Monday February 7

The murder trial of Robert Lee Fox, Sr., 64, of the 3600 block of 2nd Street, is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow at the Mitchell Courthouse. Fox was indicted by a grand jury March 11 for murding a three-year-old boy named Howard January 43 years ago. If you've got time on your hands and want to take in a macabre trial from the cold case files, this sounds like the one to see.

The State's Attorney's Office reports that a Baltimore City jury convicted Dwayne Gibson, 20, of the 3900 block of Grantley Avenue, of first-degree murder and two weapons counts today following less than an hour of deliberation and two days of testimony. A court trial will begin at 10:45 a.m. tomorrow before Judge Wanda K. Heard to determine if Gibson is criminally responsible for the murder of Wayne Rideout, 43. On September 28, 2003 Gibson set Mr. Rideout on fire after assaulting him with a crowbar. Gibson is being held at Baltimore City Detention Center.

At a re-arraignment this morning Darryll Purefoy, charged with more than 100 counts of sexual child abuse, pled not guilty. A trial date of March 8, 2005 was set.

Assault, rape and a mugging in Canton in the blotter.

Elsewhere,

There's a big black rapist on the loose in the suburbs.

Gary Neal, a college student and basketball player from Baltimore, will soon be on trial for rape in Philadelphia.

Thanks to "America's Most Wanted" and a snitchy girlfriend, a fugitive slasher from Jersey was arrested in Baltimore.

A man was shot in the street last week on Clay Street in Annapolis, and playtime turned violent between a Glen Burnie man and his much-older girlfriend.

..hey Claire, did you know that Dashiell Hammett is from Baltimore, and dropped out of Poly? I had no idea!