A DISGRUNTLED employee who had recently been denied a pay raise stabbed his boss more than 70 times in the basement of a Maryland hospital on New Year's Day, law enforcement officials said.

Keith Little, 49, was arrested Wednesday following an investigation into the death of 40-year-old Roosevelt Brockington Jr., who was found dead in his boiler room office in the basement of Suburban Hospital on Jan. 1.



Brockington, the hospital’s lead engineer who had been Little’s immediate supervisor, had recently reprimanded Little and had given him a performance evaluation that indicated he would not receive a pay raise, Montgomery County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said in a news conference outside the Bethesda hospital.



Brockington had been on the phone with a friend when the stabbing occurred. The person with whom the victim had been talking told police said someone had demanded money from Brockington before a commotion occurred and the line went dead.



Manger said an autopsy revealed Brockington had been stabbed over 70 times.



The boiler room office’s employee-only access led authorities to consider the possibility that a hospital worker had committed the crime, Manger said.



At 9:20pm local time Wednesday, police received a call from a Suburban Hospital employee who observed Little carrying a bucket containing a black ski mask and gloves. Surveillance footage led police to uncover the mask and gloves in a boiler room trash can.



Manger said police had discovered prior to Little’s arrest that the man was charged several years ago with first degree murder in the killing of a coworker. Little was not convicted, but Manger said it was unclear whether he was acquitted or charges were dropped.



Little is currently incarcerated on no bond and is expected to appear at a bond hearing Friday, Manger said.

Originally published as Man 'stabs boss 70 times over pay'