Luke Broadwater and Stephen Janis, The Examiner
2008-07-10 07:00:00.0
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BALTIMORE -

A team of veteran Baltimore homicide detectives investigating the recent stranglings of five women has determined two killings “probably aren’t related” to the others, the city’s police commissioner said Wednesday.

“Of the five, I’m inclined to believe two are not related, right off the bat, based on what we know already,” Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld told The Examiner. “It’s still concerning. As we develop more information, we’ll be in a better position to say, ‘What’s in’ and ‘What’s out.’ ”

Lt. Terry McClarney, the acting head of the homicide unit, has formed a special task force of veteran detectives to investigate the five stranglings, which happened since April. Of those cases, four of the victims had been convicted of prostitution. Police now are taking DNA evidence from the crime scenes and comparing that with old cases, Bealefeld said.

“We’re not just looking at the last six months or the calendar year,” Bealefeld said. “We put together a team to go back and look at prior cases. Could there be an offender who was released recently? Do they bear any similarities to other cases in the last 10 years or so? ... Our eyes are wide open. We’re not discounting any possibilities, but it’s very, very early to say, ‘They’re all related.’ ”

On Wednesday, police said they learned the identity of the most recent victim, a 45-year-old woman who was found naked in a wooded area behind the New Psalmist Church in the 4500 block of Old Frederick Avenue Monday night. They withheld her name pending family notification.

The woman had “bruising on her neck and throat area with no other obvious signs of trauma,” according to a police report.

In late June, the death of Nicole Sesker, the stepdaughter of former police Commissioner Leonard Hamm, drew attention to the recent strangulations. Police believe Sesker’s slaying may be related to drug activity. Two other victims were found strangled in June and one was found in April. No arrests have been made.

“Some, we’ve established, probably aren’t related,” Bealefeld said. “What we see at first blush is the commonality of the victims’ backgrounds. There’s drug histories, there’s prostitution histories. But before we take a gigantic leap, and decide whether the cases are or are not connected, you have to dig a lot deeper.”

Bealefeld said officers have contacted Sidney Ford, executive director of You Are Never Alone — an outreach group for prostitutes — to help raise awareness of the killings.

Ford said she was “extremely impressed” with the police response.

“These are people who are somebody’s sister, somebody’s daughter, somebody’s friend,” she said of the victims.

lbroadwater@baltimoreexaminer.com

sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com