Medical Examiner's Office Withholds Homicide Data

I got a call back from the Medical Examiner's office. The man who my call finally landed with wouldn't even give me his name and said the office won't release ANY numbers, even though they have released them in the past and it is public information.
He said, "Things are still under investigation. We're working with the State's Attorney's office to make determinations." Well yah, isn't that what you do all day? Hence the name Medical 'Examiner'?!
I asked about the specific names, as suggested by a 'non, which I had to submit in writing:

[Sept. 1 2006]

Dear Medical Examiner's Office:

May I please have the total number of homicides for the year (Jan 1 to the present) in Baltimore City is according to your office.

In particular, there are a few that I'm wondering if there's a ruling on yet:

Ernest Miller, 58, found dead on 3/14/06 in the 6600 block of Holabird Ave.

Lana Jean Whalen, 37, found dead on 4/5/06 on the shoulder of I-95 in Southeast Baltimore.

An unidentified male, who died on 5/27/06 after struggling with police in the 1800 block of Fleet St.

Robert Benway, 45, who died on 7/1/06 after sustaining a head injury on the job at one of the city's ports on 6/26/06.

On 8/17/06, the body of another unidentified male was found in the 500 block of South Vincent St.

An unidentified male, found dead on 8/23/06 in the 600 block of North Paca St.

Thanks!
[my real name here]

... apparently all of those are all "under investigation," even the one from March.
Can you give me an idea of how many cases you have open?
No, they can't.
No ballpark figure, nothing.

What do you think is going on?

Meanwhile, by my count
(and we don't count Robert Benway or Fleet St. police-struggle man) we're at
197.
That's my number and I'm sticking to it.

September 11

Murder is up 4.8 percent nationwide.

Meow! Prospective Attorney General Stu Simms is whipping out the claws.

Judge Moylan: it's really not necessary for police to knock before executing a search warrant. "A purely ceremonial knock would have served no more additional purpose than a ritualistic touching of one's nose or a clicking of one's heels or a twirling about three times in a counterclockwise direction. We are not operating in Oz." [sub. required]

From TDR:

"A murder suspect was arrested following a car and foot chase through the city of Hagerstown's South End, police said Friday. Raheen Tajohn Edwin, 20, was charged with first-degree murder, handgun violations and other offenses stemming from the fatal shooting July 31 of Trisiviah Rodriguez, 20, on a downtown street. Edwin was captured Thursday night, police said. Demetrius P. McDaniels, 27, also is charged with murdering Rodriguez, who was shot during a late-night altercation among a group of people. According to court documents, McDaniels said after the shooting that he had missed his intended target."

In bucolic Fallston, Levi Lloyd was shot by his neighbor while riding his lawn mower.

Conventional wisdom says venerable Ben Cardin may as well be fluffing the cushion of his Senate seat, but we all just might be in for a surpise tomorrow: the BCrime poll shows Mfume in the lead.

Three murders Sun. morning: 197

Two young males were shot in an argument in South Charles Village around 2 a.m. at the intersection of E. 22nd and Guilford. One is as yet unidentified and police are investigating.

Another man was killed in a home invasion/robbery incident on the 3700 block, Eighth St. in Brooklyn a few hours later.

September 10

Is this for real? One of the 14 men being transferred from Guantanamo from a (now not-so-) secret foreign prison, Majid Khan, graduated from Owings Mills High in 1999. Teacher: "he wasn't a jokester."

The man shot at Upscale Billiards on Pulaski Hwy was ID'd as Charles Spencer (or is it Spenser?) of Edgewood.

Rodricks: Employers aren't terribly jazzed about hiring ex-cons.

The officer who shot a man in the NW was shot himself four years ago; his badge deflected the bullet.

The Post has an excellent special report; Tuesday more than just Japanese girls' favorite school holiday.

So everyone over the age of 8 knows that Elmo is really a six-foot-tall black man named from Baltimore. Aren't you dying to know how Kevin Clash created the world's most beloved muppet? This was a story begging to be written. Thanks for the tipoff, Laura Vozzella!

September 9

So far this weekend, two murders in Baltimore County: 45-year-old Eric Fountain was shot death in Dundalk, and an unidentified man was stabbed in the parking lot of a pool hall in Rosedale.

Also in the county, 16-year-old Franklin Leroy Smith is charged as an adult with the murder of Warren Porter, 24.

And another 15-year-old MD boy charged with murder. Zachary James is accused of killing Michael Freeman, 32, on the 3400 block of Park Heights Avenue on Labor Day.

A 26-year-old man was shot in the NW by a police officer early this morning.

Down in DC, Walter C. Anderson was found guilty of three federal tax-evasion charges, making him officially the Biggest Tax Cheat in American history.

Former head of the Guatemalan DEA pled guilty to atttmpting to smuggle coke into the US.

Baltimore health commissioner Joshua Sharfstein has banned lead-packed kohl Asian eyeliner after two toddlers were poisioned. (Were the parents putting eye makeup on the toddlers?)

Noemi Espinoza Quezada and Ricardo Espinoza Perez were interviewed by the AP. Backs up my theory that Guadelupe put the two guys up to killing the children to get back at Victor and Maria.

So that's the reason behind the hilarious campaign slogan, "vote from the bottom up." Speaking of, who are these judges? How are they doing? Anybody know? And did anyone know that there's an election for Baltimore City Sheriff, between one Shelton J. Stewart and one John W. Anderson? Who are these people? TG for the League of Women Voters and their info sheets, especially the ones that tell you where you are and what to think.

Accused spy Susan Lindauer sounds like an interesting character.

... still September 8

Arnold Schwarzenegger se disculpò después de una cinta escapada fuera de íl que decí a los cubanos y Puerto Ricans y naturalmente "feisty" debido a su combinació n de la "sangre negra" y de la "sangre de Latino."

Fiddy Cent was arrested for making an unsafe lane change in an unregistered, uninsured Lambo.

The BCrime Contest!

HOO HOO HOO!
It's the first-ever BCrime Contest!

Sample Schaefer's remarks* to make a club hit, rhyme, folk song or jingle --anything that can play as an embedded sound file-- and send it in by midnight, Friday November 3.
(We need something to listen to on election day as we work the PTA bake sale at RPEMS!)

Winner, as determined by listener votes on the Sparklit poll, will get to be the official BCrime-approved musician. We'll give you front-page real estate to plug all of your shows, albums, myspace page, basement tapes/or whatever for one year.
Aim for funny, original and catchy! Make us laugh and keep it short!

* Not necessarily from the WYR broadcast ... but you must use exact quotes as the center of your composition!

PS. I LOVE THE LAZY DUNCANS!
(but I wish the sound was better)

Also hilarious: Doni Glover interviews Steele while Kweisi Mfume drowns him out with shout-outs in the background!

More September 8

Ellis Lee Hickman Jr. , 34, was found guity of the murder of Rakiyya Tiana States.

An arrest in the murder of Teon White. And the man shot Wednesday in North Montford (194) was ID'd as Derrick Miller, 27.

Six defendants down, one to go, and one Jackie Brewington sentenced to 17 1/2 years in the McAbier firebombing case.

Police and residents did a model job of working together to catch a cat burglar, who turned out to be one Christopher Cook, 30.

Oy vay. David Kaye, the Maryland rabbi featured on Dateline NBC trying to hook up with someone he thought was a 13-year-old boy, was convicted of crossing state lines for illegal contact.

The CSA upheld life-without-parole sentences for former NSA cryptologist turned AAC double-murderer Darris Ware.

Two days of fighting gangs in an Annapolis high school led to 18 arrests.

I usually hate this kind of first-person present-tense writing (<-irony!), but Marta Hummel uses a style rare in newspapers to paint a vivid portrait of lunch with the Guv and his calorie-conscious wife. (Equal® on fruit and sugar in coffee... something ain't right!)

Crazy like a feeble octogenarian, or crazy like a fox? Perhaps this WYPR interview holds the answer ... Hoo hoo hoo!

A Lotta Guns in Waverly and an Officer Down

Police stops in Waverly are turning up firearms, as seen in the Police Blotter. (Oh, and by the way, East 30th Street is not in Central. )

A reality check in up-and-coming Patterson Park as a police officer is shot on patrol and rushed to Shock Trauma. Apparently, there are still a few guns there, too.

Federal judge Richard Bennett has assigned the ACLU/NAACP civil rights case against the Police Department to the judge hearing the Jones case regarding detention conditions, noting a commonality of interests in the adjudication of the two cases.

September 7 Continues...

A man denied alcohol at J&H Liquors went nuts and threw a Molotov cocktail into the store.

Unlike the guys who de-Beemered Beckham in Spain (twice!), a local prospective carjacker was likely confounded by the 2006's keyless ingition system. Police are still searching for a suspect.

One-and-a-half federal years for selling 11 pounds of cocaine for Daniel Pellegrini. Twelve federal years for Michael Thomas for conspiracy to distibute heroin.

Kane: They call it the "Jessup Cut." (He is. so. down.)

Question for the ladies: what's worse, Schaefer's remarks, or how seriously Janet Owens took them? Whatever! Go Franchot!

Things were better in the olden days.

Why can't we fill the whole big area in front of city hall with pillories, and hold people in them for three-hour stints for all of the "abated by arrest" crimes?
Why did we ever get rid of the pillory? Anyone? Anyone?

September 7

A man was fatally shot on the 600 block of N. Montford Avenue in the Eastern (194?).

Charles Co: Karl H., convicted of murder and trying to prevent his sons from being adopted, will probably be allowed to appeal a court order which terminated his parental rights last March. [Sub. needed]

AAC: Federal prosecutors talked about the new evidence they plan to present in the Blake case: witness accounts and statements.

WashCo: In Hagerstown, former middle-school teacher Robert Merle Haines Jr. got 4 1/2 years in prison for molesting a 13-year-old student [sub req.] in 1984.

HoCo: Howard County police published a muy multicultural list of Johns (Juans?). Also in HoCo, Dwayne Williams was indicted on two counts of vehicular homicide. And skeletal remains found in January were identified as those of Anber Sanchez, 18.

MoCo: MS-13 voted "most notable gang."

DC's Police Chief: Crime down 11 percent since I declared "Emergency."

Who's writing the X's editorials? Huh? Too tough a question? How come? Huh? C'mon!

Word: An Examiner editorial renews the call for the removal of the shiteous statue in front of Penn Station.

Fourth season of The Wire starts Sunday at 10. Nice slot!

An Austrian girl, Natascha Kampusch, who was kidnapped and imprisoned for eight years talked about her ordeal on TV.

Al Shipley will tell you what to do this weekend.

At least Enda's still being played by a big fat queen! Perez Hilton has the first pictures of John Travolta in Divine's role in Hairspray, and they are NOT pretty.

Speaking of Janet Owens, a NYT article reflects on Casa Susanna, a summer camp for transvestites in the land of Dirty Dancing.

September 6

A woman's death is called 'suspicious' in West Baltimore (192?).

A body (193?) has been found near the railroad tracks around Wabash and West Belvedere Avenue in Northwest Baltimore.

The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Davon Pearson, 19, for first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder. Court documents allege that on August 3, 2006, Howard Tavon Jones was found with a fatal gunshot wound to the head and Pearson was identified as the person seen in the area at the time gunshots were heard. An arraignment is scheduled for September 29.

WJ's story of William Langley, 49, sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years, consecutive for murder and a handgun count. A Baltimore City jury convicted Langley June 2, 2006 of first-degree murder and use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence for the killing of Korean immigrant Nae Chun Pak, 46 at Cherry Hill Friedchicken Carry-out NFish. Langley had been out of jail for less than a year and had served time for murder.

Wicomico County is seeking to protect itself from adults and the activities certain peep-show-like rooms induce them to engage in which are unlawful (nudge, nudge), as Dewey Beach deals with a 17-year-old compulsive flasher.

Harassment and threats at the courthouse, and that's just in the Clerk's office. [sub. required]

"Nine of the 10 employees of the [Baltimore city circuit court] jury division signed grievances against [Jury Commissioner Nancy Dennis and her lead worker, Cheryl Reese] in June and requested a transfer. Last month, jury division employees staged a lunch-hour walkout along with union members.

The jury division employees allege that Reese set unrealistic expectations with respect to their workload and engaged in verbal harassment.

Dennis, the employees allege, is often absent from the office and has changed the policy with respect to jurors who fail to appear for jury duty so that the employees were asked to handle an additional 400 to 500 calls a day.

Reached by telephone last week, Dennis declined to comment on the allegations.

Jury division employees said last week that they welcomed Reese's transfer."

A family beating in Crofton, some toughs in a cab and tossed dresser drawers in the Annapolis Police Beat.

Baltimore police officer Quandra Johnson allegedly committed credit card fraud, had goods shipped to the Western, named several other officers as accomplices.

Anna Ditkoff: 76 of 2006's homicides have been closed.

Lots of armed robbery in the blotter.

Julie Bykowicz on the city's littlest murder witnesses.

The city's best-armed preteens are at Thurgood Marshall Middle.

In AAC, Jose Amaya pled guilty to stabbing Angela Holland.

A dead woman was found in Carroll County.

Best. Web find. Ever. From 8-12 p.m., mdscanner.com streams various local police and fire frequencies!

Why we love this town:
Apparently Comptroller W. D. Schaefer's bizarre "old-fashioned hair makes the man" remarks were not an off-the-cuff thing! He was quoted as saying something nearly identical (yet nonsensical in a different way) to Post columnist Marc Fisher!
Is he
1. genuinely senile
2. having a big joke on everyone
3. commenting on the gender wage gap?
Whatever-- if Janet was my client I'd have her in a granny gown with a team of trannies serving up dog treats at the ASPCA this minute!

...speaking of the elderly and elections, AARP will be hosting an O'Malley/ Ehrlich debate Setpember 14 at 10 a.m. at the Greenspring Avenue Holiday Inn.

Even the Sun get confused sometimes.

Int'l:
In Japan, Amaterasu Omikami Imperial line assured (for now) with birth of Chrysanthemum prince.

September 5 continued

Oh, Lord, the old coot's at it again. Schaefer said Janet Owens looks like "Mother Hubbard," calls her hairdo "old-fashioned" and adds, inexplicably, "you know it sort of makes you a man." Huh?

A Baltimore City jury convicted William Langley, 48, of Parkville, Maryland of the first-degree murder of Nae Chun Pak and the use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence today. The jury deliberated for approximately seven hours yesterday and today after hearing two days of testimony this week. Judge Roger W. Brown set sentencing for September 6. Says the SA,

On October 3, 2005 in the 600 block of Cherry Hill Road Langley and Nae Chun Pak, 46, got into an altercation about a food order that Langley had placed in the victim's carry out store. Pak returned Langley's money and Langley left the store, only to return a short time later and fatally shoot Pak in the head.

You really hate the police.

Wow, BCrime readers don't have much nice to say about the Baltimore Police. Only 17 of 113 respondents reported never having a negative experience. Reckless driving, rudeness, slow response times, refusing to take a report, arrests without cause .... I guess we already knew the BPD had a major PR problem, but that's pretty bad. Assuming the BPD cares what citizens think, how could it repair its image? Is it even possible?

September 5

Three fatal shootings over the weekend, of Michael Freeman, Andre Dudley and Darren Wilson, bring our homicide total to about 191.

Again?! An officer was stabbed at Jessup.

Five Maryland teachers have been convicted of participating in a national drug-trafficking scheme. And the former chief of PGC schools, Andre Hornsby, will appear in court today to face charges of mail and wire fraud.

The parents of 14-year-old Kevin Cooper, shot by a police officer, want the state to investigate the incident.

There were three police-involved shootings in PG County over the weekend, including an officer who shot his own mother.

Why would someone want a 1994 Buick Skylark?

A Louisiana man, David Clyde Smith, was stabbed by a panhandler in the parking lot of the Laurel Wal-Mart.

The Court of Appeals term starts today, and has plenty to hear before it gets to the gay-marriage thing. (Subscription required)

Tonight at 6:30 is Katie Couric's first CBS broadcast, a major milestone for cute girls everywhere.

Let's hope JZ will be able to find some new interns now that Towson has more applicants for its "Honor's College."

... can you believe this is the 500th post?

September 4

Two murders this weekend, one on West Lexington and one in the Northwest, bring the annual murder total to somehere between 181 and 190.

Am I reading this right? A 74-year-old man was stabbed with a steak knife as he tried to steal furniture, and a woman was beaten with a metal pipe at 10 a.m. Saturday on North Avenue.

Irony, Two-Edged Swords, etc
A teenager is being questioned after the death of Dr. Wayne Fenton of Bethesda. Fenton was a nationally known schizophrenia expert and director for clinical affairs in the Division of Mental Disorders, Behavioral Research and AIDS at NIMH ... but apparently didn't realize the danger posed by his own patient.

Crikey! The Crocodile Hunter's been killed ... by a stingray!

Defendants are blogging ... and defense attorneys are getting nervous. [username: chococatsanrio@yahoo.com pwrd: choco] (Thanks PG!)

Boozehoundery
"I did the shots of tequila last night, your honor!" Thanks to a reader for sending this video of a Nevada lawyer litigating under the influence.

Study: Children of alcoholics highly likely to lead effed-up lives.

September 3

Julie Bycowicz explores why Baltimore City hardly ever pursues the death penalty. And here's the Sun's collection of death penalty stories.

Fellow soldier on the death of Pfc. Michael Potocki: "His death has started an uproar of emotions in the platoon ... No one understands why we are here and what our mission is. This war is lost. We aren't helping these people. We are just dying and getting injured."
[username and password: 123isis]

Two men were stabbed in Columbia.

Suspicious fires and a woman beaten with a weight in Annapolis.

Which senate candidate once asked Keith Richards to stop smoking near his car? Hometown Annapolis has the dirt.

September 2

A suspicious death on Wednesday. I'm going to add that to the eight probable homicides (see comments August 31 - I am counting Julia Boussari and Said Sawab but not hanging guy or police-involved guy), making the number at least 179, probably more like 188 and possibly higher than that.

Three men were shot to death in PG County last night.

The Sun dutifully reprints the "three-foot halogen light bulb."

O'Malley admin: Cameras on the corner = genius. Cameras in prison = shameless, transparent vote-grubbing.

"Court papers say that in 2003 and 2004, [high schoool band teacher Jeffrey Thompson and a 16-year-old student] had sexual relations in Thompson's office at the school, in his Honda, at a Laurel motel, at Thompson's home and at Patapsco Valley State Park ..."

Alexander Massari of Owings Mills pled guity to having child porn.

The guys who stole guitars and sold them on ebay were sentenced.

"Does this boat make your nipples hard?"

September 1

Rodney Bethea pled guilty this morning to the Assault on law Enforcement, False Imprisonment, and Escape. The disposition is scheduled for October 16 at Wabash District Court, Part 4. The details:

On April 13, 2006, at approximately 10:45 am, Mr. Rodney Bethea was arrested for possession of marijuana. At this time the defendant was transported to the Northeast District to be interviewed by detectives of the District Detectives Unit (DDU). After being interviewed, while waiting for the wagon to transport him to the Central Booking Intake Facility, Mr. Bethea attempted to hang himself in the interview room with a string. This attempt was unsuccessful at which time Mr. Bethea removed one halogen light bulb from the overhead light in the interview room approximately 3 feet in length. Officer Paul Southard at this time responded to the interview room and noticed that the lights had been turned off, causing the room to be dark. Officer Southard then opened the door to the interview room to check on Mr. Bethea. At which time Mr. Bethea jumped off the table located inside the interview room, striking Officer Southard over the head, shattering the halogen bulb, causing numerous lacerations to Officer Southard's head. Officer Southard fell to the ground ... Mr. Bethea ran out of the interview room and into the Northeast DDU office.

At approximately 11:56 am a Signal 13 was dropped at the Northeast district for an escaped prisoner. Mr. Bethea at this time ran into the office of Community Services Officer Jessica Marcus-Lowe, a civilian employed at the district, and locked the door behind him, arming himself with a pair of scissors and a letter opener. He held CSO Macus-Lowe against her will and refused to allow her to leave. After over two hours of a stand-off, Baltimore City SWAT forced the door open and utilized a stun gun to take Mr. Bethea into custody.

Better-late-than-never news we missed: The Grand Jury returned an indictment August 22 charging Baltimore police officer William Darrell Welch, 40, of Quiet Stream Court, Timonium, Maryland with one count of second-degree rape and three counts of misconduct in office. The court pre-set bail in the amount of $50,000 in this matter. If convicted of the count of rape, Welch could be sentenced to imprisonment not exceeding 20 years. Misconduct in office is a common law offense that carries a period of incarceration in whatever amount a court deems is fair and reasonable. The indictment alleges that on July 16, 2006 in the Southeastern District Station Welch had sexual intercourse with a 16-year old girl after she had been taken into custody by another officer.

Youths at the Baltimore City Detention Center beat a boy for 90 minutes before anyone on staff noticed.

Eric Hicks and Nicholas Floyd were arrested for the murder of Kimberly Skyers. Murder victim #177 was identified as 35-year-old Juliet Robinson.

A man beat a stranger with a metal pole in Hampden, a man was mugged and shot in the cheek with a BB gun on York Road, and plenty of break-ins in Charles Village in the Messenger blotter.

If you live in the County and enjoy extramarital affairs with psychotic secretaries, William Buie III (left) is a judicial candidate you can relate to.

... and in totally unrelated news, four female congregants of Salisbury's New Life Apostolic Church were allegedly told by bishop Richard C. Lawson that his wife was sick and he was shopping for someone to replace her when she died. His son, the pastor, was also indicted (but acquitted) on charges that he had sex with a 16-year-old girl. No word on the health of Mrs. Lawson.

Leeander J. Blake was indicted federally, and as the state trial was never completed, that means he's not technically being tried twice for the same crime. The Post reports that prosecutors may have new evidence. If not, can the federal prosecutors use evidence inadmissible in state court? Sounds like a risky move, though the guy did admit to carjacking Straughan Griffin, shooting him in the head and running him over with his own car. The Sun has a timeline of the case.

In PG County a civil jury awarded $6.4 million to a man who was interrogated for more than 38 hours, then wrongfully imprisoned for his wife's murder.

Baltimore County prosecutors have decided not to pursue charges against Louis Clark, the gym teacher at Dundalk High accused of stealing from students' gym lockers (what's with the headline?).

Stephen Janis rounds up another citizen claiming to be wronged by the city's Dept. of Transportation. Hey lady, if your son is 29, shouldn't he be responsible for his own car?

Summer really is over, sigh... the OC Dispatch recaps a summerful of crime (among other things), including various stabbings, a NJ cop + a 15-year-old girl + bottle of Jagermeister, and a drunken "Pop-Pop" firing a .38 semi-automatic at children he was supposed to be babysitting.

Quote of the day: "At this point, HBO knows it doesn't have a breakout hit on its hands." -- David Simon on season four of The Wire