Baltimore John Watch

Page Croyder on the Guilford kidnapper: "if getting the conviction was so important that it justified probation, why didn’t they do something meaningful when [John] Couplin was arrested again while on that probation?"
Three weeks ago Croyder wrote about another John, John Miller: "Jessamy['s] attorneys clearly don’t have the records that they need, and they lack the training to recognize and properly handle threats ... This is something Jessamy could have fixed years ago and still hasn’t. Yet soon she will be running around Annapolis telling the 2010 General Assembly all the things she could do with more criminal laws."
...Jessamy was appointed (by Glendening I guess) to the Office of the State's Attorney in 1995 and has won three elections.
Fifteen years ago! And no one has ever mounted a credible threat against her for that office, ever!
Amazeballs!

No Money for Moms Day

HoCo jury won't give $700k to dirtbike mom

And no $$ for mother of Terrell Suggs' children, who asked the court to dismiss her protective order and a $70 million lawsuit ... "an attorney for the player said the couple is trying to reconcile."

Ooh, counterfeit money!

Reports the BPD,

On January 21st, at about 645 hrs. Officers from the Central District Operations Squad observed a gold Pontiac grand prix in the 1600 block of Mcculloh street believed to be involved in suspected drug activity.

The officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop at which time the vehicle then fled. The officers were able to follow the vehicle and give out a good description to assiting units. As the vehicle crossed into the Western District, BPD's Violent Crime Impact Section assisted in following the vehicle.

The occupants bailed out and ran into 2312 Avalon ave. Officers secured the dwelling at which time observing drugs in plain view. A warrant was obtained and $22,245.00 in cash, of which $15,580.00 was counterfeit, was seized along with 7 Ziplock bags of heroin and a 1/2 oz of raw heroin.

It gets better

Union officials believe convicted sex offender Dennis McLaughlin was dipping into sick leave reserved for employees with lengthy illnesses so he could keep getting paid while in prison.

Have you seen...

Eighteen-year-old Logan Krywucki, last seen in the area of Windsor Mill Road and Lord Baltimore Drive.

Two murders connected by a car

A man posing as a maintenance worker tried to rob a guest at the Harbor Marriott

"Maryland State Police say the Baltimore police department is the first agency in the state to make more than 100 arrests using the statewide DNA database"

Dropped

Prosecutors drop charges against union square community activist Chris Taylor, the result of a controversial arrest. More from the Sun

Creepin and peepin

"Md. bill would outlaw keeping a corpse in freezer"

Aieee! County police are ISO a man who's been breaking into women's homes to watch them sleep at night. Wonder if there's any relation to this peeper from last August? Or if he's friends with this guy? Or swaps notes with Clinton Gardner or Brian Eui Hong?

The slow, slow wheels of justice...

Trial began for "Skinny Suge" and a co-defendant in federal court today. It's been two years since "Suge" was indicted, and three years since he immortalized the chestnut, "I hope you [snitches] catch AIDS in your mouth and your lips the first thing that die."

Two murderers

From the SAO, links added:

At a hearing today before his scheduled trial was to begin, Quadir Butcher, 20, of the 2200 block of E. Mount Holly Street pled guilty to first-degree murder and use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence.

Judge Sylvester Cox sentenced Butcher to life in prison suspend all but 40 years for the murder count and a concurrent 20 years in prison, first five years without the possibility of parole for the handgun count and five years probation.

On June 2, 2008, witness(es) identified Quadir Butcher as the person responsible for a double shooting in the 3100 block of Clifton Avenue. The two victims were on the porch of their residence at approximately 8:30PM that day when Butcher approached them, produced a handgun and shot the first victim, Derrell Smith in the neck. The other victim was shot in the abdomen and leg and survived. Derrell Smith died later at University of Maryland Shock Trauma.

...so, mathletes, how many years will Mr. Butcher actually serve? Also ....

A Baltimore jury convicted Demetrius Smith, 26, of the 400 block of Parrish Street, yesterday of first-degree murder and use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence. The trial lasted one week and jurors deliberated approximately two-and-a-half hours before reaching its verdict.

Judge Timothy J. Doory scheduled sentencing for February 22, 2010 at which time Smith faces a maximum possible prison term of life plus 20 years.

On March 24, 2008 at approximately 8:50 a.m. officers responded to the 400 block of Stricker Street were they found the victim, Robert Long, lying on the ground shot twice in the head. The victim died from his injuries and an autopsy determined that the cause of death was homicide. Witnesses were located who identified the Smith as the person who shot and killed Long. Additionally, witnesses were able to provide information regarding the motive of the murder; Smith was a drug dealer and Long found Smith’s heroine {sic} stash while rehabbing an abandoned house on Parrish Street. Long took the drugs and shortly thereafter Smith located him and walked him out to a secluded area in a local park and killed him.

On July 12, 2008 Smith posted $350,000 bail following a bail review hearing in which the State argued that Smith should be held without bail. On August 27, 2008 Smith allegedly shot a victim in the leg during a street robbery in the 400 block of S. Parrish Street. The victim survived and Smith’s attempted murder trial is also scheduled to begin February 22, 2010.

And don't miss this week's CP cover feature: "Rising Tide: Baltimore's 2009 homicide toll goes against national trends by going up"

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Raymond Gibson, 21, shot to death at 2:45 in the afternoon on N. Caroline Street (reported as the 1400 block by police and the 1700 block by the Sun.)

A city police officer has been found guilty by a trial board of misconduct with a prostitute. Allegedly her transported her from the city to county, then took her to a motel.

The city that (almost) never works

Peter Herman tells the story of the first vicitim of the Guilford attacker who was mugged at knifepoint by the same teen recently arrested for a brazen adbuction. Even though she was willing to testify againt her attacker, prosecutors took a plea deal!

Meanwhile, a DPW employee says when she informed her superiors that a city worker was on the sex offender registry and shouldn't be working in the field, she was told to shut up or face the consequences.

The county 14-year-old wanted for shooting a 13-year-old has turned himself in.

Attorneys to collect $3 million for prosecuting Tyson class-action suit

Media Blabber

Like tales of newsroom drama? You'll ♥ "Post Apocalypse: Inside the messy collapse of a great newspaper"

Also see: "Can newspaper muckraking carry on in nonprofits?"

How to get paid while doing time for sex offense part III

It helps to have friends in high places

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View Larger MapUnidentified man stabbed to death at West Franklin and Paca Streets, Fenton has a picture of the scene

Four senior ladies home-invaded for their prescription meds in Edgewood

On MLK day, mayhem on MLK Blvd

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View Larger Map
Unidentified Man, 2304 W. North Ave., shot at about 5:30 a.m.

How can shootings be down but murders up? "Percentage of victims being shot in the head at close range on the rise"

Mary Pat Clarke: Guilford and Oakenshawe will "track every stage of this perennial assailant [John Couplin]’s processing through a system which has failed us once."
.. Once?!

"Gay man is victimized twice, by killer and state"

It's like my iPod stuck on replay...

Geez, how many times have we heard this story before?
Alleged Guilford abductor John Couplin has been arrested guess how many times in the past 5 years? Oh go on, guess. Hint: cutting deals with the state had him out over, and over, and over, over, and over, and over, over, and over, and over, over, and over, and over, over, and over, and over, over, and over again. And two more times besides. Of his most recent case, the SA's office says "the only evidence in the 2008 robbery was the victim's identification from a photo array." How much more would you need or expect to have from an armed street robbery? Haven't people been given the death penalty with as much?

Does prison pay?

Not only was cop impersonating sex offender Dennis McLaughlin let out of jail barely halfway through his sentence for molesting a minor, but the city is now investigating if he was still on the city payroll while in jail.