Emilia Raras

On Sunday November 14, 1998 in the town of Elkridge Maryland a woman named Sara Williamson Raras was murdered in her home. She was laying in a puddle of blood and she had deep cuts to her neck, wrists and stomach. As per is the generally the case, her estranged husband, Lorenzo Raras was the prime suspect.

Lorenzo and Sara were married in September of 1994. Three years later they had a son, Lorenzo Williamson Raras who they called “Will.” A few months after Will was born Sara called the police in January of 1998. She reported that Lorenzo had made “murder threats” against her. She told law enforcement that Lorenzo had been diagnosed with depression but was failing to take his medication. He owned at least five guns at the time. Investigators would learn later that shortly after this incident Lorenzo sold the guns and it seems the couple stayed together. But, at the end of June Sara told Lorenzo she wanted a separation. Again she called the police because she stated that while she was holding the baby and informing Lorenzo of her decision he had grabbed their child, pushed her to the ground, kicked her and then ran out of the house with their son. He had told her she would never have or see their son again. Apparently later that night he informed her that she could see their son but she alleges that in order to do so she was forced to have sex with Lorenzo. He claims she was never forced to have sex and that he was making an effort to reconcile.

Sara filed for divorce and in August she was given custody of Will. Lorenzo was given visitation every other weekend and on Wednesdays. Despite the ruling Lorenzo apparent still fought her on custody and within a month he had threatened to run off with Will to Switzerland or his native Philippines. This was apparently being looked at by authorities and the court and even Lorenzo's attorney confirmed that on July 25^th Lorenzo had applied for a passport for the young child. His attorney agreed to hold on to the passport. Their next court hearing was set for December 3^rd.

So, when Sara turned up murdered in her home on November 14^th Lorenzo was immediately looked at. Authorities say he had an alibi as he was home with his parents and child that weekend. The case seemed to go cold until June of 1999 when an informant at the county jail told authorities that a cellmate had confessed to two murders.

It is not exactly clear what Ardale Tickles was in jail for in June of 1999 but his cellmate was wired and got him talking again. The first “murder” was not actually a murder. Tickles admitted to shooting his former boss at a local McDonalds during a robbery. The man had survived and it is really unclear if he was actually in jail for that at the time of the confession. The second murder he described seemed to fit the description of Sara Raras' murder. Not only had Tickles revealed information only the killer would know, he said he was hired by a co-worker at a nursing home where he worked in the laundry department. When authorities heard they tape, despite Tickles claiming to not remember the name of his victim they were certain he was talking about Sara. In August of 1999 both Tickles and Emilia Raras, Lorenzo's mother, were arrested for her murder.

It appears that Emilia openly admitted that she had hired Tickles in her interview with authorities. The sixty-two year old grandmother claimed she had not hired Tickles to murder Sara but only to scare and intimidate her. However, throughout the taped interview Emilia would often burst out in anger when describing her feelings towards Sara. Emilia told authorities “that she was upset over perceived slights and worried about a looming custody battle over her grandson.” As far as the custody battle, despite Lorenzo's arguments, it was all but over anyways when Sara was granted custody. Judges tend to make temporary orders permanent ones for the most part and it seems Sara had enough on Lorenzo to show he should not have custody not to mention he was apparently doing things himself to prove her case. As far as “slights,” there were a few mentioned. One thing Emilia mentioned was that when Will was born she was in the delivery room and Sara “gave her a look” that indicated she did not want her there. She also made comments like “showing disrespect for a mother is death.” She was not talking about her showing Sara disrespect, who was in fact a mother, but talking about Sara being disrespectful to her. She also stated it would be worth killing someone who “spit” in her face which is apparently how she felt when she felt challenged by Sara. She let authorities know that in her home country of the Philippines a mother was revered and respected. But still she argued that she only hired Tickles to scare and intimidate Sara although there were indications that she would not have minded if she was hurt.

To everyone's surprise Tickles would plead guilty to first degree murder in March of 2000. I did not research his case but I can only assume that he took a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. He would eventually be given a life sentence for the murder of Sara. He would also receive a twenty-five year sentence for the shooting of his former boss.

Emilia's trial began in February of 2000. Her defense attorney continued to use the argument that Emilia had not hired Tickles to kill Sara but only to scare her. The attorney also pointed out Emilia's lack of criminal history and the fact that she was an educated woman who worked as a nurse. The trial lasted one week. The jury took eighteen hours to deliberate the case and it was said that it was one of the longest deliberations in the county ever. They apparently came back a few times to ask questions and seemed torn about whether they believed Emilia wanted Sara simply hurt or dead and whether that still qualified as first degree murder. They eventually returned with guilty verdicts on the charges of first degree murder and solicitation to commit first degree murder. On April 20, 2000 Emilia Raras was sentenced to life without parole.

In 2009 Emilia had appealed to the judge to have her sentence reduced. She made a statement in court that said “She did not deserve to die. I am deeply sorry; I feel the same agony as the victim.” While in my opinion that statement was inflammatory enough she went on to make a statement that even infuriated the prosecutor who already believed Emilia to be “evil.” She stated “I forgive everyone, even Sara.” To most everyone that just proved once again that Emilia had no remorse for what she had done, or at the very least put into motion.

Personally I do not believe that the goal was not to have Sara murdered. We have seen it time and time again when there is a custody battle between a couple. While most often it is the other spouse that commits or commissions the murder, but there have been several cases in which it was the mother of the child(ren)'s father. Emilia Raras thought she was above the law. Today Emilia is one of four, and the only woman, people over the age of eighty being housed by Maryland Department of Corrections.