A recent episode of the Oxygen television show Accident, Suicide or Murder takes a look at the “brutal murder that started over an argument about a hat.” What first looked like a tragic accident on December 28th, 2013, quickly turned into a homicide investigation in Carderock– a popular rock climbing area within the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park in Montgomery County, MD.
The Washington Post wrote, “When Geoffrey Farrar was found bleeding from the head and lying mortally injured at the base of a cliff near the Billy Goat Trail in Montgomery County, word quickly spread through the rock-climbing community that the 69-year-old had taken a rare, tragic fall.”
Farrar was a retiree from Arlington County that was referred to as “Carderock Geoff” because of the time he spent near the Billy Goat Trail in Montgomery County. His friend, David DiPaolo (then 31-years-old), was from Bristow, VA, and argument between the two started moments before Farrar’s murder. According to the Oxygen television show, Farrar told a friend that DiPaolo got into an argument with someone and stole the person’s hat– a claim that led to the argument between Farrar and DiPaolo.
Other rock climbers in the area discovered Farrar at the base of the rock face suffering from massive head trauma but, still alive. Emergency personnel were called, and Farrar was airlifted to a hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, where he later died of his injuries. Though initially believed to be a fall, the injuries were inconsistent with a fall and appeared to be caused by a hammer.
According to DiPaolo’s plea agreement, on December 28, 2013, DiPaolo had an argument with Farrar, age 69, in the parking area at Carderock Recreation Area (Carderock), located in Bethesda, Maryland, within the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. Immediately following this altercation, Farrar went to the base of the rock climbing area and DiPaolo returned to his parked vehicle. Shortly thereafter, DiPaolo found Farrar and used a claw hammer to hit Farrar multiple times on his head. DiPaolo then fled first from Carderock and subsequently drove to New York State, where he remained until his arrest on January 8, 2014.
In the summer of 2016, David DiPaolo was sentenced to 10 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for voluntary manslaughter in connection with the death of Geoffrey Farrar. Oxygen’s Accident, Suicide or Murder airs Saturdays at 8/7c.