Man Pleads Guilty to 1990 Berwyn Heights Murder

A 57-year-old man has admitted to killing a Beltsville woman nearly 23 years after the crime occurred, according to Prince George's County State's Attorney Angela Alsobrooks.

Thomas Lee Posey pled guilty to first-degree murder and two counts of first-degree rape dating to 1990. He was sentenced to life in prison after entering the plea before Prince George’s County Circuit Judge Albert Northrop.

According to a statement from Alsobrooks, Posey raped and murdered 22-year-old Margaret Perkins in June of 1990 while she was on a jog through a Berwyn Heights park.

The Beltsville resident's body was later found by a group of firefighters playing softball. She showed signs of strangulation, Alsobrooks said.

According to a Washington Post story from the time, Perkins had recently moved to the area from Houston, where she had been studying at Rice University. She was employed by a NASA contractor at the time of her death.

Posey also admitted to attacking two women in May and September of 1990. Alsobrooks said Posey had accosted the victims—both 20-year-old college students—with broken bottles before raping and robbing them.

DNA recovered at the various crime scenes was later found to match Posey's, according to the statement.

Posey's criminal record also includes a 1992 conviction for allegedly accosting a woman at an ATM with a sawed-off shotgun, robbing her, raping her, and locking her in the trunk of her car.

“What we are talking about here is a predator that went after young women who had their whole lives ahead of them,” Alsobrooks said. 

“I am proud of our prosecutors and police for solving these cold cases and we hope that the surviving family and friends have found some level of closure and peace," she added.