October 3

Luther Bryant, 28, was shot to death near the 1300 block of Havenwood road. And a one man was shot and an unid'd man was killed at Gossip's nightclub on Calvert Street (@210-211), half a block from the State's Attorneys office and the Mitchell Courthouse.

Missing babysitter Tiara Chapman, her son and her 8-year-old charge Kia Edwards (left) returned home.

Two men, James L. Owens, 41, and James Thompson, 47, convicted of the rape and murder of Colleen Willar in 1988, may get new trails after DNA test results pointed to a third party. If so, it will be the first time in MD a DNA test clears a defendant after a muder conviction. (The Sun also has the story.)

Devon Richardson, 14, was charged with the murder of Janice Letmate, the 67-year-old woman (202) who neighbors first though had suffered a heart attack.

Two men were arrested for the home invasion robbery and murder of 45-year-old Eric Fountain in the county.

The man who killed his neighbor, Billy Horne (208) yeserday in the NE was ID'd as Marvin Fergueson, 40.

Suspended officer Jemini Jones was arrested Monday morning for an illegal handgun after leading police on a car chase. And PGC officer Sheldon Vessels has been indicted for pepper-spraying four young men who were not charged with a crime, and kicking one in the groin. Vessels was not on duty at the time.

Robbery, theft, larceny etc in the blotter.

Nate Chapman is in trouble again, this time for making false statements on a loan application. He was convicted two years ago of defrauding the State pension system.

Did you know? The Baltimore Police Department phone numbers on the City's site have been taken off the web, and the new BPD site has been non-fuctional for about nine months!

Is that normal? O'Malley is getting City Council members to donate to his campaign.

October 2: 'Happy' Yom Kippur

There was a double shooting on Castle street on the east side.

A fatal shooting at 6 a.m. on the 3800 block of Lyndale Ave. in the Northeast (<208). Update: a suspect was taken into custody after a standoff.

Two murders Saturday (<206-207). Jemel Carter, 18 was killed on Oswego Ave., (first reported by galt)
and Victor Council, 43, was shot on the 1400 block of Baltimore Street.
The man killed Friday (205) was ID'd as Lamont Brown.

A Baltimore County judge is due to sentence Matthew Horner today for trying to fake the suicide of his wife Lorraine. She lived and is expected to give a victim-impact statement.

Eighteen-year-old Loneil A. Smith was murdered in PCG Sunday morning.

A 16-year old boy was shot in the shoulder, and former president of the police union Frederick Roussey was hit by a truck while directing traffic downtown.

Terrence Gunnels was fatally shot near the Great Frederick fairgrounds.

Rockville police are questioning a delivery-truck driver in the dragging death of grandmother Ketty Alvarado, 69.

The penalty for being a drunk-driving teen just went up.

Former circulation manager fpr the PGC and MoCo "Sentinels" was convicted of stealing $288k.

One would think the prison system would be happy to let inmates atone any day.

Wow, Jill Carter has never been a shrinking violet! She rages against the Mayor's arrest practices in this undated feature. "The person that's the mayor of Baltimore shouldn't be the mayor or the governor. He has no interest in furthering the agenda of the people he represents or empowering anyone."

Washington Post: "the murder count ... remains a political liability" for O'Malley, reports the town went to hell after Norris left.
Mayor: "the downside [of setting the goal of 175 homicides] is far outweighed by the number of lives we saved."
Meanwhile, Team O'M says state and federal police and drug-treatment money dropped after 2002, team Ehrlich says it went up.

National:
Five victims plus the gunman Charles Carl Roberts IV are dead after a hostage situation in a school in a small town in Lancaster County, Pa.

TX supreme court refused to legalize "obscene devices.".

You're so Cheap!

The most trusted news souce of news a la BCrime readers is ...
the City Paper!!
Yes, the journal that features "Smut" on the cover this week, illustrated by a biblio-glory hole and an typographed male part.
Really?

Second-most relied on: WBAL, tied with the Examiner. In fourth, the Sun. In dead last, WMAR.
Okay, I'll bite, why do you hate the Sun so much? (no copping answers from thesunlies.com)

October 1

♥ the law? Check out the Supreme Court preview for this month.

This week, MedImmune battles Genentech [<-subscription required] for the rights to palivizumab, a bioengineered antibody, at The Supreme Court.

William C. Bond, author of "Self-portrait of a Patricide: How I Got Away with Murder," won a case against the Bank of America for improperly releasing financial records to his wife's ex in a custody case [<-subscription required].

Godson M. Nnaka (right), a Baltimore lawyer who happens to be running for President of Nigeria, had sex-offense charges dropped against him[<- subscription required] by the Baltimore City state's attorney's office.
Say charging documents, a 16-year-old girl came to Nnaka's office with two friends, wanting to hire him to represent her boyfriend in a criminal case. The girl said she let Nnaka grope her in exchange for his promise to reduce his fee. One of the friends picked up a pair of scissors to defend herself(?) ; Nnaka then escorted them from his office, the girls then flagged down a police car and made a report.

A man shot in the 1400 block of W. Baltimore St. is in critical condition at shock trauma.

Best PIO o'Balto Sviatko: Smoot guards attended a "party where apparently everybody got their stories straight."

There's only one time sports will be mentioned here, and that's when the over-esteemed, overpaid jockstaps break the law! Yes, sounds like three O's shot steroids like Mexican dairy cows. Tsk, tsk.

HoCo cops party with hookers, display porn, taxpayers fork out $75g.

Greedy, consorting cops pulled burning-car scheme to buy an Asscalade in Frederick.

Would be nice but isn't exactly true: Ehrlich sent out mailer alleging FBI probe of O'Malley's management of the BPD. Other election news:

• Ehrlich's team mailing out dollar bills breaks election laws.
• Sun assumes all readers are white and unwhite people voting Republican is impossible.
• Diebold: we've fixed flaw that made check-in computers crash during primary.
• Rodricks: Race card trumps reason in crime debate.

Yawn.

Media notes: the Sun's line appears to be to not cover too much crime because it's hard to sell ads next to depressing stories.
OR ... is the crime writing just boring?
The NYPost gets the tone right and embraces the drama and still manages to sell ads (next) to death. Or maybe it's that the NYP has more interesting stories to cover.

September 30

A man was shot dead at Park Heights & Quantico (at least 205).

.. speaking of Park Heights, when I was on Ed Norris the other day a guy called in to say that there had been a string of murders in Park Heights, "at least five or six" people duct-taped in their houses with their throats cut, but no one is reporting it. The freaky thing? It could well be true. But without the ME's office to say either way, the rumor can't be confirmed-- or denied. I also heard from a narcotics detective that there's "a war" going on in the NW that's taking the efforts of all six (!!!) City narcs. If I was a journalist I'd get up there and chase that story ... (TG I'm a blogger!)

A string of related burglaries in Timonuim and Sparks.

Jessup is being downgraded to a minimum-security prison, and prisoners from Supermax are supposted to go somewhere called North Branch.
Friday, former officer Candice Harlee testified about the pandemonium at Central Booking on the night Raymond Smoot died.

Perv: Andre C. King, PCG.

September 29 afternoon

Today Judge David Ross denied a defense motion to transfer David James Marshall, 14, to juvenile court (!!!). He will remain charged as an adult in Baltimore City Circuit Court. Marshall is scheduled for trial October 30, 2006. The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Marshall May 5, 2006 for first-degree murder, two counts of robbery deadly weapon and four counts of kidnapping. Court documents allege that on April 20 at 1404 Kuper Street, Marshall and a co-defendant broke into the house, announced a robbery, and shot and killed an occupant of the home, Robert Atkinson, 47. Marshall remains held without bail in the Baltimore City Detention Center.

A Columbia man killed himself in the Howard County Detention Center.

Graphic testimony about an MS-13 gang rape.

Six arms-smuggling Tamil Tigers are being flown from Guam to MD to face trial.

One more day left to get rid of your dingo.

Letter from Martin deems Ehrlich 'Foghorn Leghorn,' advises sand-pounding

The gloves are off!!
We wondered when M to the O was going to say something about crime, and suddenly this article is out, and just we got this in the inbox:

BOB EHRLICH: LYING BECAUSE HE'S LOSING, PART II
Down In Polls, Ehrlich Caught In Lie About Police

Bob Ehrlich has a truth problem - he has a problem telling the truth, and the truth is a problem for his campaign.

You may have seen or heard Bob Ehrlich strutting around like Foghorn Leghorn recently on television and radio, claiming that he wanted to send the Maryland State Police to Baltimore to fight crime, but Martin O'Malley told him to "pound sand."

Turns out, once again, the Governor is lying.

As today's Baltimore Examiner reports: "Documents obtained by The Examiner indicate it was Maryland State Police who failed to provide Baltimore City with the assistance they offered in 2003."

Ehrlich's newest fabrication comes on the heels of the 18th straight independent, public poll that shows him trailing Martin O'Malley.

Today's Sun reports that with less than 40 days left, "Ehrlich's campaign is getting increasingly more negative because he trails in the polls."

Earlier this week, Ehrlich launched another attack ad, this time attacking the integrity of Baltimore's police officers.

The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 - which endorsed Ehrlich in 2002 - says the ad leaves them "disgusted." And they will not be supporting Ehrlich this time, because he has turned the brave men and women of the Baltimore Police Department into "political punching bags."

Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm calls Ehrlich's attack ad "absolutely false."

...The truth is that law enforcement and neighbors have come together and now crime is down in Baltimore:
The City increased investment in the police department by 47% and placed a system of hundreds of security cameras in troubled neighborhoods to give police more tools in making streets safer. [Baltimore City Police Department]
The Police and Neighbors reduced violent crime in Baltimore by 40%.[Federal Bureau of Investigation, "2004 Uniform Crime Report," Crime in the United States by Metropolitan Statistical Area; Baltimore City Police Department, "UCR Crime Total"]
The officers of the Baltimore Police Department helped reduce homicides by 18%. [Baltimore City Police Department, "UCR Crime Total"]

According to Commissioner Hamm, "We have the greatest crime decrease in the state of Maryland, and we did it without state help."

And that's the truth. Here's Bob Ehrlich's real failed record on crime - which makes clear why he is launching his shameful attack on Baltimore's Police Officers.

• He cut State funding to the Baltimore Police Department by 42% from $11.3 million in FY 2002 to $6.6 million in FY 2006.


• He cut State drug treatment funding in Baltimore by $3 million - from $52.2 million in FY 2003 to $49.2 million in FY 2005.
  
• He broke his promise to reform Juvenile Services - and instead, it has gotten worse, with children sleeping in bathrooms near toilets and riots caused by understaffing, according to Maryland's Independent Juvenile Justice Monitor.
  
• He broke his promise to implement Project Exile - which calls for all eligible gun crimes to be prosecuted in federal court. Federal gun prosecutions went down sharply under his handpicked U.S. Attorney, and he never delivered on his promised public/private advertising and outreach campaign.
  
• He broke his promise to end parole for violent criminals - and in fact, parole of criminals has increased on his watch.
  
• He has flat funded the State gun prosecutors grant to the Baltimore State's Attorney's Office (SAO) at the same $1.7 million that his predecessor began in 2001 - failing to account for inflation. The city has increased it's funding for the SAO by 50% since Mayor O'Malley took office (from $16.6 million in FY 2000 to $24.9 million in FY 2007).
  
• His much-hyped "Hype vs. Reality" campaign, launched at a press conference with Carmelo Anthony in May 2005 produced, literally, nothing.
  
• And under his watch, prisons are out of control, with corrections officers being murdered and nearly 20 times more violent incidents involving weapons than the larger Pennsylvania prison system - 257 compared to 15 for the first six months of 2006.

We understand that Bob Ehrlich is down in the polls and has a horrendous record of failure. But, that doesn't justify lying to the people of Maryland, and it certainly doesn't justify attacking the brave men and women of the police force who put their lives on the line every day to protect our communities.
... Bob Ehrlich: Can't Be Trusted to Fight Crime; Can't Be Trusted to Fight for Maryland Families

MEOW! He's taking it to the street!
UPDATE: The mayor and the gov. have agreed to have two debates before mid-October.

Op Ed by Galt

Mayor needs to point that finger at himself.

Have you seen the lame response of the Mayor's office to the position of the Governor's office that it offered policing assistance which was rebuffed by Baltimore's executive?

link here to my OpEd Letter in GaltSpace.


I'm including in the comments section a discussion of the legal basis for Mr. O'Malley's false arrest policies, because of its length.

September 29

Sultan Z. Mathhews, 19, was shot to death during an arguement in his home on N. Bentalou Street in the Western. (204)

A man was stabbed on his front porch in Lake Montibello, #203..

That's no lady, that's Dee Deirdre Farmer, looking less than fabulous.

Death of port supervisor Robert L. Benway has been ruled accidental.

JZ has video of an armed robber shooting at the head of a cashier at a Brooklyn park Crown station.

Towson U. Jew to sue.
(I must say it's rude that some public schools are closed today for "professional development," but not Monday for Yom Kippur)

Finger-Pointing
Examiner: State police offered assistance in the city, and the city agreed-- but the troopers never showed. Now fingers are being pointed from either side.

A state-run home for the mentally challenged was cited for "horrific" violations.

Hamm disputes new Ehrlich/Billy Murphy Jr. ad.

Letter from Jill

Del. Jill Carter is my new favorite politician! She totally called me out on being sexist and shallow and then let loose on the mayor! I don't even know what district I'm in (Mary Pat Clarke is involved somehow?), much less what Jill's job is, but I do now know where she gets her hair done! Read on ... (and Jill I'll take it down if you want me to... but I assume you knew who you were writing to!)

Dear ...

Recently, I have scanned your blog and I think it has a lot of value ... I can't dictate to you or anyone what you choose to think or convey to others about me. But, I would like to set the record straight on some of the things I've read.

1. I was not the "girlfriend" of Robert Clay. But, I revered and respected him a great deal. I learned a lot from him about minority business, politics, and life. His death is an immeasurable loss to me, personally, and to the community at large. My life is better because I knew him. Out of respect for him and his family, in particular, I would like to quash that rumor. What difference would it make even if true?

2. I think "fake" is the last word anyone who knows me would use to describe me. I, often struggle politically, and otherwise, because of my penchant for truth. It is what it is.

However, I think your refernces to "everything" about me being "fake" refer more to the physical, than the mental or spiritual. Micro-peels, a number of years ago is as far as I've gone cosmetically (to date). But, I have always said I would be amenable to cosmetic surgery as I age if I feel I need it, and can afford it -- a big If. I want work done on my teeth, but I can't afford veneers. Years ago, in 1992, I had my eyebrows tattooed. I have felt it was one of the best things I've ever done. Having naturally thin eyebrows, I used to put on eyebrow pencil all the time. When I was in a hurry, it was a real pain. With the tattoo, I am get-up-and go with no maintenance. Say what you will, but I prefer it to super thin brows or daily make-up.

On hair, I have natural (unprocessed, uncolored) thick, medium-length hair. I have been going to Salon Mechelle since age 18. Wynnonna Fountain, 410-367-3122, proprietor and friend, got my hair healthy and spared me from a life of permanent hair straigtening and salons that did not know how to deal with my thick, kinky-curly, Black hair.

I've sported numerous looks and hairstyles over the years. I used to experiment a lot with weaves. My hair is a lot to deal with and I am extremely busy. So, I usually pull it back if I don't have ample time to style it otherwise. I have discovered wigs to get me through bad hair days or for a quick style change. Only my aesthetician knows for sure. I am certain you have seen both. But, I'll never tell. ...

I immediately realized what a jerk I had been and wrote

Ms Carter,
You are totally right that talking about your hair or any other superficial part of you is totally sexist and takes away from your message. It's tough enough for women in any business without things being taken to that level ... On the other hand, my hair is thin and my eyebrows are a disaster, and I feel like women should be able to do their jobs without having to worry about looking perfect all of the time but then again I'm not a politician.
I would like to know more about the substance of your work. I consider myself pretty involved but I have no idea who my delegate is. It's very difficult as a voter to know what the issues are.

And then Jill said ...

... It is not surprising that you don't know much about my positions. My experience with the mainstream media for the past four years, which is how long I've been a delegate, has been horrendous. Because of my refusal to comply with the will of "leadership" when I believe it is wrong, and my audacity to propose new ideas that challenge and threaten the status quo, I've been essentially blackballed. The Sun has attempted to erase me. The City Paper is not much better. Reporters from the Sun often take orders of who, what, and how to cover issues, straight from the mayor's office.

The mayor is possibly the biggest megalomaniac I've ever encountered. City politicians and state democrats put more effort into serving him than their own constituents. The media, for the most part, gives them all a free pass. So, the public is perpetually in the dark and chronically confused ... We know the mayor lies. We know that there are close to 2500 homicides under his tyrannical leadership. We know there are likely close to 250,000 unwarranted (illegal, uncharged, false & minor crimes) arrests. Former commissioners, police officers, FOP head, judges, a grand jury, investigative reporters, politicians (me), citizens, ACLU, NAACP, etc., have uncovered the truth that his policing policies have failed miserably, crime is not down, and non-criminals are being unnecessarily criminalized while criminal are not being pursued. All the while, the mayor avoids, evades, and lies.....and the people of Baltimore have not collectively demanded his removal from office, and many actually support him for governor. It's beyond sad.

This is why we love local politics-- huge personalities who are willing to take it to the mat!
Jill Carter is real like the Velveteen rabbit!
Where's her district again?

Quick Stats

From the State's Attorney's office: 45,947 cases have been brought so far in '06 (that means about 7 percent of the city's population has been arrested so far this year! ... or 459 people were arrested 100 times). Of these, 11,103 cases the state declined to prosecute (24 percent).

September 28

A juvenile transfer hearing for David James Marshall, 14, is scheduled for 9:30 tomorrow morning before Judge David Ross. The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Marshall May 5 for first-degree murder, two counts of robbery deadly weapon and four counts of kidnapping. Court documents allege that on April 20 at 1404 Kuper Street, Marshall and a co-defendant broke into the house, announced a robbery, and shot and killed an occupant of the home, Robert Atkinson, 47. Marshall remains held without bail in the Baltimore City Detention Center.

What the?! Neighbors thought Janice Letmate, 67, died of a heart attack, but "an autopsy found" she'd been shot in the head (#@202-215).

Former prison officer Jamile Boles saw Smoot stomping, points passionately at prison guards.

Asians Challenging Stereotypes Dept.
Mom testified against Jason Chen, 21, who admitted he stabbed dad to death. (and Tyrese E. Simmons was found dead in Hyattsville.)

Death of a Glen Burnie dentist Albert Woonho Ro is being considered homicide.

Police have arrested a Towson math tutor, Eugene Kong (left), for sexually abusing an 8-year-old boy.

Family of Bernadette Caruso, murdered 20 years ago (probably by her ex-husband) want justice.

February of '04 I wrote: "Horrifyingly depressing story of the week: A transgendered inmate, Dee Harmer, whose rape behind bars led to a new liability standard for prison officials is now blind and bedridden and has been sent home to die of AIDS." This week, Deirdre Harmer/Dee Farmer has been charged with faking his own death.

Rodricks: drug addiction is the root of 80 percent of crime and treatment works. Why don't we use it?

A new Ehrlich ad attacks the BPD arrest practices.

Little Italy residents: shut-a the fuck up-a, Velleggia's!

Cook them chops through: One hundred quarintined pigs have disappeared from a Carroll Co farm.

Media news: Dan Ostrovsky has left the Daily Record and is going to Miami. Do svidanya, Danielsinka!

September 27

DEA: Maryland is the third-most violent state in the union, and Baltimore just might be the most smacked-out city in the world. So why did the DEA seize only 43 pounds of heroin last year (as opposed to 500 pounds of cocaine and mary j.?) is it just me or is 19.5 kg. not very much?

One hundred words about #200.

Cliques and amnesia in the Smoot case.

More on Saturday's triple shooting on Kennedy Avenue (between Loch Raven, Harford, the Alameda and 25th Street).

State report: 8 percent increase in assaults against police officers in '04- '05.

A man was carjacked in AAC Saturday and forced to drive to Cherry Hill, where he was robbed.

Pervert roundup: Donald Fox, 60, of Frederick; Phillip R. Wilson, 20, of Finksburg; Kenny Ray Morrison, of College Park and Kingwood, TX; Ronald Allen Meroney of Baltimore County and Memphis, TN; the boy in the elevator, the guy on the lawn in Silver Spring; a teenager on the football field and a Latino at the fairgrounds, MoCo.

Del. Jill Carter has new ambitions, and you'll never hear me again mention the weave. Which looks great.

September 26

A man was shot to death (@201) on the 500 block of Parkin Street.

A man was shot (but is still alive) on Park Heights Ave.

County police are looking for a man with the nickname of "Prez" (left) who raped a 14-year-old girl in Rogers Forge.

In AAC 20-year-old Christopher Haarhoff was arrested for murdering his mother's boyfriend, Anthony Fertitta, whose burned body was found in Millersville. His mother was charged as an accessory for attempting to bleach out the bloodstains and his brother Christopher is also charged.

The contempt of court trial of James Murphy was nol pros'd today at the request of the State, which was informed before trial this morning that Murphy died May 22, 2006 while in the custody of DOC while serving a 30-year prison term.

At a hearing today, Judge Althea Handy sentenced Irvin Merritt, 47, of the 900 block of Bonaparte Avenue, to 45 years in prison. Merritt pled guilty August 10 to first-degree murder, to two counts of attempted robbery and one count of robbery. Judge Handy sentenced him to 15 years in prison for each of those counts and ordered that those prison terms run concurrent to the life term. On February 16, 2006 Merritt stabbed to death Frederica Moseley, 46, in the 200 block of North Bond Street. Merritt had a long history of domestic violence against Ms. Moseley.

Jason Yereance, 42, of Walpole, Maine pled guilty to fourth-degree breaking and entering Friday for his visit to O'Malley campaign HQ. A visiting judge, Gordon Boone, entered a probation before judgment. The State entered a Nol Pross for the felony burglary charges as there was insufficient evidence to proceed. The matter was originally scheduled for tomorrow but was moved up as Judge Kiki O'Malley was scheduled to preside, a conflict of interest.

Trend alert: the hot new thing in drugs is strawberry-flavored cocaine, which the kids are calling "strawberry NesQuik." Now you know.

Two people were stabbed last night outside of Howard's Pub in Dundalk.

Did the gov. push through development legislation as a favor to a political donor?

The Kemp family has filed a lawsuit against the Southeast Special Enforcement Team.
Scary: the city paid out $8.5 million in judgements in '04 and '05.

A man was stabbed at the Jessup Brockbridge Correctional Facility.

"They are trying to crash our party and we need to beat the [expletive] out of them in front of all the would-be party crashers who are standing on the front lawn waiting to see how we welcome these dirtbags."
At least he hyphenated the compound modifier ... no wonder no one qualified wants anything to do with the Baltimore City School Board...

Oh wait, the Westiminister baby-dragging teen was charged, and she also had a set of brass knuckles. Yike.

In MoCo and old woman was dragged for more than a mile by a truck.

While his wife tickled the ivories, David Barry Mentzer of Joppa tickled some poor boy where his bathing suit covers.

September 26, morning

Quota? What quota ???

The Examiner interviews Police union president Blair regarding the loss of senior police staff because of unwritten arrest quotas.

Click here to see a comparison for all counties of Maryland between monthly bookings and monthly released without charge for that county's jails.


Op-Ed

Notoriously violating people's civil rights does not constitute aggressive policing... it's just bad policing and discourages citizen cooperation. This city now has 3,241 officers, according to the public affairs office. I question the quality of that number (the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 3 lists 4,900 voting members, whatever that means.) . We need a lot more and it's just not gonna work if officers are uncomfortable with the routine practices of this administration. Guys, it's time to ditch your Police Commissioner, who has already testified that there are no quotas, so it seems to me he next needs to be indicted for perjury. Either way, he's gotta go. Furthermore, how could anyone possibly consider voting for the Mayor who spearheads the arbitrary curtailment of civil rights?

In other news:

A man was shot in Armistead Gardens this morning and rushed to shock trauma.

Regarding the Saturday night shooting of a 19 year-old male, a 79 year-old male, and an 11 year-old girl at the 2000 block, Kennedy Ave., police report no arrests and the spokesperson, Nicole Monroe, has reverted to form, drawing attention to the fact that the 19 year-old primary victim had a history of drug, assault, and weapons charges. I'm sure that's a great relief to the two injured bystanders. If he's not a very good guy, then why is he still on the streets, huh? And why would that make anyone feel safer?

... More September 25

Police are seeking a prolific robber, left, who's held up banks inside of grocery stores in at least five counties in MD and VA.

Blockbuster® and Metro Crime Stoppers are offering a $20,000 reward to help find the killers of Antonio Gilmore.

What is up with the green minivans this week? Murder victim Roxanne Amick's green minivan was found at a shopping mall. Then two Israeli guys were questioned after taking pictures of the harbor tunnel while driving in one. Now police are looking for a green Chevy minivan that hit and killed a 22-year-old woman in the Southwest.

The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Eric Hicks, 21, of W. Franklin Street and Nicholas Floyd, 23, of McCullough Street for first-degree murder and other counts. Court documents allege that on April 11 an unknown female was found in a vacant building in the 2600 block of St. Benedict Street suffering from multiple stab wounds. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene and was later identified as Kimberly Skyers, 33. Police identified the two suspects through witnesses.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for 9:30 tomorrow morning before Judge Althea Handy for Irvin Merritt, 47, of Bonaparte Avenue. Merritt pled guilty August 10 to first-degree murder and other charges. On February 16, 2006 Merritt stabbed Frederica Moseley, 46, to death in the 200 block of North Bond Street. Merritt had a long history of domestic violence against Ms. Moseley.

The contempt of court trial of James Earl Murphy, 30, of Manchester Rd., is scheduled for 9:30 tomorrow morning before Judge Martin P. Welch. The Baltimore City Grand jury indicted Murphy March 22 for contempt of court for his refusal to testify in a murder trial. Murphy and Martin Morgan, 18, were indicted for the murder of Wade Walker on March 12, 2004. In January 2005, Murphy pled guilty to second-degree murder and Judge David Mitchell sentenced him to a 30-year prison term. On February 3 Murphy refused to testify in Morgan's trial and was held in Direct Contempt of Court by Judge Shirley Watts. Nevertheless, the jury convicted Morgan of first-degree murder and Judge Watts sentenced him to life in prison.

No one less than Taylor Branch sets straight the facts alleged on the Steele "Do the walk!" ad. Summary: both Republicans and Democrats have acted crapulently in their own special way.

September 25, afternoon

Another West Baltimore murder

A man was shot in the head this morning at the intersection of Mount Royal Ave. and Whitelock St. Police have not released an identity and are investigating. Izzat 200 this year already??

It seems our sister city Detroit also keeps secrets in its Medical Examiner's office. Motown's corpse-bagger was dressed down for speaking in a New York Times article and was then suspended by the City of Detroit.

You're so Cultured!

BCrime readers are responsible for 365 museum visits. The Aquarium was most popular, even with the exorbitant price of admissions. The BMA and Walters are also popular. Amazingly, someone visited every museum mentioned-- even the very obscure Irish Shrine and Railroad Workers Museum, Maryland Center for Military History and the Historical Electronics Museum. Please share what you learned with the class.

September 25

Cory Harrison, 27, was shot to death on Robb Street in East Baltimore (199).

A Cherry Hill woman awoke in her home Saturday to find a man cutting her throat with a knife.

Three people were shot in the Eastern.

Just when you think the BPD document-shredding scandal couldn't make the department look any worse, three employees say they were paid overtime to do the shredding!

Rod J. Rosenstein says that prosecutors will reveal the complex structure of the MS-13 gang in this week's racketeering trial.

A profile of the Reverend Willie Ray, eulogist to casualties of the drug war.

Lots of stolen vehicles in the Northern last week.

Arundel Mills Mall was evacuated Saturday after some gals left luggage under a bench.

September 24

Keep your eyes peeled for Alexander Hicks, 15, who ran away from Cedar Ridge Children's Home.

Former NJ Narc: 80 percent of officers think it's time to end the war on drugs.