A Silver Spring home where three people were murdered in two separate incidents is back on the market -- with a new address, Silver Spring Singular reports.
A Google search of "9337 Columbia Blvd." pulls up plenty of articles on the 2010 killing of middle school principal Brian Betts, as well as the murders of a man and his daughter eight years earlier.
But those deaths happened at 9337. The house for sale now?
"Meet 9335 Columbia Blvd., the house formerly known as 9337 Columbia Blvd.," writes Silver Spring Singular. "Now 9337 simply doesn't exist -- like the 13th floor of many highrise buildings. A search of the new address returns nothing more than the home's appearance on a variety of real estate sites."
After Betts' death, his family let the bank take the house. It finally sold in February for $330,000 -- far below what it was probably worth, the Silver Spring blog notes.
Now the four-bedroom brick colonial is back on the market at a much higher asking price: $479,900. The listing trills:
"BEAUTIFULLY REFINISHED, HIGH QUALITY 4 BEDROOM 2 1/2 BATH, BRICK CENTER HALL COLONIAL CONVENIENTLY LOCATED IN WOODSIDE PARK. GARAGE AND OFF STREET PARKING. MINUTES TO THE BEST OF SILVER SPRING, DC, BETHESDA, THE BELTWAY AND 2 METRO STOPS. ALL NEW STAINLESS STEEL APPLIANCES, GRANITE COUNTERS, HARWOOD FLOORS, PLUSH CARPET & MUCH MORE!"
There's "more," all right.
In Maryland, real estate agents aren't required to tell would-be buyers about any crimes that have taken place in a home.
Betts hadn't known about the 2002 murders when he purchased the house the following year. When he found out, he tried to back out of the deal.
"He was saddened, he was shocked, he was upset and did everything he could to rescind the purchase of this house," the Betts family's attorney, Rene Sandler, told NBC4 last year.
Betts was found dead in the home on April 15, 2010. He met his killer, Alante Saunders, on a social chat line and invited him over. Saunders pleaded guilty later that year and was sentenced to life in prison, with all but 40 years suspended.
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In the 2002 incident, an intruder pistol-whipped, shot and killed a 9-year-old girl at point blank range. He also shot and killed her father, Gregory Russell.
