Mass shooter told victim to 'bleed out,' according to prosecutors

After Radee Prince shot a Wilmington businessman in the face and pelvis last year, he looked back and told his victim to "bleed out," a prosecutor on Tuesday told the jury that will determine if Prince is guilty of first-degree attempted murder. 

"Radee Prince had quite a morning on Oct. 17," Deputy Attorney General Mark Denney said in opening statements.

Prince is accused of killing three and injuring two others at his former workplace north of Baltimore before driving to a used car dealership on Governor Printz Boulevard in Wilmington and shooting the business owner, Jason Baul.

His Delaware trial for attempted murder, reckless endangering, resisting arrest and weapons charges began Tuesday.

Prosecutors said Prince left Maryland, got cash at a bank on Elkton Road and went to the Walmart on Boxwood Road and bought bullets. He then went to Wilmington where he confronted Baul, who was speaking with another man inside the office of his automotive business. 

His first shot pierced Baul's right cheek and lodged near his spine, where it remains today, Denney said. After a struggle, Denney told the jury that Prince shot Baul again and pistol whipped him in the head. 

Video and audio of the shooting were caught on cameras inside the business, Denney said. Before Prince left the office, which was covered with blood-smeared papers when police arrived, the gunman looked at Baul and said "Bleed out, bitch," Denny told the jury. 

"He engaged in action after action after action in his intent to kill," Denney told the jury. 

Audio of the statement will be a pertinent piece of evidence in prosecutors' case that it was Prince's intent to kill the man who had spurned him for a job and that he feuded with at parties and his father's funeral, according to prosecutors. 

Michael Heyden, Prince's attorney, indicated the defense will present evidence that Baul, who is expected to testify in the trial, was not simply a victim of Prince's rage.

He told the jury that evidence shows Baul had guys beat his client, that Baul threatened Prince with a gun at his father's funeral and also hired a hitman to try to kill him. 

"The allegation is that (Prince) intended to kill him," Heyden told the jury. "I'm going to ask that you don't jump to assumptions." 

Last month, Heyden informed the court that Prince will pursue an insanity defense. 

When police arrived at the auto shop, Baul was "bleeding profusely" and told officers "Radee Prince shot me," Wilmington Police Sgt. Paul Ciber testified. 

Prince fled the scene in a black sport utility vehicle, evaded police and set off a manhunt that ended with his arrest in Glasgow several hours later. In his final failed flight from police, Prince ditched the .380-caliber handgun police said was used in the crime. 

It was recovered with Baul's DNA on the trigger guard, Denney said. The victim's DNA was also found under Prince's fingernails and gunshot residue was detected on the defendant's hands, prosecutors said. 

Bullets and receipts from the bank and Walmart were also found in his pocket when he was arrested, Denney told the jury. 

Prince will stand trial for the Maryland homicides following his Delaware verdict. Prosecutors say Prince shot five co-workers at Advanced Granite Solutions in Harford County, where he worked as a machine operator.

Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.

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