EDGEWATER — A 72-year-old Edgewater man has been arrested and charged with murder after his girlfriend was found dead from apparent trauma inside their shared residence Thursday morning, Anne Arundel County Police said.
Bruce William Dunham, of the 400 block of Linden Avenue, was taken into custody Thursday and charged with first- and second-degree murder in the death of 76-year-old Johanna Gibbs, also of Edgewater.
Police and fire personnel were dispatched to the single-family home shortly after 8 a.m. December 11, 2025, following a report of an unresponsive female. Upon arrival, officers discovered Gibbs suffering from visible trauma to her body. Paramedics with the Anne Arundel County Fire Department pronounced her deceased at the scene.
Detectives from the department’s Homicide Unit responded and assumed control of the investigation. Members of the Forensic Services Evidence Collection Unit processed the residence for physical evidence, and Gibbs’ body was transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for autopsy. The official cause and manner of death remain pending those results.
Investigators identified Dunham, who lived with Gibbs at the Linden Avenue address, as the suspect. He was arrested without incident later the same day.
The quiet residential street in central Edgewater, just south of Route 214 (Central Avenue) and near the South River, remained closed for several hours while crime-scene technicians worked.
Anne Arundel County Police described the incident as domestic-related. No additional suspects are being sought at this time.
The case marks the county’s 18th homicide investigation of 2025 and the second in Edgewater this year.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the Homicide Unit at 410-222-4731. Individuals who wish to remain anonymous may call the Anne Arundel County Police Tip Line at 410-222-4700 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 866-7LOCKUP. Tips may also be submitted online at https://metrocrimestoppers.org/submit-a-tip/.
Dunham is being held at the Jennifer Road Detention Center in Parole awaiting an initial appearance before a District Court commissioner.