Former trooper tells police he planned to kill woman

A Woodsboro

man faces multiple charges after police said he assaulted a woman and later told officers he planned to kill her, according to charging documents filed in Frederick County District Court.

Eric Paul Funk, 38, of the 9000 block of Gravel Hill Road, told police he made plans to kill the woman and likely would have done so if he hadn’t been arrested.

Funk, was a 14-year veteran left the agency in 2008, Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley said. Agency records show Funk assigned to the Rockville Barrack, Shipley said.

Shipley couldn’t provide details about the circumstances under which Funk left the agency.

“I’m glad you guys got me because I was never going to stop,” Funk told officers, according to charging documents.

The woman called police shortly after midnight Sunday. She said Funk, who is prohibited from contacting her by a protective order, came to her Dill Avenue home and rang the doorbell.

When she told Funk she was calling police, she said he punched out two windows next to the door, shattering the glass and causing cuts to her face and shoulder, the documents state. Funk then drove away.

Later that day, police learned that Funk had broken into a house in the 300 block of Rockwell Terrace. When officers arrived, Funk’s truck was parked in the carport and he was asleep on a couch, the documents state. Officers arrested Funk without incident.

Police contacted the homeowner, who said he knew Funk but hadn’t spoken to him for months and that Funk did not have permission to be in his house.

Behind Funk’s truck, police found a loaded shotgun leaning against the wall of the carport.

They also found a box of the same slug rounds in his truck.

In an interview with detectives, Funk said he punched out the woman’s windows and broke into the Rockwell Terrace house through the basement door.

Additionally, Funk said he had made plans to kill the woman by taking her to a battlefield and hanging her so he could kill her on federal property, the documents state.

He said the shotgun was only a “show of force,” and that he could handle himself without a gun, the documents state. But Funk said he was willing to use the gun on the woman’s boyfriend if necessary.

Funk continues to be held without bail at the Frederick County Adult Detention Center after a bail review hearing Tuesday afternoon.

He is charged with violating a protective order, second-degree assault, first- and fourth-degree burglary, and malicious destruction of property.

Frederick police Capt. Kevin Grubb said the decision to hold Funk without bail was helpful in allowing authorities to handle the case and keep the woman safe without worrying about an immediate potential threat if he were to make bail.

“It gives everyone more time to make a plan for the next step,” Grubb said.

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up