Friday, February 11, 2005

Friday February 11

Hizzoner's hijinks have made him a Republican threat and an AP story.

The States Attorney's office reports that the sentencing hearing for Camille Marie Bivins, 23, of the 5900 block of Daywalt Avenue, is scheduled for 2:00P p.m. Monday (aka Valentine's day) before Judge Roger W. Brown, 339 Courthouse East, 111 North Calvert Street. Bivins pled guilty to child abuse resulting in death September 29, 2004. She faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. On October 10, 2002 Bivins killed her 20-month old son Messiah Kahil Wright in her Daywalt Avenue apartment. A second defendant, Timothy Horne, is also charged in this death and is scheduled for trial February 15, 2005.

Stabbing, robbery, etc., in today's blotter.

Judge Allen L. Schwait today convicted Baltimore City police officer Gregory M. Mussmacher, 29, of Hanover, PA, of second-degree assault and misconduct in office. Testimony in this court trial concluded February 7, 2005 and Judge Schwait announced his verdict today and scheduled sentencing for March 29, 2005.

Pugalistic cop Gregory M. Mussmacher could receive a maximum prison sentence of ten years in prison for the second-degree assault count. Misconduct in Office is a common law offense, which means that Mussmacher could be sentenced to whatever period of incarceration a judge deems fair and reasonable. The conviction stems from an investigation by the Baltimore Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division and the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office of the events surrounding the arrest of a 17-year old juvenile on April 27, 2004. Mussmacher assaulted the teen by striking him in the face and with his expandable baton at the Northwest District Station on Reisterstown Road while the teen was handcuffed and shackled. The teen was treated at Sinai Hospital for a laceration to the left cheek and two nondisplaced fractures of the left sinus.

John Sachs III of Dundalk got 15 years for scamming women by pretending to be "Bmores-hottestcop."

More about the men charged in the Harwood firebombing.

More on the prison bus strangling... apparently broken interior lights on the prison bus kept corrections officers from seeing a prisoner being strangled a few feet away. Yikes.

Another Hopkins student is dead, this time it's a suicide, and there's robbery arrests in the Sun's City/County Digest.

Elsewhere,

A seven-year-old stabbing case has been reopened in Hagerstown.

A death-row inmate who wrote the governor asking to die has now changed his mind.

A Middle River man, already in the can, is now accused of trying to get his witnesses killed.

DNA evidence has implicated a serial rapist and robber in cases from the 80's.

Mob-supported car theft is the scourge of MoCo.

The Owings Mills Times' Linda Stowbridge reports that Baltimore County police have charged two men in the burglary of two Smith-Greenspring apartments and are investigating a possible link to a series of burglaries in the area.

A pedophile priest from St. Mary's Seminary has died of natural causes in Boston.

A touching essay about the journalism skills of the late and former News American reporter Lou Linley.

The NYT story about Baltimore's bittersweet streets has hit the newsstands in China and India (also see yesterday).

Thursday, February 10, 2005

Thursday February 10

An assaulted officer and a shot robbery suspect in the blotter.

Jury selection has begun in the Maurice Blackwell case. "On Wednesday, Blackwell spoke publicly for the first time ... he compared himself to the biblical figure Job."

More about Ehrlich's personal rumormonger Joe Steffan.

Elsewhere,
The Big Black rapist has struck again, this time in Rosedale. Watch out for cars with tazmanian devil stickers, suburbanites.

A Baltimorean gal's dad has stolen her identity and savings and vanished.

A woman is under arrest for trying to smuggle smack into the Cumberland jail.

There's a lot of drunk drivers in Laurel.

Seven teenagers are in jail for throwing rocks, concrete and other debris at cars from an overpass.

And what does the penis pump judge have to do with Baltimore crime? Not a damn thing.

Wednesday, February 9, 2005

Wednesday February 9

Four murders this week, 37 so far this year, a spike that reflects two men who were beaten last year but died in January, reports Anna Ditkoff in this week's CP Murder Ink.

Owing in large part to MD's limp-dick intimidation laws, the McAbier firebombing case has gone federal.

At a hearing yesterday morning, Robert Lee Fox, Sr., 65, pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Judge John C. Themelis sentenced Fox to 10 years in prison, suspending all but four years, with two years' probation and ordered Fox to stay away from the victim’s family. On December 7, 1963 Fox murdered 3-year old Howard January by pushing him down a stairwell.

Shot three times, then defrocked, and now Maurice Blackwell is going on trial for boy-fondling. Dontee Stokes gave an interview to the Sun's Julie Bykowicz.

An inmate waltzed out of booking by switching IDs.

For some reason the Big Papers are both covering on B-more's shooty ways today. The L.A. Times published a piece today about Baltimore's "Bleak Math of Killings" (Login "fortheloveofbug", password "menot.com"). The New York Times has an excellent report on our "meaner" streets (but Charles and Pratt is "tony"?). If you're not registered at the NYT use login "downwiththis" password "holahola". And the Sun published a positive editorial about the mayor's Operation Safe Kids program.

And were the O'Malley extramarital-affair rumors started by a player-hater in the Ehrlich administration? Wouldn't surprise me a bit. But I digress...

Elsewhere...

The Rev. James J. Behan, 61, an Oblate priest who lives in Childs, Md., has pled guilty to repeatedly smoking the pole of a high-school boy.

A gun-toting 15-year-old and a mysterious death in Milford Mill in the digest.

Pistol-whipping, road rage and and sword swinging in the Annapolis police digest.

Tuesday, February 8, 2005

Tuesday February 8

The State's Attorney's office reports that the witness intimidation trial of Erik Johnson, 32, of the 2200 block of Orleans Street and Juan Tucker, 29, of the 700 block of West Fayette Street, is scheduled to begin 9:30 a.m. tomorrow at the Mitchell courthouse. The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Johnson and Tucker May 14, 2004 for intimidating/corrupting/influencing a juror/witness. Court documents allege Johnson and Tucker attempted to intimidate and retaliate against a witness in a pending murder case in Baltimore City Circuit Court.

WJZ is reporting on the Fox murder trial.

And the Sun is now covering the trial of Dwayne Gibson, aka the guy who beat the guy with the crowbar and set him on fire for stumbling in to the wrong yard.

In a case worthy of "The Wire," five members of the North Avenue Boys drug gang have bargained their way into decades-long sentences for charges ranging from dealing heroin and coke to kidnapping and murder of the girlfriend of a member of a rival gang.

Police have arrested freaky-looking Kevin Johns (left) kevinjohnsfor last week's prison bus murder.

There's a homicide arrest along with the usual crimes in today's blotter.

Elsewhere...

in Annapolis, a son admitted to stabbing his mother 53 times at a Subway shop, and stashing her body in the walk-in.

And Shawn Eric Woodlin, 31, of Annapolis, pleaded guilty to the Aug. 29 shooting of a man outside an American Legion hall in Annapolis.

A man charged with molestation in Randallstown is now charged with double murder in upstate New York.

Police in Pennsylvania are investigating a murder in the Woodside Meadows suburb (wherever that is).

Monday, February 7, 2005

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!

Sunday, February 6, 2005

Friday February 4 - Sunday February 6

The Office of the State's Attorney reports that Darryll Purefoy, 34, of the 9100 block of Liberty Road, Randallstown, is scheduled for re-arraignment tomorrow at the Mitchell Courthouse. A Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Purefoy December 6, 2004 on more than 100 counts of sexual child abuse and related other counts. Court documents allege Purefoy had sexual contact with a minor female between the years of 1995 and 2000. Purefoy remains held on $250,000 bail.

Friday, Satrina Roberts was sentenced to 40 years in prison in the child-abuse death of Ciara Jobes (left). 4167943_120X90 On November 18 Roberts pleaded guilty to charges of second-degree murder and child abuse. Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Kaye A. Allison said the girl died after "months of what can only be characterized as torture."

Earlier this week a psycho prisoner murdered a fellow inmate on the bus to the Supermax prison. Outside investigators have been brought in to figure out what happened.

Police officer Gregory M. Mussmacher's trial began Friday. A Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Mussmacher July 2, 2004 with one count of first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree assault and two counts of misconduct in office. Says Jessamy's office, "The indictment stems from an investigation by the Baltimore Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division and the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office of the events surrounding the arrest of a 17-year old juvenile on April 27, 2004. It is alleged that Mussmacher assaulted this teenager in the 3800 block of Glengyle Avenue after the teen was handcuffed and placed under arrest. It is further alleged that Mussmacher once again assaulted the teen by striking him in the face with his expandable baton at the Northwest District Station on Reisterstown Road while the teen was handcuffed and shackled. The teen was treated at Sinai Hospital for a laceration to the left cheek and two nondisplaced fractures of the left sinus. Mussmacher is currently suspended with pay."

And on Friday football player Jamal Lewis reported to prison in Atlanta.

And the missing monkey has now been returned and a south Baltimore couple has been charged with monkeynapping (aka theft).

Elsewhere,

in Howard county, after two hours a jury found Walter J. Blannon, 39, guilty of participating in the robbery that ended in the death of deli owner Kwang Jun Kim, 53.

In Texas, Sgt. Javal Davis, a seven-year Reservist from Maryland's 372nd Military Police Company who claimed he had abused inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison for only 10 seconds, was sentenced to six months in prison by a military jury. He is one of seven Maryland soldiers accused in the scandal.

A former Towson principal is suing students who charged him with sex abuse in the 70's.

In Harford County this week there was buttlegging and fraus, and Sen. Nancy Jacobs wants to make recruiting new gang members a crime. Jacobs' bill came two months after the shooting death in Edgewood of Derald Guess, a taxi driver and father of nine children. Jacobs said a gang initiation ritual is suspected as a motive. Wayne Lavon Bond, 17, was arrested and charged with murder in the case.