Extradition

 Two Hagerstown men accused of shooting a Frederick, Md., man multiple times at a club in Berkeley County over the weekend waived extradition Monday in Washington County District Court. Leon William Racks, 29, of 69 West Side Ave., and Joseph Wayne Mason, 27, of 923 Kenly Ave., are both charged in Berkeley County with malicious wounding in the shooting of Kevin R. Mullen, 28, which police said occurred about 2:50 a.m., Saturday, according to Berkeley County Magistrate Court records.

A former Hagerstown man who was extradited from the Czech Republic earlier this year on rape charges apologized to his victim Tuesday before he was sentenced in Washington County Circuit Court to serve 20 years in prison on a lesser charge. Klaus Werner Vonmahr, 51, was charged with raping and assaulting the woman in a Hagerstown home in 2000. He pleaded guilty earlier this month to first-degree assault in connection with the case. “I am truly sorry for causing you pain,” Vonmahr said to his victim.

A former Hagerstown man extradited from the Czech Republic earlier this year on decade-old rape charges pleaded guilty to first-degree assault Wednesday in Washington County Circuit Court. Klaus Werner Vonmahr, 51, a German national, was arrested in the Czech Republic on Oct. 22, 2010, after applying for a driver's license. He was returned to Washington County in March to face charges of first- and second-degree rape, third-degree sex offense, first-degree assault, three counts of second-degree assault and two counts of false imprisonment in a 2000 case.

A day after his preliminary hearing on local drug charges, Jonathan Frederick Bennett was back in Washington County District Court Thursday, this time to waive extradition to Berkeley County, W.Va., on a murder charge. Bennett, 39, of Charlottesville, Va., is charged in the March 6 shooting death of Geronimo Garcia-Cruz, 26, of Winchester, Va., whose body was found in the stairwell of an apartment building at the Suncrest Apartments in Martinsburg. The Berkeley County Sheriff's Department charged Bennett with shooting Garcia-Cruz, alleging that he was killed in the second-floor apartment of Ashley Nicole Carpegna, an exotic dancer Garcia-Cruz had met several hours earlier at the strip club where she worked.

A Virginia man accused of murder in Berkeley County, W.Va., appeared in Washington County District Court Wednesday for a preliminary hearing on charges of distributing heroin and cocaine. Jonathan Frederick Bennett, 39, of Charlottesville, Va., is charged with two counts each of distribution of narcotics and possession with intent to distribute narcotics and four counts each of possession of narcotics and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to court records. Ashley Nicole Carpegna, 26, of Martinsburg, W.Va., who is charged as an accessory after the fact in the same  murder, was also scheduled for a preliminary hearing on  drug charges, but District Court Judge Dana Moylan Wright granted a 30-day continuance because Carpegna is in jail in West Virginia.

A former Hagerstown man was extradited to the United States last week, five months after he was arrested in the Czech Republic, and charged with two counts of rape that allegedly were committed 10 years ago in Washington County. The incident involved a woman who was pinned down and struck numerous times in the head during an assault that lasted several hours, according to Washington County District Court records. Klaus Werner Vonmahr, 51, a German national who previously lived in Hagerstown, was booked at the Washington County Detention Center around midnight Friday, Assistant State's Attorney Joe Michael said Monday.

A woman charged last week as an accessory in a  homicide in Berkeley County, W.Va., was picked up in Hagerstown area Tuesday, according to Washington County District Court documents. Ashley Nicole Carpegna, 26, of 2998 Winchester Ave., Apt. 10, Martinsburg, waived extradition Wednesday during a closed-circuit bond review hearing in District Court. Judge R. Noel Spence told Carpegna that West Virginia authorities could be picking her up sometime in the next week. The Berkeley County Sheriff's Department said on Monday that Carpegna was missing, but could be in the Martinsburg or Hagerstown areas.

A Lancaster, Pa., woman charged with stealing tens of thousands of dollars from a Hagerstown couple while serving as a caregiver has been extradited to Washington County, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday. Jackie Sue Carter, 51, was served with an arrest warrant for felony theft scheme $10,000 to $100,000; three counts of felony exploitation of an vulnerable adult; attempted felony exploitation of a vulnerable adult; and fraudulent misappropriation by fiduciary, according to a news release.

A Pennsylvania woman charged with stealing tens of thousands of dollars from a Hagerstown couple while serving as a caregiver was arrested Tuesday at her place of employment — a nursing home. Jackie Sue Carter, 51, of Lancaster, Pa., was taken into custody on a fugitive warrant at a nursing home in that city, said Detective Casey Barnes of the Washington County Sheriff's Office. She is being held in Lancaster pending an extradition hearing, Barnes said. Carter is charged with three counts of felony exploitation of a vulnerable adult, and one count each of attempted exploitation of a vulnerable adult, a theft scheme of $10,000 to $100,000 and fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary, according to court records.