45 p.m. because Murphy, “who was banned from the property, had entered Room E, where a female acquaintance had been staying,” said HCPD in a written statement.

The acquaintance was the same woman with whom he had had a dispute earlier in the day, said police.

When police arrived, they said they could not find Murphy.

“He was not on scene or located when officers arrived at the motel,” said Schroen. “He was not at the [White Elk] residence or where he stayed in the woods.”

Murphy stayed in an encampment on US 1 near the Baltimore-Howard county line, according to Schroen, and at 2 a.m. on Dec. 27,  officers found him there and arrested him in the assault that occurred earlier in the day.

On Dec. 30, investigators served a warrant, keeping Murphy at the detention center on charges of arson, malicious burning, burglary and destruction of property.

“Investigators believe Murphy entered the room and removed some of the female’s belongings before setting fire to the room and fleeing,” wrote HCPD in a statement on Dec. 30.

“None of the people living or staying at the location were in the room when the fire was set,” according to the statement. Schroen told Patch at least three people had been living or staying in the room at the White Elk.

Investigators are still working to determine how the fire was set and how much damage resulted, said police.