Writing Nightmare Nextdoor Inmates: Thanksgiving Tragedy Matthew Correll

Thanksgiving Tragedy Discovery ID describes this episode as Chris Mader is shot to death on Thanksgiving eve. Many years later investigators are lead to an unlikely informant. This murder was committed by Matthew Correll.

In the early morning hours of November 25, 2004, Christopher Mader was found dead in the driver's seat of his silver 2001 Dodge Stratus, with a gunshot wound to the head. The Stratus had come to rest on the side of Smallwood Drive, in Waldorf, after crashing into electrical boxes. It was still running, was in drive, and its back windshield was shattered. Mader had been driving home from his job as a bartender at Bennigan's.

Police were called to the scene. They recovered from the Stratus a .40 caliber bullet on the floorboard, a coin bag with $59.46, and Mader's wallet, containing $1,080. The initial investigation into the shooting did not turn up any leads.

In March 2007, Kevin Smith, an inmate at the Brockbridge Correctional Institution and a self-described “jailhouse attorney,” wrote a letter to the Charles County Sheriff's Office in which he claimed to know the identity of the person who had shot and killed Mader. In April 2007, Smith was questioned by Detective Keith Moody, and stated that the appellant, a fellow inmate at Brockbridge, had confessed to the murder. The police undertook an investigation, which included interviews of Shawn Myers and James Chaney, friends of the appellant. On October 22, 2010, the appellant was arrested and charged in connection with Mader's murder.