King George Man Arrested in Mader Murder

By David Noss


Audio of the entire press conference at the Charles County Sheriff's Office headquarters in La Plata on 28-OCT-2010 starting at 10:00 a.m.  Detective gives details at 6:57. Mader's mother, Samantha Payne, speaks at 10:26.  Questions from the media start at 14:00. [ Right-click Save-as to Download MP3 ]

LA PLATA, Md. (October 28, 2010) — A King George, Va. man has been arrested in connection with the 2004 murder of Waldorf resident Christopher Mader. A Charles County grand jury recently returned a six-count indictment charging Matthew Derek Correll, age 29, with first degree murder, attempted robbery and other charges. The Mader family — many of whom held framed photographs of Chris ranging from childhood to his latter years — joined Sheriff Rex Coffey and detectives at a press conference here this morning.

Correll, a white male with short hair, a goatee and a large tattoo on the left side of his neck, was arrested at his home on October 22 by police in Virginia. He was extradited to Charles County on October 27.

Detectives say Correll did not know Mader and robbery was the motive.

Police declined to provide extensive details of the case, indicating that it was an active investigation and signaling that other arrests are possible.  Sheriff Coffey may have tipped their hand when he said: "Chris was basically minding his own business on this particular morning that he was killed.  He had worked at the restaurant (Bennigans in Waldorf).  He left there on his way home, had an encounter with these people. He did nothing to cause this, to put himself in this position what-so-ever.  And as a result, he was shot in the head and killed." [emphasis ours]

Police say they received a tip by telephone in 2007 and additional information came forth in 2010.

A spokesperson for Charles County Crime Solvers declined to say if a reward was pending.

A tearful mother, Samantha Payne, said her family would be celebrating Thanksgiving this year for the first time since that fateful day — Chris was killed on the eve of Thanksgiving in 2004.

The family had moved from the area after the killing, fearing for their safety — not knowing if the motive for the murder was specifically directed at Chris and possibly other members of the family.

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