El Killer

Shooting: 1500 block Winston Ave. Man reported to be shot in the head. Homicide detectives called to the scene. Dispatch time 1:45pm.
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) June 21, 2014

An unidentified male victim found shot to death* in the first block of S. Monastery Ave. near New Cathedral Cemetery at around 2 a.m. today.

Marilyn Mosby's campaign dug up the rather unsettling story of Janice Bledsoe, a former assistant state's attorney (and girlfriend of WBAL's Jayne Miller) who was fired rather suspiciously by Gregg Bernstein while investigating an illegal-police-overtime case against officers Robert Quick and Ian Dombrowski. The accusation is that Bernstein and Quick were friends, and Bernstein cleared Quick even though the evidence against him was straightforward.* "Bernstein represented Quick when he was sued by the family of Larry J. Hubbard Jr., who was shot by Officer Barry Hamilton after police said Hubbard tried to grab Quick's gun during a frantic scuffle in East Baltimore in 1999. Hubbard was shot in the back of the head, and some witnesses disputed the police account, saying Hubbard was beaten and shot in cold blood." Hm. And, reports Jayne Miller, in the past week Quick was suspended.

After a week in which police shot a steer and an officer slit the throat of a subdued Shar-Pei mix dangling from a control pole, police revealed that they'd stopped ordering animal tranquilizers because of some unnamed problem with the supplier.* They're now re-evaluating. The steer and dog stories have made national and international news, officers Jeffrey "I'm going to fucking gut this thing" Bolger and Thomas Schmidt have been suspended, and SRB, fully aware that you can get away with anything around here but messing with people's dogs, apologized all the way from Dallas.

Eric P. Henry

Brian Reiser, 49, was killed in Arbutus and his body was dumped in one of our city's many vacants.* Three men, Kevin Pendergraph, Roy Munson and Eric Henry, have been charged, and boy are they weird-looking.

Also in AAC a woman was robbed while waiting in line to check out at a store.

A 33-year-old pregnant woman was found dead of injuries in Rosedale.

Four Hyattsville men-- Hector Daniel Villanueva-Cortez, aka Muertito, 24; Roni Arriola-Palma, aka Maniako, 24; Luiz Guzman-Ventura, aka Casper or Chele, 20; and Jose Rodriguez-Nunez, aka El Killer, 25, have been charged with criminal conspiracy, they're allegedly tried to the MS-13 gang.

Have you heard of a device called a 'stingray'? Supposedly it tricks mobile devices into thinking it's a cell tower, and emails show U.S. Marshalls conspiring with police to deceive judges about the use of them to avoid legal scrutiny. 

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Fenton Twitterations:  "Three women shot in past 24 hours RT @BaltimorePolice Shooting reported in Southwest District. 300 blk S Augusta. Adult female reported shot" ... "[Charles Richardson] 28-yr-old Columbia man serving life for killing 7-11 clerk there, found dead from head trauma in his cell at North Branch ... Cell mate was found outside cell holding bloody clothes" ... "‎25 murders this month; 45 this Aug/Sept compared w 32 last Aug/Sept. Hate to say it but zero chance city's annual downward trend continues"

... the woman shot on the 300 block of Augusta has died.* She was 19, sitting in a car. Police don't know if she was targeted or if it was a random act.

A 35-year-old female sedan service driver was shot in the arm and torso at Reedbird and Potee* Sts, she is alive. Before she died she told police she was shot by an unknown passenger.*

Charles David "Face" Richardson IV, the slain inmate, was serving a life sentence for two first-degree murder convictions, the Sun's Kevin Rector says he was "one of the most violent criminals in recent Howard County memory*"

S.T.F.U!! In spite of being caught driving a stolen, LoJacked car, in spite of his photo being picked out of a pile of photos by the victim, a jury acquitted accused carjacker Sidney Brewer of all charges yesterday.

Matt McDermott, a former teacher who made an appearance in HBO's "Hard Times at Douglass High" (and now working in advertising at idfive) notes that murder victim Audie Mickens* was a "key subject" in the 2008 depressyoumentary

Anthony Anderson

Batts met with the family of Anthony Anderson* who died during an arrest in E. Baltimore. There's a public viewing today for Anderson at the March funeral home at 1101 E. North Ave. from 1 - 7:30 p.m.

The Jizz is shocked, shocked I tell you, that video of last weekend's Towson beatdowns were posted online. So thoroughly offended and repelled that they posted the video online themselves, too, so that you may also clutch your pearls in horror. Meanwhile some Towson businesspeople,* including owners of the Sorry-ass saloon across the street, are coming to the Recher family's defense.

Also horrified: the inspector general re. SRB's $673k phone system,* which found that competitive-bidding protocols were breached, lies were told about the purchases and other deliberate concealment went on: "Top administration officials deliberately tried to conceal from [Joan] Pratt and [Jack] Young their plan to replace the phone system. ... About $673,000 in purchases were for equipment and installation of a new phone system, not the other uses that administration officials have contended." SRB's excuse: the guys who bought them, Rico Singleton and Damien Sharp, don't work for the city any more. And of course the reason Singleton doesn't work there any more is b/c he was canned after his ethical lapses from his previous job* in NY came to light after an audit there. Due diligence on potential hires is not this mayor's strong suit, is it?

And the Brew's Mark Reutter tried to go to a public Baltimore Development Corp meeting this morning, only to find himself mostly staring at a closed door, some very nice chairs and a philodenron in desperate need of sunlight. Somebody please find a window for that poor plant.

What's worse than speed cameras? The city spending $$ to study speed cameras. BTW noticed a new one is up at E. Northern Parkway and Waverly Way (between the 21239 post office and Hillen Rd.)

Way to stay on the case, Jayne Miller, we can all rest a little easier now that the city has admitted to taking down a guy's twinky-mannequin yard art.

And you probably already heard that the flea-market Renoir turned out to be stolen from the BMA.

"Doug Gansler

If you smelled something burning last night, that was just me getting roasted by Massachusetts AG Martha Coakley and Nevada AG Catherine Cortez Masto. They tell me that it was to "welcome" me as the new President of the National Association of Attorneys General."

This just in: booze enemas are 'extremely dangerous'. Especially if you don't take the little umbrella out first.

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Man found shot in a house at 3623 Old York Rd; crime has spiked in the Northern 

Oh my, remember the suspicious body of Eric Pendergrass, found floating in the middle branch of the Patapsco? There was talk of ties to the Blackwell brothers, but no one was charged. Now three people, including the original suspect Darryl Nichols plus Sherell Ferguson and a Donta Vaughn have been charged*.

Fenton Tweets that recently-retired Jesse Odom is unretiring at Batts' request*

a floater in Canton

ps. Occupy Baltimore says it's rallying tonight at 6 p.m. at E Biddle & N. Montfort

Instead of getting all Jayne Millery down at Julius Henson's broom-jumping HQ like she does in my dreams, Jayne Miller instead involved herself in a neighborly dispute involving nude mannequins. 

March 2

Starting Monday at the courthouse: "Reception Court."
Explains an insider: "The goal of reception court is to have all the cases for trials appear before two judges, one in each building. They will personally review all these cases then send them off to other judges who presumably will not have dockets since all the cases will be before the so called reception courts. Determinations will be made as to what cases should go forward, etc, based on how old they are, how many times they have been postponed, etc."
Fascinating!

Marc Steiner spent two hours talking about Baltimore crime, and in the modern fashion both shows are available as a two-part podcast: Hour one, hour two.

The trial of Ameer Taylor, accused of killing Samuel Richardson June 2 of 2005 behind the Rendez-Vous is scheduled begin Monday. The trial's start date has been postponed three times. The word from the office of Mrs. J:

The murder trial of Ameer Taylor, 32, of the 7400 block of Barkers Court, is scheduled for trial 9:30A a.m. Monday, March 5, 2007 before Judge David Ross, 203 Mitchell Courthouse ... A Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Taylor February 15, 2006 for first-degree murder, use of a handgun in the commission of a felony crime of violence, and handgun on person in connection with the fatal shooting of Samuel Richardson. Court documents allege that in the early morning hours of June 2, 2005 Taylor pulled up to Richardson, who was walking in the 400 block of West 26th Street, pulled a handgun and shot Richardson several times. Richardson was transported to Johns Hopkins Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

As if your girl-crush wasn't already heavy, ♥Jayne Miller♥ digs into the clusterfuck that is the bail-bonds business, and hounded the guy who posted bail for Brandon Grimes down Calvert Street.

What the?! Twenty-year-old dad Kenneth George Ryan huffed keyboard cleaner (?!), beat his 15-month-old-son Julian Woody to death.

Sign of the times: WBAL reported that three people were shot at a birthday party on the East side... and in spite of the crime scene tape, the party kept on.

Again?! Another officer has was attacked at Jessup, and the suspect is a 38-year-old convicted murderer serving a life sentence.

In the Eastern, a man shot two guys sitting in a parked car.

The man found dead in the area of Max Blobs Park Road in Jessup was ID'd as Leonard Richard Prahl, 55.

"A trooper found $300,000 in powder cocaine in a minivan with New York license plates on Interstate 95 in Cecil County during a traffic stop."