Harford County?s experienced more than three times as many homicides in 2006 compared with the previous year, but law enforcement officials don?t believe the jump is becoming a trend.
Sheriff Jesse Bane said the circumstances of the four homicides the Harford County Sheriff?s Office handled did not indicate any trends police could have predicted and prevented.
“If you look at these homicides, it?s a wide range: road rage, one potentially gang-related, domestic violence, a potential serial killer,” Bane said.
“That?s quite a variety of motives. We?ve committed quite a lot of resources to deal with domestic violence, drugs and gangs. If we have a homicide, it?s likely to be related to one of those areas.”
In 2006, Harford police agencies reported these homicides compared with the two homicides reported in 2005:
» Robin Lee Welshons was shot to death Feb. 8 at Ken?s Motel in Aberdeen. Aberdeen police say her case is not solved.
» Patrick Walker was fatally stabbed May 26 in an act of road rage in Bel Air. Michael Simmons pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in April but is seeking another trial.
» Kevin Rowlette was shot in the face July 11 on Brookside Drive in Edgewood. Police sought suspect Kyvelle Jamaas Martin, concerned about retribution from the Bloods gang to which both men may have belonged. Martin was captured in another state and is awaiting extradition.
» Randolph M. Goodson and Waverly C. Lewis were killed Sept. 14 in their Edgewood condominium. Their murders remain the Sheriff?s Office?s only unsolved cases for 2006.
» The bodies of four women were found between June and September in secluded areas outside Aberdeen and Havre de Grace. Lillian Abramowicz Phelps was connected to Charles Eugene Burns, who was found guilty of her murder in April.
The deaths of Jennifer Blankenship and Joyce Ann Toliver have yet to be charged as homicides, pending an analysis by forensic scientists, but police have said they also could be connected to Burns.
An autopsy could not pin down a cause or manner of death for Sheila Ann Turner, the fourth woman found. Maryland State Police are investigating.
» Jeffrey Bergmann was stabbed to death Dec. 15 in his house, allegedly by his wife Eveline after a drunken argument, police said. She is scheduled for trial this October.
Bane said police work may have prevented other homicides so far this year, including at least two incidents when intelligence indicated rival gangs were going to clash, and police presence was increased in response.
Only one person has been killed in 2007, the New Year?s Day death of Walter Antonio Overton.
