On a spring afternoon, 45-year-old Malcolm 'Mike' Winffel was in the parking lot of Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, Maryland, when he heard a woman's screams. A man was attempting to carjack her at gunpoint. Without hesitation, Winffel and another man ran to her aid, placing themselves between the woman and the assailant. The gunman, without a word and with a smile on his face, opened fire, fatally wounding Winffel in the chest. The heroic act on May 6, 2016, would be the last for the married father of two.
The man who senselessly cut Winffel's life short was 62-year-old Eulalio Tordil, a former federal officer. His violent rampage had begun the day before when he murdered his estranged wife in a high school parking lot. After killing Winffel and injuring the other man who came to the woman's aid, Tordil fled the scene. His spree continued when he attempted another carjacking in the parking lot of a grocery store in Aspen Hill, where he shot and killed another innocent bystander. A massive manhunt ensued, and Tordil was apprehended by police later that same day.
In the face of overwhelming evidence, Eulalio Tordil chose to plead guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder in April 2017. For his crimes in Montgomery County, which included the murder of Malcolm Winffel, he received four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. He also faced separate charges for the murder of his wife in Prince George's County, for which he received additional life sentences. At his sentencing, the judge remarked that Tordil should 'not see or breathe a free bit of air for the rest of your life,' ensuring he would die in prison for the devastating trail of violence and loss he left behind.
