08:45 AM EST on Monday, March 20, 2006

BY ARTHUR GREGG SULZBERGER
Journal Staff Writer

WARWICK -- A Baltimore man who was in Warwick for a kickboxing tournament allegedly killed his girlfriend in a motel room yesterday morning, the police said.

Malbon D. Bolden Jr., of 6903 Lachland Circle, Baltimore, faces charges of domestic murder and resisting arrest, said Warwick police Maj. Joseph H. Taveres.

On Saturday night, Bolden, 44, fought in the Superbouts -- Winter Smash kickboxing tournament at the Rhode Island Indoor Sports Complex on Jefferson Boulevard, said Tavares.

Shortly before 10:30 yesterday morning, a guest in the Motel 6 on Jefferson Boulevard, where Bolden and his girlfriend were also staying, called the front desk to report yelling and fighting in the next room. The clerk called 911.

"It is our belief that as they placed the call she was being killed," said Tavares.

When the police arrived, Bolden tried to flee, and after a struggle with the 6-foot, 3-inch, 270-pound man, Officers Alfred Melucci Jr. and John Kelly Jr. used pepper spray to apprehend him.

No one sustained serious injuries in the struggle, Tavares said.

"The two officers did a superb job," he said. "This was a very violent individual."

After obtaining a search warrant, the police found the body of Bolden's girlfriend in the motel room.

A medical examiner said she was killed by blunt force trauma, according to Tavares. "She was very badly beaten," Tavares said.

The police did not release the name of the woman, who is also from Baltimore, pending notification of her family.

The case remains under investigation, said Tavares. There was no indication that alcohol or drugs were involved, he said.

asulzber@projo.com / (401) 277-7405