OFFICE OF THE STATE’S ATTORNEY

FOR

BALTIMORE CITY

 

208 THE CLARENCE M. MITCHELL, JR. COURTHOUSE

 

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND  21202

 

Patricia C. Jessamy                                                                                                                                                 Phone 443-984-1121

   State’s Attorney

 

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

 

For Information Contact:                       Margaret T. Burns

Chief, Communications & Governmental Affairs

Office (443) 984-1121 or Cell Phone (443) 474-7479

                                                                        Or

                                                            Joseph Sviatko, Public Information Officer

                                                            Office (443) 984-1122 or Cell (410) 790-3248

 

PRESS RELEASE

 

JOSHUA RICE PLEADS GUILTY TO SECOND-DEGREE MURDER

 

2004 Cold Case Yields 2006 DNA CODIS Hit Leading to 2008 Murder Charge & Plea

 

            Baltimore, MD – May 20, 2008 – In a case that illustrates the complexities of DNA testing of convicted offenders and the significant time gaps between offender testing and a CODIS DNA hit and the filing of a criminal charge, Joshua Rice, 27, of the 500 block of Yale Avenue pled guilty today to the May 2004 murder of Jennifer Fishbach, 32.  Judge Gale Rasin sentenced Rice to the maximum possible 30-year prison term for second-degree murder.

 

            Timeline

 

            2002 Legislature passes bill to collect DNA from convicted felons

            April 2003 Joshua Rice was convicted of 1st degree assault and sentenced to

10-years in prison suspend all but 2-years and released prior to July 2004 and placed on probation and parole supervision

July 2004 Joshua Rice pleads guilty to a violation of probation and receives additional

2-years of suspended sentence

            July 2005 Joshua Rice was released from prison and placed on parole

February 2006 Joshua Rice is arrested for disorderly conduct, receives sentence of time                                              served in March 2006

December 2006 CODIS DNA Hit

September 19, 2007 Joshua Rice arrested for open container, held on $7,000 bail

October 2007 Joshua Rice parole expires

            January 9, 2008 Joshua Rice charged and confesses to Fishbach murder

            January 11, 2008 Joshua Rice found guilty of open container

            May 20, 2008 Joshua Rice pleads guilty to second-degree murder

           

           

 

            On May 22, 2004, Baltimore police officers responded to a call of an unresponsive person in the 1200 block of Bayard Avenue and found the decomposed body of victim Jennifer Fishbach in a second floor bedroom.  The victim was found with a wire coat hanger wrapped around her neck.  An autopsy revealed the cause of death was strangulation.  Police were able to recover DNA from the victim’s clothing.  In December 2006 a search of Maryland’s DNA database resulted in a match of DNA from the victim’s clothing to the DNA of convicted felon Joshua Rice.  In January 2008, Joshua Rice confessed to killing the victim.

 

            Rice was convicted of first degree assault in April 2003.  He was in custody last fall following an arrest for open container.

 

Assistant State’s Attorney Joshua J. Felsen prosecuted this case.

 

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