Whodunit Play Leads to Real Murder Case

Stephen and Kimberly Hricko went on a romantic Valentine’s Day getaway at a resort where they took part in a murder mystery weekend and watched a whodunit staged for the guests.

After the play ended, the plot thickened.

Within a few hours, Stephen Hricko was found dead in his room, his body badly burned from the waist up.

Feb. 24, his wife was charged with murder and arson.

Police said Kimberly Hricko, 32, had spoken to friends in the past about killing her 35-year-old husband by drugging him and setting a fire.

Although the state medical examiner has not determined the cause of death, Hricko was dead or at least not breathing before the fire started in the couple’s suite Feb. 15 at the luxurious Harbourtowne Golf Resort.

The Hrickos had traveled from their home in Laurel to Maryland’s Eastern Shore to watch “The Bride Who Cried,” a murder mystery about a groom who is poisoned and dies at his wedding reception. Audience members participate in the drama and try to solve the crime.

Several local lawyers took part in the production, including Talbot County Assistant State’s Atty. Henry Dove, who played himself and sat at the Hrickos’ table up front. One of Dove’s colleagues is prosecuting the Hricko case.

According to court papers, the Hrickos had been seeing marriage counselors, and Kimberly Hricko was having an affair and had asked for a divorce.

Kimberly Hricko told police that her husband drank heavily the night of the mystery play, they argued and she left to see a friend, returning to find the fire. But the medical examiner said Hricko had no alcohol in his blood.

A friend of Kimberly Hricko told police that she had discussed injecting her husband with a drug that she could get at the hospital where she worked and then setting fire to the curtains with a candle or cigar. A pack of cigars was found in the couple’s room at the resort, but friends told police Hricko didn’t smoke, according to court papers.

Also, a co-worker said Kimberly Hricko asked him six weeks ago about hiring a hit man to kill her husband, who was course superintendent at a country club, according to court papers. The co-worker contacted state police after learning of Hricko’s death.

Kimberly Hricko was held without bail and ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. She was arrested at a medical facility where she was brought after taking an overdose of prescription drugs in what her lawyer, Harry Walsh, said was a suicide attempt.

“Her health is the main concern at this time. She is in no condition and I am in no position to comment further,” Walsh said.

Bobbi Benitz, who wrote and directed the whodunit and played the murderer in the version the Hrickos saw, said she didn’t sleep the night after she heard about the fire.

“It sounded very suspicious to me,” she said.