The Maryland State Police Cold Case Unit with the support from forensic experts, a federal grant, and Anne Arundel County prosecutors, have solved a cold case which has led to the conviction and sentencing last week of an inmate found guilty of the murder of a fellow inmate nine years ago.

The accused is identified as Edgar C. Davis Jr., 38, who is an inmate in the Maryland Division of Correction. Davis pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court on February 1, 2010. He was sentenced to ten years in prison, which he is to serve concurrently with his present 90-year sentence for two counts of murder, kidnapping and handgun use from Baltimore City.

The murder victim in this case is identified as Ray A. Hamlet, who was 23 when he was stabbed on January 11, 2001 while walking out of a dining area in the Maryland House of Correction, a former state prison in Jessup. Hamlet died from his wounds and his murder was investigated by the Maryland State Police.

In 2001, Hamlet and Davis were both inmates at the Maryland House of Correction. During the initial investigation, witnesses failed to identify Davis as the person responsible. The recovered murder weapon, a prison shank, was submitted for analysis and DNA linked both Davis and Hamlet to the murder weapon. Absent witness information to show how Davis' DNA got on the weapon, there was no indictment and the case went cold. Davis was sent to the Northern Correctional Institute in Somers, Connecticut, under the Interstate Corrections Compact.

In October 2008, the case was selected for reinvestigation and assigned to Corporal John Branham of the Maryland State Police Cold Case Homicide Unit. Using funds provided by the National Institute of Justice under a grant titled "Solving Cold Cases with DNA," Corporal Branham and Sgt Scott Collier traveled to Connecticut where Davis was interviewed. In addition to information obtained during the interview, Branham and Collier were able to locate witnesses within the Division of Correction who provided corroborative information about the murder and identified Davis as the person responsible for stabbing Hamlet.

Davis was indicted for the murder of Hamlet on December 5, 2008 and returned to Maryland to stand trial. Davis' release date is 2071.

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