Baltimore Man Gets 31+ Years for Extortion-Linked Murder

Baltimore, Maryland — Matthew Hightower, 34, of Baltimore, was sentenced today to 380 months in federal prison — more than 31 years — for the cold-blooded murder of David Wutoh, a killing set in motion by a debt gone bad. Hightower was convicted by a federal jury on September 22, 2016, after a seven-day trial that exposed a brutal campaign of threats, harassment, and ultimately, execution-style violence tied to a failed loan deal.

The charges? Collection of a debt by extortionate means and use of interstate facilities for extortion resulting in death. The victim, David Wutoh, had promised Hightower $20,000 in return for a $15,000 cash advance in 2013. When Wutoh failed to pay, Hightower and his boss, Harry Crawford — owner of RX Resources and Solutions (RXRS), where Hightower worked as a delivery driver — launched a relentless digital terror campaign. Texts and voicemails escalated from demands to death threats, with Crawford warning Wutoh, “You will be also,” after Wutoh said his phone battery was dying.

By June 2013, the threats turned explicit. Crawford left a voicemail: “Dave, I hope you don’t wanna go to sleep permanently. Give me a call.” Days later, he texted, “You are putting me in a bad bad bad position… I have no control if you get hurt.” Wutoh paid back $6,000, but it wasn’t enough. Hightower grew impatient, texting, “Wheres my cheese man I don’t have time for these games” — “cheese” slang for cash. On September 6, Wutoh offered prescription drugs instead of money. Hightower refused.

Then came the night of September 21, 2013. Hightower traveled from West Baltimore to East Baltimore County, to the house where Wutoh was staying. At 2:45 a.m., he approached the driveway and fired seven shots through the living room window. Wutoh, asleep on the couch, was hit in the arm, leg, and head — dead almost instantly. Hightower fled, but not before answering a call on a phone registered in someone else’s name. Cell records placed that device near the crime scene minutes after the shooting.

Hightower later lied to investigators, claiming he wasn’t “anywhere” near the murder. But digital evidence, witness testimony, and the paper trail of threats sealed his fate. The prosecution painted a picture of a man who weaponized communication to extort, then escalated to murder when money didn’t come fast enough. Crawford, though involved in the extortion, cooperated and entered a plea agreement, shedding light on Hightower’s role.

The sentence — 380 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release — was announced by U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein, HHS-OIG Special Agent in Charge Nicholas DiGiulio, and Baltimore County Police Chief James W. Johnson. No amount of money was worth a life, they said. But in the underground economy of street loans and silent scores, Matthew Hightower paid the highest price: a lifetime behind bars.

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