A Charles County jury convicted Scott Anthony Goldsmith, 55, of second-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of Timothy Louis Portzen and first-degree assault on a second victim, State’s Attorney Tony Covington announced Monday, March 9, 2026, in La Plata, Maryland.
The verdict followed a trial stemming from a violent home invasion in Waldorf on October 3, 2023. Deputies from the Charles County Sheriff’s Office responded to a residence in the 12700 block of Pearson Drive after receiving reports of a stabbing in the early morning hours. Officers found the surviving female victim with a severe stab wound extending from her right shoulder to her back; she was airlifted to a hospital for treatment and survived her injuries. In a nearby bedroom, they discovered Portzen, 62, suffering from multiple stab wounds to the chest. Despite lifesaving efforts by emergency medical services, Portzen was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation determined that Goldsmith arrived at the residence demanding to see the female victim’s boyfriend, who was not present, and Portzen. He pushed past the woman, stabbed her in the neck, then entered Portzen’s bedroom and stabbed him nine times. The surviving victim retreated to her own bedroom, where she heard sounds of a struggle before Goldsmith fled.
Goldsmith was apprehended later that day in the area of Port Tobacco Road and Chapel Point Road in La Plata. While incarcerated, he admitted to the murder and to discarding the knife used in the attack. Investigators also found the surviving victim’s blood on a tire that Goldsmith had punctured after the incident.
The Southern Maryland Chronicle initially reported the incident on October 6, 2023, identifying Goldsmith, then 52 and of no fixed address, as the suspect captured following the stabbings. At the time, he faced charges including first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.
The trial culminated in the March 9, 2026, guilty verdicts on the reduced charges of second-degree murder for Portzen’s death and first-degree assault for the attack on the surviving victim. Goldsmith faces a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 14, 2026.
This case highlights the Charles County State’s Attorney’s Office pursuit of justice in violent crimes affecting local residents. The conviction closes a chapter on an incident that disrupted a Waldorf neighborhood and left one family grieving a loss.