Friend called after killings, papers say

HAGERSTOWN, Md. — A Western Maryland man charged with killing his former girlfriend and a police officer who tried to apprehend him, called a friend after each slaying and described what he’d done, according to court documents filed yesterday.

Douglas W. Pryor, 29, had the couple’s young son and daughter with him when he drove his pickup truck to Alison L. Munson’s apartment Wednesday night after telling a friend that he was going to bring the children to their mother, the charging documents state.

Instead, the documents state, Mr. Pryor stabbed and slashed Miss Munson, stuffed her body into a kitchen closet and then called his friend Derek J. Frey to tell him what he’d done.

Mr. Pryor then drove the children back to his house in rural Smithsburg, Md., and called his sister-in-law, Geri Pryor, asking her to come and get the children, according to the papers. He met her in the driveway, told her that he had done “something stupid,” showed her a gun and said he was going “to kill this cop.” Smithsburg Police Officer Christopher S. Nicholson, 25, was parked a short distance away, awaiting backup, police have said.

Mrs. Pryor told investigators that as she walked toward the house to get the children, she heard several gunshots. Mr. Pryor later called Mr. Frey and said, “I just shot a cop,” the court documents state.

Mr. Pryor was captured after a shootout with police later that night. He remained hospitalized in serious condition yesterday, charged with first- and second-degree murder in Officer Nicholson’s slaying, and second-degree murder in the death of Miss Munson, 31.

He also is charged with reckless endangerment, assault and violating a protective order that Miss Munson obtained about six weeks before she was killed. A preliminary hearing is set for Jan. 16.

It wasn’t clear whether Mr. Pryor, who is being held without bail, has a lawyer. The local public defender’s office didn’t return telephone calls from the Associated Press, and neither did several private attorneys who have defended Mr. Pryor in past criminal cases.

Miss Munson obtained a protective order against Mr. Pryor early last month after she said he beat her, but she failed to persuade the judge to order his knives and guns confiscated, the Hagerstown Herald-Mail reported.

Mr. Pryor’s history of violence dates to at least 1996, when, at age 17, he was arrested for reckless endangerment and assault of a girlfriend. The next day, he escaped from a juvenile holding facility.

In 2001, Mr. Pryor was ordered to complete a counseling program for batterers and have no abusive contact with Miss Munson after a second-degree assault charge, court records show. Miss Munson told police that she had fallen out of a moving car while trying to break free from Mr. Pryor’s hold.

Miss Munson filed another complaint against Mr. Pryor in 2002, and he was charged with malicious destruction of property as a result, court records show. Those charges were dismissed by the State’s Attorney’s office.

Miss Munson also filed a civil claim against Mr. Pryor in 2002, saying she was the victim of domestic violence, records show.

Mr. Pryor was found guilty in Washington County District Court that year of another malicious destruction of property charge, according to court records. He was sentenced to a 60-day suspended jail term.

In 2004, Mr. Pryor received probation before judgment after pleading guilty to second-degree assault in a hate crime.