Friday, June 27, 2008

Hamm's Stepdaughter Murdered

Nicole Sesker, 38, former police commissioner Leonard Hamm's stepdaughter, was found strangled to death in West Baltimore. Here's a link to the 2005 NYT story about her.
She was the second prostitute to be killed in the city this week.

June 27

A woman was shot yesterday afternoon in Park Heights, a man was shot Wednesday night on N. Broadway, and a man was cut as he tried to break up a catfight on Tuesday morning.

An AAC cop claims he got demoted and ridiculed because he reported a crazy-ass stalker co-worker.

Wow. Young men with guns kill each other. Who'd'a thought?

Not a lot of crime in today's news, but there's a whole lot of punishment.

44-year-old Dundalk perv Scott Carpenter got five years for kiddie porn.

Convicted felon Michael Martin got 15+ years for having guns and crack.

Remington arsonist/dealer Eric Robinson got 12 years in the slammer and has to pay restitution of $175,000.

Mohammad Ijaz got four years for bribing Immigration officials for green cards.

Ronald McConnell was indicted in the May 17 fatal shooting of Jason Batts in Columbia's Oakland Mills neighborhood.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

June 26

Woodlawn apartment manager Milton John Barnes III might have gotten killed for trying to make his complex a better place to live.

Remains that might be human were found near Rocks State Park in HarCo.

A woman who claims she was sexually assaulted while receiving dialysis has come forward because it's been a year since she filed charges and nobody has been arrested.

Police are seeking McClayton Daniels for possible involvement in seven burglaries.

Fashion thieves are running amok in the Blotter.

16-year-old Damon Simpson pleaded guilty and got 15 years for fatally shooting Charles Hargrove last year.

Raul Garcia got two years for selling guns in the can at Albert Einstein High School in Kensington.

Thanks to everyone who tried to intelligify me on the Sheila D. case in the comments a few days ago. I particularly liked Mr. Meph's
Martin O' worries
Bobby Haircut's comeback near
Does Sheila have dirt?
and Betsy's
Dixon is corrupt as her environment; getting the big picture means dismantling Maryland’s political elite, so the investigation focuses on mink coats.
That's my kind of cynicism! Meanwhile, today's articles on the big Dixon include Sheila getting mad, Sheila getting honest, Sheila getting gifts, Sheila being a survivor, Sheila being not totally aware, and Sheila's money getting linked.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Requiescat in pace, Amanda Marie Bishop

Amanda Marie Bishop, by AngerHangover
Blogger AngerHangover has identified murder victim #101 as Amanda Marie Bishop, age 22.

June 25

No time for a proper post today, so please add articles to the comments. A few quick ones, though: Annie Linskey wrote a story about the Druid Heights neighborhood where two murders occurred on the same block, and don't forget to read about nine (!) murders in this week's Ink. (Also, don't forget Murders Revisited, which I again forgot to link to last Friday.)
More on the 14th police-involved shooting of the year, that of armed & retarded Bryant Worrell.

The Supreme Court has struck down a Louisiana law that allows the execution of people convicted of raping a child. In a 5-4 vote, the court said the law allowing the death penalty to be imposed in cases of child rape violates the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Here's the answer to the question, "would such-and-such murders get so much media coverage if they happened in a different neighborhood?" Annie Linskey points out that Druid Heights also had two fatal shootings on the same block, and also had a community meeting of freaked-out residents. (And the story has a typo. Would that apostrophe have been misused if it was in a story about Federal Hill?)

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

June 24

The year's latest murder victim is a 41-year-old man who was killed at 2:30 this morning in the 1700 block of Abbotston Rd., just down the street from Clifton Park. Gus Sentementes reports that this is the fourth killing in CHUM this year, compared to five for all of last year.

There are a bunch of stories on the killings that occurred over the weekend. Well, there are a ton of stories on the two murders in Federal Hill, there's a story and some photos about the two murders on Bloom St. (and the Federal Hill murders), and everybody has already forgotten about the lady who got slaughtered in Pigtown and Marcus Caldwell, the young man who was found by his mother. (Although it's bass-ackwards to praise a newspaper for not covering the news, kudos to the Examiner for not jumping on the Federal Hill bandwagon. I'd much rather read Luke B.'s end-of-month murder summaries than a bunch of hysteria over 2% of the city's murders.)

Something seems very, very wrong with this headline: "Killer may face return to prison." (Something seems very, very wrong with Christopher O'Brien, too, if you ask me.)

Honestly, this whole Sheila D. mess is really confusing to me, so I'm going to wallow in my ignorance and skip the latest batch of articles. Here are some links, though, so you can read up. If you can explain it to me in 25 words or less, that'd kick ass. The Sun, the Examiner, WJZ, WBAL, WMAR, and another one from the Sun.

Since Kevin Johns is too dangerous for the crazy prison, he's staying at Supermax. So let's have a Baltimore Crime contest. Where do you think Kevin Johns should be sent? And c'mon, be creative. "Put him down like the rabid dog he is." Blah, blah, blah, heard it before. Let's have some Tuesday morning fun. I propose that the state sell him to the guys who made those stupid Saw movies and he can work as a "violence consultant."

Monday, June 23, 2008

From your friendly SA's office:
A Baltimore City jury convicted Randy Golden, 19, of the 3600 block of St. Victor Street today of first-degree murder, use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence, wear/carry/transport a handgun. The jury deliberated approximately two hours before reaching its verdict. Judge Timothy J. Doory scheduled sentencing for June 24, 2008 at which time Golden faces a maximum possible prison term of life plus 23 years. Details:
On January 9, 2007 at 12:00PM in the 600 block of Washburn Avenue Golden shot his ex-girlfriend, Melissa Stefanski, once in the back of the head. The shooting took place in broad daylight in the middle of the street. Witnesses testified that two days before the shooting, Golden warned three different people, including the victim’s sisters, that he intended to kill Stefanski. The State asserted that the motive for the shooting was that Stefanski began selling drugs for the Crips, a rival gang of the Bloods, of which Golden is a member. Stefanski’s new boyfriend was also a Crip.
Assistant State’s Attorneys Lisa Phelps of the Homicide Division and Brandis Marsh of the Narcotics Division prosecuted this case.

June 23

Ugh. Five murders since Friday. Let's see if I can sort it out.
  • On Friday night, Keyva Bluitt was shot inside a blue Toyota then pushed out of the car in the 800 block of Battery Ave. in Federal Hill.
  • Marcus Caldwell's mom found her son's body in the driver's seat of a minivan early Sunday morning in the 3200 block of Sequoia Ave.
  • The body of a tattooed white woman was found by a Pigtown jogger just after noon on Sunday in the 1300 block of Nanticoke St. Police are asking the public to help ID the woman.
  • An un-ID'd man was fatally shot at 8:30 last night in the 500 block of Bloom St. It's the second murder on that block in three days: 21-year-old Brian Goodwin was killed there on Thursday night.
  • Around the corner from where Bluitt was killed on Friday night, a un-ID'd man was shot to death just after closing time on Sunday morning. Residents reported gunshots, but nobody found the body until a jogger stumbled across it (not literally, I hope) at about 5am on Sunday.
The whole second page of the Sun's article is devoted to the two Federal Hill killings and their effect on the neighborhood's residents.

Luke B.'s Examiner article on the Federal Hill murders includes a charming quote from Federal Hill's City Council Member William Cole IV: "One murder is shocking. Two is beyond shocking." Hey, Cole, if you think that's shocking, you should try paying attention to what happens to your constituents around North Ave. or Franklin St.!

The accusations against the BPD from Bryant Worrell's family continue: "They don’t want anybody seeing him because they’re covering up something. This makes you hate police, it makes you not want to trust them."

Holy Pulitzer, Batman! The Sun ran a follow-up story on Milton John Barnes III, the Woodlawn apartment manager who is still in critical condition after being shot on Thursday morning. The article doesn't say much more than that, but police do need information if you happen to have any.

The second teenage escapee from the "secure" Victor Cullen Center was captured Friday a few blocks west of the Avenue in Hampden.

Two perverts got some federal time: Frank Pierce Young, age 78, got 3 months; William Lee Burdette, Jr., aka "HornyMDOlderguy," got more than 11 years.

Apparently, churches and zoos are good targets for theft.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

We're up to 102

... reports WBAL, though that's still 45 fewer murders than this time last year.
Two victims were in Federal Hill, one of them was Keyva Bluitt, 35, dumped on Battery Ave.
Another was 23-year-old Marcus Caldwell, found last night dead in a minivan.
Still trying to figure out who the others were; some victims were probably fatalities from last week's 22 shootings. Fortunately Ditkoff's on it!
.. and apparently it's the waning gibbous moon that makes death come ...