BALTIMORE _ Jarrod Ramos, the Laurel, Md., man accused of blasting his way into the Capital Gazette newsroom last month and killing five staff members, is scheduled to make his first appearance in Anne Arundel Circuit Court on Monday.
Ramos, 38, has been indicted on five counts of first-degree murder and other violations.
Initial appearances tend to be perfunctory meetings in which judges advise defendants of the charges against them and their rights to an attorney. Often an attorney will enter an appearance, notifying the court that he or she will represent the defendant.
Ramos is accused in the shooting deaths of Rob Hiaasen, 59, an assistant editor and columnist for the Capital Gazette; Wendi Winters, 65, a community correspondent who headed special publications; Gerald Fischman, 61, the editorial page editor; John McNamara, 56, a longtime sports writer; and Rebecca Smith, 34, a sales assistant.
Two other staff members, Rachael Pacella and Janel Cooley, were injured in the attack.
The Capital Gazette is owned by the Baltimore Sun Media Group.
The attack began about 2:40 p.m. on June 28 in the newspaper's office at 888 Bestgate Road.
Police said Ramos used a shotgun to blast his way through a glass door and into the newsroom. They say he moved through the office shooting five employees. Others hid under their desks and tried to escape through a back door.
Officers called to the scene found Ramos hiding under a desk and took him into custody, police said in charging documents.
District Judge Thomas Pryal last month ordered Ramos held without bail. Ramos remains at the Anne Arundel County's Jennifer Road detention center.
Anne Arundel's top public defender, William Davis, represented Ramos at the bail hearing. He argued against holding the hearing and asked for a gag order. The judge denied both motions.
Anne Arundel County State's Attorney Wes Adams is prosecuting the case.
Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Laura S. Kiessling has been assigned to the case. She is expected to set a trial date, schedule other matters and preside over the trial itself.
Ramos nurtured a long-running grievance with the newspaper, stemming from a 2011 column about his conviction for harassment.
The harassment case centered on an online relationship Ramos tried to kindle with a former high school classmate. In the column, then-Capital Gazette staff member Eric Hartley wrote that Ramos sent a friend request on Facebook to the woman, and the experience turned into a "yearlong nightmare."
Ramos allegedly told the woman she was the only person who ever said hello to him or was nice to him in school.
Ramos then allegedly called her vulgar names and told her to kill herself, Hartley wrote. Ramos allegedly emailed the bank where she worked to get her fired.
Ramos pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor harassment charge and was sentenced to probation. A judge called his behavior "rather bizarre," the column said.
Ramos filed a defamation lawsuit against the Capital Gazette. It was rejected by a lower court, and again on appeal.
Ramos continued to taunt Capital Gazette reporters and editors on Twitter.
