News & Politics

On the Market: A Georgetown Home Where a Notorious Murder Occurred (Photos)

The townhouse is where Albrecht Muth allegedly killed his wife, Viola Drath.

The Georgetown townhouse where Viola Drath was murdered has been put on the market and priced to sell at $995,000. Photograph by Carol Ross Joynt.

The Georgetown home where
Albrecht Muth allegedly killed his wife,
Viola Drath, has been put on the market by her heirs for just under $1 million. The first open
house was held this past weekend. The townhouse, at 3206 Q Street, is a relative deal,
if the buyer is not disturbed by its grisly history. A similar adjacent property sold
for half a million dollars more. The history of 3206 Q did not deter a number of prospective
buyers from having a walk-through.

When Drath and Muth lived there the house was tastefully decorated, but also somewhat
dreary and drab. The good news is it has been transformed. The curtains have been
removed from the windows, the carpet removed, the walls painted a bright and light-reflecting
cream. There is a master bedroom, overlooking Q Street, and two smaller guest bedrooms,
as well as two and a half baths, a basement dining room and kitchen, a middle-floor
living room and study, and a back terrace and garden.

The murder occurred in August 2011. Drath’s body was found on the floor of an upstairs
bathroom. The police said she had been beaten and strangled. Muth said she was killed
by individuals out to get him. Police arrested and charged him almost immediately
and he has been incarcerated at turns at the DC jail, United Medical Center, and Saint
Elizabeths Hospital as he staged periodic hunger strikes. His trial, oft-delayed for
health reasons, is scheduled to begin in December.

The house is listed by Nancy Taylor Bubes

of Washington Fine Properties.