The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 10

www.clelawareonline.com B2 THE NEWS JOURNAL TUESDAY, JAN. 16, 2001 Slaying: Police hope new methods garner leads thing strange is going to happen here something bad's going to happen to Alexander said. Holden said he had stopped next door at his mother's house about 3 p.m. Saturday, 12 hours before her body was found. "As far as I know, I got along fine with Mom," he said.

"She always packed my lunch before I left to work the 4 p.m.-to-mid-night shift. She just didn't seem right that day She said, 'Here's your That's about it." About 6:30 that night, Abbott stopped by to see her mother, who complained she was coming down with a cold. Three hours later, she talked to her on the phone, "and she said she wasn't feeling well and wasn't going to go to church Sunday I Special to The News JoumalCARLA VARISCO Brenda Alexander (left) and Diana Abbott, daughters of Dorothy May Donovan, who was stabbed to death in 1991, want her killer found. FRCMFACEB1 "It's a 148-year-old house. It's a different sensation," he said.

"You start up the stairs, the railing creaks." Detectives at the time noted the house was crowded with furniture and decorative items, but nothing appeared out of place. The purses in her bedroom were not opened. The purse Donovan was using was downstairs in the dining room and still had money in it. Upstairs, investigators found Donovan's body arranged to make it look like she had been sexually assaulted, Safarik said. "The window is broken out in the back, and she never got up and went to investigate," he said.

"She never got out of bed. She's taken in bed unaware. The victim did not perceive the offender to be a threat." Hitchhiker attack According to police accounts from the time of the slaying, Donovan's son agreed to give a ride to a man he met at a Hardee's restaurant in Harrington. Holden stopped there for coffee about 12:30 a.m. while on his way home from his job at the DuPont Co.

in Seaford. Holden, who now lives in Bridgeville, said in a recent telephone interview that the man wanted a ride to Milford Hospital to visit his sister, who had just had a baby. Holden said he agreed to give the man a lift part of the way. At the intersection of Del. 14 and Killens Pond Road (Kent 384), where Holden needed to turn to head home, he told the man to get out.

State police Capt. Robert Hawkins is re-investigating the murder of Kent County resident Dorothy May Donovan. before her body was found. 'Energetic' woman Donovan's two daughters, Brenda Alexander of Camden and Diana Abbott of Ellendale, said they knew of no one who disliked their mother. The sisters described their mother as energetic.

She loved to can fresh vegetables, baby-sit her seven grandchildren, read the Bible, visit the local senior center once a week and attend church, Alexander and Abbott said. Alexander had taken her mother to the hospital for a test that Friday two days before her death. When they returned, Alexander said, her mother complained she had been hearing noises in the house. "She said, 'I'm afraid some morning, she recalled. Detectives never recovered the murder weapon, Hawkins said.

New investigation Police are waiting for DNA tests of blood investigators believe the killer left on the banister and a light switch, Hawkins said. That was shipped to the FBI's lab last year, but old cases usually are given a low priority, he said. Blood samples taken at the time were inconclusive, Hawkins said. Safarik said the slaying was premeditated, committed by someone who was not perceived as a threat because Donovan would have been alerted to the killer's entry and movements around the house. The killer must have known the layout of the home to leave it undisturbed in the middle of the night.

He said the killer staged the said. "I don't want that man to go out of business." That man is 46-year-old David Keyes, who grew up on Mount Felix Farm. He has been tending more than 200 Holsteins and Jersey cows on the property since his father died in a car accident in 1971. "Farming is a business. You can't just get in and out of it," he said.

There aren't any concrete plans yet for the nine-parcel plot slated for development, except for a proposed road to link Md. 155 with Bulle Rock, one of the country's finest golf courses. Bulle Rock owner Ed Abel, Townsend leads in poll on gubernatorial race Harford County, proposal for commercial center criticized get an answer," he said. "I called several times." State police dispatchers gave the suspicious-person call low priority. It was nearly 3 a.m.

when the state trooper met Holden and followed him to his trailer, about 60 feet from Donovan's house. The trooper searched the trailer, and found nothing amiss, said state police homicide Capt. Robert Hawkins, who is re-investigating the case. "I asked if she would search the buildings around my Mom's house, and she noticed the glass was broken on the step by the door," Holden recalled. "We both went in, and I was hollering, 'Mom and we went upstairs, and that's when we saw her.

It's something you don't never forget." Police believe Donovan was killed about 1 a.m., two hours AP NeJOHN GILLIS Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend has not formally entered the 2002 race. congestion was the No. 1 issue for voters in the Washington, DC, suburbs.

Voters in western Maryland did not share the concerns of their urban counterparts. They worried about loss of jobs. The Maryland Poll also found a political shift in the works. Growing numbers of conservative voters are emerging from Anne Arundel and Howard counties. For example, voters polled in every area of Maryland except Anne Arundel and Howard counties supported the idea of the state paying for health insurance for anyone lacking private coverage.

BATH, KITCHEN 111 Help us clear out Cabinetry luuuid Tile Accessories crime, breaking the glass to the door not to gain entry, but to make it iook iiKe someone had tried. The hitchhiker seen in the area that night was real, Safarik said. "Other people reported seeing the guy. One said, 'The guy knocked on my door," he said. The question is, is he the of-fender? It's my opinion this is not a stranger." Safarik said the killer's use of a knife was "up close and personal," and posed the victim in a sexual position to make it appear that she was sexually assaulted.

"It's really done to deflect the interest away from the offender," he said. Safarik found the case so unusual, he suggested The Discovery Channel feature the investigation for a story on criminal profilers. A broadcast date has not been scheduled. Using the FBI profile as an investigative tool, Hawkins said, he believes the case can be solved. "We're going to go back and re-investigate the whole case," Hawkins said.

"The same people who we talked to before will be interviewed again." Donovan's family said justice has been long overdue. "I hope it gets solved and they find the right one," Holden said. "Whoever it is, they need to pay for what they did," Alexander said. Delaware Crime Stoppers is offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the killer. Call (800) TIP-3333.

Reach Terrl Sanglnltl at 324-2771 aanginmmiounnoniiiw.cwn. who owns 77 acres of the property to be annexed, plans two more golf courses and a five-star resort on 938 acres he owns in the area. "It's a good situation for the landowners, Havre de Grace and Harford County," he said of the proposed annexation. But councilman Miller is worried that if the land next to Keyes is built on, developers will set their sights on the Keyes farm. However, Keyes sees it as a potential business possibility.

He has considered new and more profitable farming plans, such as niche farming, to stay afloat. 011501 C26HM Associated Press BALTIMORE Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend holds an early lead over her most likely challenger in next year's gubernatorial race, a new statewide poll shows. The poll also found that Gov.

Parris Glendening has a 56 percent approval rating with voters across die state, up slightly from a poll two years ago. And Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley is showing popularity across Maryland, according to the Maryland Poll. Townsend holds commanding leads over her three most likely rivals for the Democratic nomination: Baltimore County Executive C.A. Dutch Ruppers-berger, Montgomery County Executive Douglas Duncan and Prince George's County Executive Wayne Curry While none has formally entered the race, all four have raised money in anticipation of possible campaigns. A hypothetical general election matchup shows Townsend with a solid majority over Republican Rep.

Robert Ehrlich Jr. of Baltimore County. However, O'Malley's popularity could prove to be a problem for Townsend in the 2002 race. He is viewed favorably by 51 percent of those surveyed after his first year on the job. "He's unquestionably become Don't Replete.

Holden said the stranger did not try to rob him, but "came at me with a large screwdriver or knife or something." After a struggle, Holden got back into the truck and drove away, leaving the hitchhiker at Blake's Garage. Holden told police he first drove around the block before heading toward home, a half mile away. "I came in the back way, and when I got back to my trailer, he was standing in my front yard looking in my window," Holden said. "I went by, drove back to Hardee's, and called 911 to report a prowler." Police said that call came at 1:19 a.m. While waiting for a trooper to meet him at Hardee's, Holden said, he telephoned his mother to warn her there was a prowler outside.

"I called Mom, and couldn't a political force to be reckoned with in state politics, and maybe even a wild card in the upcoming governor's race," said Keith Haller, the Bethesda-based pollster who conducted the survey Potomac Survey Research Inc. interviewed 1,203 voters by phone Dec. 27 to Jan. 4. The margin of error is 2.8 percentage points.

For smaller samples within the poll, the margins of error are higher. Of the 698 registered Democrats, 59 percent picked Townsend as their choice for governor, while Ruppersberger, Duncan and Curry registered in the single digits. Townsend led even in the executives' home counties. The margin of error for this smaller sample was 3.7 percentage points. Assuming Townsend wins the Democratic primary, the poll showed her beating Erlich, 57 percent to 30 percent.

The survey also found that Marylanders gave a wide range of answers when asked which issue they most would like to see state lawmakers take on. Improving public schools was the first or second priority in every region of Maryland surveyed. On the Eastern Shore as well as in Howard and Anne Arundel counties, concerns about taxes ranked almost as high. In Baltimore and Baltimore County, crime topped the concerns of voters, while traffic With Coupon Exp. 3101 Qflflfl NOTICE OF SPECIAL ELECTION A Special Election will be held in the 2nd Representative District Saturday, January 20, 2001 Polls will be open from 7 a.m.

until 8 p.m. CANDIDATES Hazel D. Plant (Democratic Party) Beatrice Patton Carroll (Republican Party) Robert E. Brown (Libertarian Party) Associated Press HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. More than 150 acres of farmland in Harford County is being eyed by county planners as the site of a commercial center with restaurants and hotels, a project that some local residents say threatens the area's agricultural base.

Havre de Grace wants to annex a 155-acre plot near Interstate 95 and change its agricultural zoning to allow retail and office development. "One of the things we recognize is, we have to plan for the future growth of the city," said Mary Ann Lisanti, city manager of Havre de Grace. But some residents and city leaders say the plan will contribute to the rapid disappearance of agricultural land in the county The amount of farmland in Harford County is dropping at a rate of 2,000 acres each year. In 1990, there was 96,000 acres -only 76,000 acres remain today. Harford County Councilman Lance C.

Miller, a Republican, said he is particularly concerned about a dairy farm along Route 155, which abuts the land that would be annexed. "It is the most threatened farm in Harford County," he CENTER'S our 2000 leftovers 6i rs IsuCEiS Ififti4ic Tama Carry Kitchen TUBmESINl Update wur bathroom save up to ITOTOF lifs ffl tcuii MSave J5 POLLING PLACES Polling Place Address 8th STREET BAPTIST CHURCH, 3301 MARKET ST CRESTVIEW APARTMENTS, 2700 MARKET ST HARLAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, 3601 JEFFERSON ST DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, 4425 MARKET ST FIREHOUSE STATION 4, 22ND TATNALL STREETS CARVEL STATE OFFICE BUILDING, 820 FRENCH ST CARVEL STATE OFFICE BUILDING, 820 FRENCH ST HOWARD HIGH SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY (DE SKILLS CENTER) 1300 CLIFFORD BROWN WALK M. KING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, 3000 CLAYMONT ST WILMINGTON SENIOR CENTER, 1901 MARKET ST NORTHEAST STATE SERVICE CENTER, 1624JESSUPST KINGSWOOD COMMUNITY CENTER, 2300 BOWERS ST HOWARD HIGH SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY (DE SKILLS CENTER) 1300 CLIFFORD BROWN WALK Election District 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 fit 7TTTTtt W'fTtTiilll I ALL BELOW COST! ABSENTEE VOTINfi Absentee voting will be conducted in the offices of the Department of Elections for New Castle County as follows: Jan. 16 through Jan 18 8:30 am. until 7 p.m.

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