Maryland bar owner Joanne Valentine was gunned down in her driveway nearly eight years ago, and although a man was arrested twice for her slaying, the charges ended up being dropped both times. Arrests were made in the killing and the charges ultimately were dropped twice.
Valentine’s case remains unsolved, and detectives from the Anne Arundel County Police Department’s Cold Case Squad are actively investigating the homicide. Detectives are seeking information from additional witnesses.
The Washington Examiner features a cold case each week.
According to detectives, the 47-year-old Valentine was an owner of the Rumblefish Bar in Glen Burnie and A.L. Gators bar in Pasadena, Md. She was just arrived home from closing up the establishments at about 4 a.m. on Sept. 26, 1993, when she was accosted outside her home in Arnold.
Her husband said he heard his wife arguing with several men, then he looked from his bedroom balcony and saw her get shot. The couple’s teenage sons were asleep upstairs at the time of the shooting.
Police suspected it was a botched robbery. Police found the handgun used to kill Valentine in the car trunk of a man they arrested for shoplifting at a nearby grocery store.
The man was charged with murder, but prosecutors dropped the charges after they determined there wasn’t enough evidence to go to trial. The charged him a second time for Valentine’s death in 1994, but again dropped the charges after records showed that the suspect was in the Baltimore County jail at the time of the slaying.
Anyone who has information regarding the homicide of Valentine, can call the Anne Arundel County police Cold Case squad at 410-222-3456 or call Metro Crime Stoppers at 410-276-8888.
