Video In MD Death Of Store Owner Burned In Truck May Have Clues

DAVIDSONVILLE, MD — Video circulating online may offer clues after a teenage couple was accused of burning a garden shop owner in his own truck, Anne Arundel County Police said Tuesday.

Investigators are trying to confirm the authenticity of the video that social media suggests is connected with the May 24 killing of Edward Stephen Koza, 67, of Annapolis.

Charging documents obtained by Patch say Koza was found dead that evening in his burning pickup truck outside his Davidsonville store, Tropic Bay Water Gardens.

It is unclear if Koza was alive when his truck was set on fire. The motive is also still unknown and no cause of death has been released by authorities, although the death was ruled a homicide.

Related: Man Found In Davidsonville Vehicle Fire Was Annapolis Resident: Police

FOX5 DC said the video appears to show the victim's truck being set aflame; there is no audio to the footage.

The Baltimore Banner reported the video seems to show a male raising a lighter to a wet paper towel hanging out of a pickup truck's window.

"It better light the whole thing," the male says in the video, according to The Banner.

"I f------ hope," a female responds, The Banner said.

"The Anne Arundel County Police Department is aware of a video circulating on social media that is alleged to be connected to this homicide investigation," the agency said in a press release. "Homicide detectives are in the process of attempting to authenticate this video as part of the ongoing homicide investigation."

Officers said they arrested the duo Saturday and identified them as Jonah Michael Poole of Davidsonville and Kylee Alyssa Dakes of Harwood.

Charging documents say the suspects, both 18, are a boyfriend and his girlfriend.

Judges ordered that the suspects are not allowed to speak to each other during the investigation, court records say.

Separate judges on Monday ruled that the suspects will be held without bond until their trials, court records say.

Couple Accused Of Taking Victim Captive

Investigators believe the suspects entered the store near closing time, possibly around 5:30 or 6 p.m. The business, located at 600 W. Central Ave., specializes in garden ponds, koi fish and landscaping.

In the charging documents, police accused the couple of assaulting Koza, taking him captive and putting him in the backseat of his truck.

The records also say the suspects drove the truck around the area, likely with the victim inside, and stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline to use as an accelerant.

Authorities allege the suspects then returned to the store, set the truck on fire with Koza still in the backseat and fled in Poole's 2010 red Lincoln MKS four-door sedan that was parked at the scene.

The charging documents say first responders found the victim dead in the truck with tape over his mouth. His hands and arms were also bound, according to the records.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined Koza had also suffered blunt force trauma to his head, the documents say.

Police found broken and toppled items in the store, indicating a struggle.

The file says the victim was found not wearing any shoes, and a pair of shoes was located in the store. Blood was spotted on a plastic bag near the shoes, and there was also blood on the ground near a rock displaced from a store display.

The melted spout from a plastic fuel container was found in the backseat of the truck, court papers said, noting that the vehicle and the victim both smelled strongly of gasoline.

Videos Show Accused Couple's Movements

Surveillance video showed the victim's truck at a gas station in the 500 block of West Central Avenue around 9 p.m. Investigators said Dakes was seen on video exiting the front passenger seat, entering the store, handing the attendant two $5 bills and leaving.

The charging documents say the driver was a male wearing a flannel shirt and a baseball hat with a distinguishable brand name on it.

Poole and Dakes were seen on surveillance video driving the Lincoln earlier that afternoon to a mall in Hanover, court records say.

The file says Dakes was wearing the same clothing that she had on at the gas station.

The records also say Poole bought multiple flannel shirts and a baseball cap with the same brand as the one the driver wore at the gas station.

A seemingly new hat with that same branding was found on the ground beside the victim's truck, the charging documents say.

The documents say license plate readers spotted Poole's Lincoln at the intersection of Central Avenue and Davidsonville Road multiple times in the 11 a.m. hour and again at 5:22 p.m. heading east in the direction of Koza's store. The shop is located 0.6 of a mile from this intersection.

Poole's cell phone records show his phone was located in the area of the store in the time frame when Koza's truck was burned, authorities said, and it left the area immediately after the fire.

Court records show that Poole and Dakes both face charges of:

• First- and second-degree murder
• Conspiracy to commit first- and second-degree murder
• First- and second-degree assault
• First-degree arson

If convicted on all counts, the charging documents say the defendants could be sentenced to at least 145 years in prison.

This map shows the area where the Anne Arundel County Police Department said it found the victim.