A D.C. Superior Court judge Tuesday ordered prosecutors to turn over any remaining evidence against a Georgetown socialite charged with murder in the death of his 91-year-old wife.
Albrecht Muth, 48, faces a jury trial in March in the death of Viola Drath, who was found dead in her Georgetown row house in mid-August 2011. Mr. Muth was arrested and charged days later. He was admitted to St. Elizabeths Hospital in February after starting a hunger strike and claiming he spoke to angels.
Defense attorney Dana Page listed several hurdles her defense team was having trouble clearing with the prosecution, such as problems receiving government agency documents and witness testimony and issues accessing computer information.
Ms. Page said she was still waiting for a direct response from Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenn Kirschner about whether prosecutors had documents about Mr. Muth assembled by government agencies, including the FBI and Secret Service.
She also said that grand jury testimony might be more “precise” than the testimony from Drath’s family members conducted as a group by the prosecution, where they finished one another’s sentences or reminded each other of memories about Drath and Mr. Muth’s relationship.
Judge Russell Canan ordered Mr. Kirschner and his team to summarize this testimony, despite Ms. Page’s concern that it would be done “through their lens.”
He also asked prosecutors to hand over any government files they collect. Mr. Kirschner said all other evidence was given to the defense. He already had reached out to the FBI and Secret Service, and said he would be contacting the CIA and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He said the FBI and Secret Service may have some 20-year-old files on the man who claims he is a double agent and a general in the Iraqi army, but they would need to be reviewed.
Both legal teams agreed to work with their computer experts to work out any access problems, and Ms. Page told the court that the defense’s independent expert evaluation of Mr. Muth would be submitted by mid-November in preparation for a mental observation hearing two weeks later.
Mr. Muth’s mental competency has been at the heart of many of his court appearances in recent months.
The man was well-known by neighbors for his long walks through Georgetown and he was often spotted wearing his tailor-made, camel-colored military costume.
He has maintained his wife’s strangulation death was the result of a botched assassination attempt on his life by Iranian agents.
On Tuesday, Mr. Muth appeared in a navy and red sweat suit, one he has worn before to court, with a faded brown sweater on top. He appeared thinner than he did in earlier court appearances. Mr. Muth went on another hunger strike last month, coinciding with St. Elizabeths specialists saying he was competent to stand trial.
• Meredith Somers can be reached at msomers@washingtontimes.com.
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