Wednesday January 26

The murderers of Justin Gaglione were arrested on Thursday after a street robbery in the Patterson Park area. Gaglione was the fourth person murdered execution-style by a pair of street robbers; the pair has also been charged in the January 20 murders of Teresa Moore and Michael Joseph Mick, who were shot in their homes, and Penelope Medina, who was shot on the 2100 block of East Fayette Street.

This item from Dick Irwin's police blotter sounds like it has an interesting backstory:

Arrest: Sheldon Eubanks of the 2100 block of N. Smallwod St. was driving a car in the 1900 block of W. North Ave. about noon yesterday when he was stopped by members of the Warrant Apprehension Tasks Force and arrested on a charge of first-degree murder. Eubanks, 23, is charged in a warrant with shooting Alphonzo Harper, 26, in the 1000 block of Tiffany Court on Aug. 29, 2002. Members of the cold case squad assisted in the investigation of the homicide.

The CEO of the record label formerly known as Murder Inc. surrendered today to the FBI on money-laundering changes. The unsubtly nicknamed Irv "Gotti" Lorenzo is childhood friends with Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, a crack kingpin from Queens believed to have arranged the revenge killing of two witnesses in Baltimore.

And fittingly, the governor introduced legistlation yesterday to make witness intimidation a crime. Believe it or not, it's currently only a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of five years, which as this Swedish-based news site points out, "is a similar penalty to racing a horse under a false name."

Finally, if you live in Baltimore and want people to care if you get murdered, note that going to Johns Hopkins apparently guarantees celebrity-level coverage by local news media.

Tuesday January 25

Detective Jones of the Baltimore City Homicide Department reports that there has been an arrest made in the shooting death of Justin Gaglione (see Sun blotter item below), but could give no further information, though interested parties may be able to get more details from the detective on the case, Napoleon Maclane, at 410-396-2400.

Jones also reports that, contrary to what was previously reported by the Hampden Happenings, the highly suspect-sounding death of Nick Marsalek has still not been classified as a homicide, a decision which rests with the Medical Examiner's Office, and the case is not currently being handled by the homicide division.

in other news...
WBAL reports that a Hopkins student was found strangled in her Charles Village apartment on Sunday, the 27th homicide in Baltimore this month. The killing was six blocks from where another Hopkins student, Christopher Elser, 20, was stabbed nine months ago.

An article form the Afro-American about the Baltimore informant who's been forced out-of-state by drug gangs.

A story about the Thanksgiving-morning whodunit murder of 23-year-old Waldorfian Christopher Mader.

from the Sun city/county digest:

Police release names of four homicide victims
City police released the names yesterday of four victims of homicides over the past 10 days.

• Police said Michael Mick, 40, was the man found fatally shot Thursday along with Teresa F. Moore, 51, in their home in the 800 block of N. Bradford St. She had been named earlier.


• A woman found shot to death in a public park in the 5700 block of Chinquapin Parkway, also on Thursday, was identified as Reshawn Myers, 19, of the 700 block of Exeter Hall Ave.


• Kenneth Battle, 29, of the 2800 block of Echodale Ave. was fatally shot Wednesday in the 2900 block of Brighton St.


• The other victim, shot to death Jan. 14 in the 300 block of E. 20 1/2 St., was identified as Justin Gaglione, 29, of the 1200 block of St. Paul St. (see middle of the page for the obituary in the Annapolis Capitol).
  

...and there's rape, robbery, assult and other assorted crimes in today's blotter.

Three people have been arrested in Dudalk for shooting at a police officer carrying out a drug raid.

The Washington Times reports that the murder rate in Baltimore has caused a shake-up in the police department.

in surrounding areas...

A woman in Rockville has pled guilty to stabbing her father.

The whole world, including the British press, has picked up the story of a refugee from Myanmar accused of stabbing his wife in front of his two kids in Catonsville over the weekend who now faces deportment.

In Harford county a fight between girl gangs led to assault with scissors.

Monday January 24

This study by the Baltimore Chronicle seems to agree with me that "TV news in Baltimore under-reports both black and urban crime," but comes to the opposite conclusion that TV news ought to report less crime than it already does.

Anyway, in Baltimore crime news, a shooting and assault made the crime blotter today.

In surrounding areas...

The Sun reports than a man has been arrested in the beating of a college sophmore in Annapolis.

News Channel 8 reports that a guy has been arrested for killing his grandmother in Beltsville.

WBAL reports that two best Buy employees were stabbed on the job in Laurel.

Saturday January 22

CNN today picked up an AP story published in the Sun that belies election-year propaganda... city homicide rates are up, not down.

BALTIMORE, Maryland (AP) -- The city's homicide rate increased last year for the first time since 1998 as authorities said killings became more targeted, often in connection with the drug trade. As of Wednesday, the city had reported 271 killings in 2003, compared with 253 in 2002. It's a 7 percent increase and the highest homicide total during the four-year tenure of Mayor Martin O'Malley, who campaigned on a pledge to reduce annual homicide totals to 175.

The Baltimore City Paper's Anna Ditkoff didn't shy away from the story, getting right in there and asking lots of questions in Baltimore's East side murder mile, in this Wire-esque piece, The Toll.

The Sun, obsessed with various weather-disaster stories, had not much to report in local violent crime today:
A single story about how two Baltimore men were charged in double slaying
and an editorial (as opposed to research-based reportage) from Gregory Kane, seemingly the only Sun writer that discusses violent crime.


And speaking of slayings, the Hampden Happenings newsletter reports that city police are now investigating leads in the suspicious death of 26-year old son Nicholas Z. Marsalek, who was found dead under the bridge at the 3100 block of Remington avenue at 4:35 a.m. by a passerby on November 17. Marsalek was last seen at the 3100 block of Keswick road at 2:30 a.m. on the morning that he died. There is a $5,000 reward for information leading to an indictment in this case. The investigation is being handled by the northern district homicide division, 410-396-2100.

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... a blog devoted to reporting crime, particularly violent and lifestyle crimes, in Baltimore city neighborhoods and surrounding areas. Please use "comment" to submit stories.