32 homicides reported in metro suburbs in 2008

By ABBY SIMONS, Star Tribune
December 31, 2008

Freshly home from a New Year's celebration, two young newlyweds were relaxing with another couple at their Robbinsdale home about 2:30 a.m. one year ago when someone knocked at the front door. Homeowner Jamis Marks, a 28-year-old real-estate agent, answered it.

Two men armed with rifles broke in, demanded money and jewelry and then fatally shot Marks when he tried to wrestle a gun from one of them as Heather Marks was being attacked. She made her way to a bedroom closet, where she called 911.

The random crime shocked and alarmed residents of the Minneapolis suburb. Compounding the fear, the case went without an arrest for 10 months before George Cornelius Watkins was charged and later indicted on first-degree murder charges. A second man is awaiting charges. Heather Marks declined to comment for this story.

The case was the first in a year marked by a spate of high-profile homicides and other violent crimes in Twin Cities suburbs. Among them: A 90-year-old woman stabbed to death in her Hopkins apartment, an Anoka woman whose killing was "staged" to look like a motorcycle crash, an Andover man killed and burned in a fire pit over an alleged inheritance dispute, a Mounds View woman slain by her boyfriend, who also killed her mother and sister in their home so he would not leave any witnesses.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman recently called the Marks killing and others "just totally unexplainable."

Authorities say many of the violent cases in 2008 stand out for their shock value, but are quick to point out that they have not seen any statistical evidence of an increase in crime. What suburban prosecutors and police have seen: a steady stream of domestic abuse, drugs and gangs getting pushed into the suburbs.

"It's just like anything with a large city -- it starts in the center and just kind of moves out," said West St. Paul Police Chief Bud Shaver. "Usually it's the wealth moving out, but in this case it's the reverse."

Last year, 32 homicides were reported in the suburbs, up from 26 in 2007. According to statistics, Jamis Marks' killing was an anomaly: Random attacks accounted for only three of the 32. Of last year's other suburban homicides, 17 stemmed from domestic disputes. Others were dispute-turned-killings and hit-and-run cases.

By comparison, Minneapolis reported 39 homicides in 2008; St. Paul 18.

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Gangs are moving outward

West St. Paul, which is in Dakota County, had its first homicide last month when Patricia Ann Burch was stabbed in an apartment.

Police Chief Shaver didn't hesitate to say that first-ring suburban police departments face new challenges when it comes to gangs. They are accountable for a multitude of crimes, including home invasions, shootings and drugs, which spawn related crimes.

Shaver offered a number of reasons for the exodus of crime to the suburbs. Inner-city gang members are so well known by law enforcement and rival gang members that they are under constant pressure. And though they're steadily improving, some suburban departments aren't as savvy about gangs as their inner-city counterparts.

Jim Heimerl, a Minneapolis police lieutenant and member of the Metro Gang Strike Force, said Minneapolis police have nudged crime toward northern suburbs such as Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park and Fridley. He said gang activity often is behind many seemingly random crimes, including the Marks case and the fatal stabbing of Irene Kunze, 90, in her Hopkins apartment.

"Those were gang members, and there's one thing you gotta be clear on," he said. "Sometimes gang members commit crimes to benefit the gang, but sometimes these guys might just be out doing what they're doing."

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'A spike, not a trend'

Anoka County Attorney Bob Johnson said that his county had seven homicides in 2008, up from the average of five a year. But he does not look at it as a trend.

"I've seen spikes. I've seen it go up and I've seen it come down," he said. "I wouldn't say at this point that I'm persuaded by the violence that we've seen in the county now that this portends a trend, but it does tell me to be alert to what is happening and to be particularly aware."

Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom, Johnson and Freeman say that domestic violence and drugs are responsible for the majority of homicides and violent crimes in their jurisdictions. All say that more resources should be dedicated to education focused on preventing domestic violence.

He noted that some recent homicides, including domestic-violence killings, in his county have been more brutal than he has ever seen in his 26 years as chief prosecutor.

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Abby Simons • 612-673-4921

I believe, and Kimberman can correct me if I am wrong, what he meant was there was no large negative discussion of how all these murders are due to the availability of guns.

Old fashioned "police work" reduces homicides in 2008.

Homicides drop in Milwaukee by a third; '08 slayings also down in Detroit, LA and Cleveland

By CARRIE ANTLFINGER , Associated Press

January 3, 2009

MILWAUKEE - Killings dropped by a third here last year, making Wisconsin's largest city among the nation's most successful in tackling its 2008 murder rate.

While New York and Chicago saw an uptick in slayings last year, other cities including Detroit, Cleveland, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Los Angeles had fewer violent deaths in '08 than '07.

And though a study released Monday by Northeastern University showed black teenagers killing each other in rising numbers, Milwaukee stands out. The number of black men between the ages of 15 and 29 killed dropped nearly two-thirds, from 54 in 2007 to 19 last year.

Total homicides dropped 32 percent, from 105 in 2007 to 71 last year — the lowest number since 1985. The city also saw fewer gun deaths.

"I think today Milwaukee is allowed to feel good about itself because this reduction is the work of many people. ... This year they saw a return on their investment," Police Chief Edward Flynn told a news conference Friday.

Milwaukee police union president John Balcerzak said Flynn's ideas are contributing to the declines in crime. He pointed to creation of a neighborhood task force, the assignment of 57 new police officers to foot patrols across the city and use of limited duty officers to handle lower priority complaints by phone as improvements.

"I think he's brought a lot of pleasant surprises to the city of Milwaukee that are helping," Balcerzak said.

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Detroit had 344 slayings, a 13 percent drop from the 396 in 2007; Philadelphia's 332 killings were a 15 percent drop from the 392 in 2007; and the 234 homicides in Baltimore were 17 percent less than the 392 the year before.

Cleveland recorded 102 homicides in 2008, down from a 13-year high of 134 in 2007, but Mayor Franklin Jackson wasn't celebrating the 24 percent drop.

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In the nation's biggest cities, homicides in New York rose 5.2 percent, to 522 from 496 the year before, while slayings in Los Angeles were down — 376 in 2008 compared to 400 the prior year.

Homicides in Los Angeles have plunged 27 percent during the past five years, which police officials attributed to a reduction of gang-related crime.

"We have shown time and again that if you invest in law enforcement and hold police accountable ... you will absolutely have a very definitive effect on crime," said Los Angeles Assistant Police Chief Earl Paysinger.

Houston, Minneapolis, Jacksonville, Fla., Boston, San Jose, Calif., San Francisco, Oakland, Calif., Tulsa, Okla., also all had fewer slayings last year than the year before.

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In Milwaukee, Flynn said police have been using crime data to deploy more regular and specialized officers to crime-ridden areas, a similar strategy used by other cities.

"No one is pretending here we are doing something wildly new," the chief said. "What we've done is gone into the tool kit and used those tools, I think, wisely."

The city also is increasing patrols in neighborhoods with a lot of foreclosures and boarding empty homes up faster so vagrants don't take up residence, Mayor Tom Barrett said.