estranged husband's long violent history. heather mcguire's murder caught on tape, although you can barely make it out. she and her husband were headed to another court hearing tuesday morning when he shot her and dumped her body out on the street at the corner of connecticut and knowles in kensington. police later found the former professional poxer dead in a rockville home from a self- inflicted gun shot wound. mcguire had a protective order against him. she said he had told her, "i don't need a gun. i can just snap your neck." authorities arrested gilberti twice over the weekend for violating the protective order, but each time he got out. the last time the judge released him on a $57,000 unsecured bond. >> the judge who made the ruling in this case, he's a good judge. unfortunately it's come to my attention that apparently the

computers in the courtroom were down. some of the criminal history of this guy was not available to the judge. >> reporter: gilberti's criminal history stretches back decades, assault, drugs, steroids, seven years in a nevada prison for allegedly trying to kill another girl friend. did the system fail heather mcguire? >> i would say that heather mcguire did everything she needed to do. >> reporter: authorities say that the last message they want to go out to battered women is that police cannot protect them. the sheriff says the data very clearly shows women who seek help are far safer than those who try and tough it out alone. in rockville bruce leshan, 9 news now. >> yvette cade knows well the dangers of domestic violence and knows them much better than most. she was also attacked by her estranged husband but lived to tell about it. back in 2005 roger hair grave poured gasoline on her and --

hargrave poured gasoline on her and set her on fire. she was burned over 60% of her body and today she lives with both the physical and emotional scars, but she still speaks out about domestic violence and the changes that are needed in society and in the courts. >> i wish he would have given him more time behind bars and he could have reached out to his family and his family could have said we're behind you, but we need you to listen to what's being said. >> cade's attacker roger hargrave was given a life sentence but he could get out on patrol in nine years. virginia tech negligent, so said the jury today finding the school negligent in the way it handled the shooting rampage in 2007 that killed 33 people. the jury sided with the families of two students killed that day in. their lawsuit they'd argued that the school waited too long to warn the campus a gunman was on the loose. here's the mother of shooting victim erin peterson from

chantilly. >> if you know erin, you would know, strength, truth. she spoke for her people. she always put herself in a position to speak for people who were too weak to speak for themselves. she couldn't speak anymore, so we had to do it. we had to do it. >> the jury awarded each family $4 million. however, the state of virginia caps such awards at $100,000 unless the governor waives the limit. the georgetown man accused of killing his 91-year-old socialite wife will spend at least another month in the mental hospital. that's what a judge ruled today in the hearing for albrecht muth. court papers show doctors suggest he's just not well enough to stand trial. now muth who claims to be a general in the iraqi army is charged with first degree murder in the death of viola drath. she was found beaten and strangled in the couple's home last august. muth denied killing his wife. the former security chief at the west virginia mine where 29 men died in an explosion is

appealing his conviction. back in october a judge said huey stover was guilty in lying to investigators and trying to destroy security documents about the mine. his attorneys say the judge wrongliened requests for certain jury -- wrongly denied requests for certain jury instructions. last month a judge sentenced stover to three years in prison. the april 2010 explosion at upper big branch mine was the worst u.s. coal mine disaster in four decades. the american soldier accused of killing 16 afghan civilians is now out of that country and at a pretrial containment facility. that's what a u.s. military official said today. now the transfer comes as secretary of defense leon panetta traveled to afghanistan and likely attempted to improve relations with the country following this weekend's shooting. elizabeth cordon has the story. >> reporter: in the midst of growing tensions with afghanistan, u.s. defense secretary leon panetta traveled there to meet with government

ministers and tribal leaders. speaking to troops at camp leather neck he addressed the recent killings of afghan civilians allegedly by an american soldier and the accidental burning of qur'ans by u.s. troops last month and called both occurrences deeply troubling. >> we have to learn the lessons from each of those incidents so that we do everything possible to make sure that they don't happen again. >> reporter: he told the troops the events do not define their relationship with the afghan people and urged them not to be deterred from their mission. >> we'll be challenged by our enemy. we'll be challenged by ourselves. we'll be challenged by the hell of war itself. >> reporter: panetta is the first high ranking official to visit the country since a u.s. soldier allegedly shot 16 afghan men, women and children sunday. the incident outraged afghan officials. president obama who is hosting british prime minister david cameron called the recent tragedy a reminder that the

work in afghanistan remains difficult but he said forces are making progress and will shift to a support role next year. >> we're going to complete this mission and we're going to do it responsibly and nato will maintain an enduring commitment so that afghanistan never begin becomes a haven for al-qaeda to attack our countries. >> now panetta's trip did not go off without a hitch. an afghan man drove a stolen truck onto the runway and crashed it as his plane landed. the truck then burst into flames. officials say the defense secretary was never in any real danger. so far the pentagon has found no explosives or weapons in that truck and they aren't sure if it was an attempted attack or coincidence. rick santorum may have swept the southern primaries, but the big winner remains mitt romney. the former massachusetts governor won the most delegates of any candidate yesterday sweeping the caucuses in hawaii and american so he mow 0 and add that to alabama and -- and

samoa and add that to his share from alabama and mississippi and he now has far more delegates than rick santorum, newt gingrich and ron paul combined. that has santorum supporters ramping up their push to get newt gingrich to drop out of the race in hopes of cutting into romney's lead. >> this will become a two- person race and when it does, a conservative will win. >> these are the same people who said last june i was dead. they recycle this every six weeks and the biggest challenge will be raising money because we came in second. >> the candidates are focusing on the next set of contests. up first the missouri caucuses saturday followed by primaries in puerto rico sunday and illinois on tuesday. >> another marvelous day and another new prediction about when the cherry blossoms will bloom on the tidal basin. this morning the national park service moved up that date again. now it says the trees will start to bloom march 18th and that's this coming sunday, two

days before the national cherry blossom festival even begins. the peak bloom is now predicted between march 20th and the 23rd. the earliest bloom on record is march 15th. that happened back in 1990. >> heck, with the weather, the park service might move it up pep, right, top? >> i think we're -- again, right, top? >> i think we're probably look morgue at the 20th as oppose -- looking more at the 20th as opposed to the 20 third. 78 in fredericksburg -- 23rd. 78 in fredericksburg and oakland 63 degrees. clear skies, mild, zero to one blankets, lows 48 to 56, in the 50s downtown and upper 40s in some of the northern and western suburbs, light winds. we'll come back and talk about the prospects of actually breaking some records tomorrow. we had not come close today or

yesterday, maybe a different story tomorrow. >> forget blankets, top. it's a sheet night. coming up, wine worries. how the warm weather we've endured could take a toll on our favorite vino. a service station owner is told to take down the red white and blue. it violates a code. we'll tell you more up next.

the united states and japan today commemorated the battle

for iwo jima marking the 67th anniversary of that bloody day of combat. u.s. and japanese war vets attended the ceremony on the tiny pacific island. nearly 7,000 u.s. marines and about 21,000 japanese troops died in the 36 day battle for iwo jima. a class commemorated by the iwo jima memorial in arlington. a service station owner in georgia is keeping his flag flying despite warnings from the city not to. tom guyrick said he flies the american flag in front of his albany georgia service station to honor his father's time in the army, but recently he was cited for violating the city's sign ordinance. the code says he can fly the flag, just somewhere else on the property. right now it's along front on the street. he argued to the planning commission the flag does not classify as a sign, but no final decision was made. for now he plans to keep it right where it is until the city rules on the case. that sounds a little

unpatriotic, doesn't it, and how would this fall under an ordinance meant to keep business signage in check? weigh in on that one mcginty's mail back. >> if you liked it today, just wait until tomorrow. topper has a very summer-like forecast for you.

a hero's welcome in rockville this afternoon for a family from germantown just released from the custody of immigration officials but is still under the threat of being deported. the plight of 19-year-old montgomery county college student jorge acuna and his family has captured the attention of the entire county council and has lit a fire under the illegal immigration issue in maryland. that college student has been in the country since he was 8 years old and scott broom was in rockville where people were rallying for his cause. >> reporter: i'm scott broom in rockville where a young college student facing deportation received a hero's welcome this afternoon after being released from detention. 19-year-old jorge steven acuna and his family just released from a maximum security holding facility on maryland's eastern shore pending deportation proceedings late yesterday. and they've come home to a hero's welcome.

friends from montgomery college hastily started an online campaign last week to get him and his family freed. >> you're brought to this country by your parents and all you're willing to do here is get an education, have a dream, set some goals up. >> reporter: but not everyone here is a supporter. >> if you come here illegally and you don't do the right thing, i don't care if you get great grades. it's good for you, but it's the law. we deport people. >> these are the kind of people we want in our country, not to deport them because they can impact our society in a positive way. >> reporter: in rockville, scott broom, 9 news now. >> the state of maryland one step closer to banning smoking in cars with kids. the senate passed the bill this morning. it would make it a crime to smoke in a car with a child under the age of 8 inside. that age was chosen because that's the cutoff for kids to ride in car seats and that would allow officers to quickly determine if the driver is

breaking that law. the measure heads over to the house of delegates. wine lovers, you may want to sit down for this. the warm weather we've all been enjoying could mean less vino for you. the king family vineyards in virginia say the ideal weather for winemakers is a long constant cold winter and in case you missed it, we didn't have anything close to that and the vineyards manager said the average budding date is april 10th , but now the buds are already waking up. that's not necessarily bad as long as cold air stays away. then the vines are fine, but if there is a late frost that, could damage the grapes and that means less wine and we like wine. >> we come out in 10 days and i have bud break early and we don't have a frost, then i'll be happy because hopefully my fruit comes out early and then i flower early and therefore, i'm eventually harvesting earlier. >> now the warm weather has been good for one part of the wine industry, tastings. business at the winery is up 20

to 25% because it makes a nice day trip when the weather is nice. you want to go out and taste some wine. >> we probably should say because i know people will get the fever to put in plants and it's just too early. >> you always say mother's day. >> that's two months away! >> it will be 105 by then. they'll be wilting by then, but you probably ought to hold back for a couple, three weeks, even four weeks, all right? there's lots of pruning to do in the meantime. let's talk about record highs. we've not hit a record high this week, but i think tomorrow it will change. record high tomorrow is only 81 set back in 1990. the old record high 82 at dulles in 1990 and that should ring a bell 1990 because that's the earliest peak bloom of the cherry blossoms set on the 15th of march. that will give us three consecutive days in the 80s and i think we actually will hit low to mid-80s tomorrow pretty easily. a live look outside with our weather cam brought to you by

michael and son, the pressure is up to 30.14 inches of mercury, so temps very comfortable, mid-70s, 74 bethesda this, 76 great falls still 20 degrees above average, 73 leesburg, 77 manassas. down to the south 77 in springfield, 76 college park, 75 in beltsville. so here's the deal. it stays warm. colored contrails could be visible between midnight and 1 a.m. it's going to look pretty cool, nasa sending out four rockets to investigate certain phenomena and the deal is the contrails could look really, really cool tonight. look to the east and pretty high up. you might have a treat. tomorrow more like june and record highs indeed possible, only 81 the record. tonight clear skies and mild. a zero and one plank, maybe just a sheet but you're in the upper -- blanket, maybe just a sheet but you're in the upper 40s in the burbs. tomorrow morning start out

mostly sunny, mild, grab your sunglasses, 50s and 60s but light wind. by afternoon partly cloudy skies, warmer, a shower or thunderstorm possible, high temperatures between 80 and 85, winds turning southwest at 10. notice they're not strong, though. last week we had warm air but winds 30 miles an hour. not so tomorrow. break it down, 52 to 60 at 6:00 in the morning, by noon 76 to 80, some folks over 80 by noon and by evening 78 to 84, a shower or thunderstorm possible but kind of few and far between quite frankly. next three days better chance for showers and storms friday. we'll knock off a few degrees, back to 74, hard to believe we're saying back to 74. saturday we got the marathon, st. patty's day, 74, maybe a shower, should not be a problem. if you're running in the race, temps in the 60s primarily. next seven days sunday dry, low 70s and mid-70s pretty much after that, a couple showers possible monday. spring officially arrives

tuesday and then we're looking at maybe a shower next wednesday with temperatures in the mid-70s. so the calendar says spring but temps tomorrow say well, june. >> still nothing but 70s and 50s there, my friend, unbelievable. we'll be back. >> we want to hear what you think. send your e-mails to mcginty's mailbag, the address mailbag at www.wusa9.com. 9 news now will be right back. . >> 9 news now is brought to you by your honda dealer.

in the mailbag tonight mean girls and mean boys on the internet, an 85-year-old lady writes a nice critique of the olive garden in her north dakota town and she gets laid to waste via the web. last night i asked why does it seem the internet brings out the worst in people? our good friend deb in arlington offered this explanation. i think computers and other gadgets give people courage by proxy. i can only say one can be at the most elegant restaurant with a smuck and have a horrible time or at mcd's with wonderful company and have a

banquet. over on our wusa9 facebook page jeremiah charles seems to think anybody who likes the olive garden deserves whatever they get. i'd rather go to an indie diner or an italian restaurant. these corporate places are ruining the restaurant industry and its country. these mcrestaurants with 25 cents worth of pasta in a bowl with some sauce in a balance from some central corporate kitchen and charge you out the nose for the privilege, but feel free to support the homogenization. but another says chain restaurants are all they have as options. my parents live in sumter, south carolina, and the red lobster is considered fine dining. there's not even a starbucks in the town. like we said yesterday what's wrong with people liking whatever they like? it does seem like the web has

become the de facto safety valve for blowing off steam saying all the things they're too polite to say to look you in the eye while they're saying it. the address is mailbag at wusa9.com. that's it for our report. i'll be back here at 11:00 with anita brikman. don't forget log on any time you like at www.wusa9.com. enjoy this marvelous weather. have a great evening. bye bye.

now, "entertainment tonight," the most watched entertainment newsmagazine in the world. closing arguments in the "desperate housewives" trial today. >> nicollette, are you relieved that this trial is almost over? >> talk about it after. >> now, is nicollette's battle ruining her reputation? >> it has a devastating effect on her career. plus, what happened to other stars who sued their hollywood bosses. did this "american idol" star commit and conceal multiple crimes? will he be kicked off the show tonight? ♪ >> we have the very latest on the new "idol" scandal. dionne warwick's "e.t." interview on what killed whitney houston making headlines today. could her claim be proven correct in the soon to be released toxicology report. >> she did not have an ability to cry out for assistance. and is