Homicide

Homicide Unit
The History of the Baltimore Police Department's HOMICIDE UNIT

The Homicide Unit in our department is one of the most prestigious and well-known of the units, right up there with K-9 and the Aviation Unit. You will see our BPD Homicide personnel in action from the past up to the present and see how they have solved some of the worst crimes men can commit. Our own guys who have been able to bring closure to grieving families that have lost a family member Help us as we attempt to gather more information. If any former members can contribute, please send any information you have to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

homicide reunion


Howard Corbin
Photo courtesy Jt Brown
Detective Howard Corbin 

Rick Oscar Bunk Requer
Photo courtesy Jt Brown
Detective Rick Oscar "Bunk" Requer 

Homicide Unit 1994

Photo courtesy Jt Brown
Baltimore City Police Department
Homicide Unit 1994
 
Det Daniel Boone
 
Photo courtesy Sgt. Jim Distler
Detective Daniel Boone
 
Homicide Unit
Homicide Unit

Det Ron Berger Det Robert Cherry Major Richard Faltheit Det Mike Hammel Sgt Steve Krause
Photo courtesy Sgt. Steve Krause
Det. Ron Berger, Det. Robert Cherry, Major Richard Faltheit, 
Det. Mike Hammel and Sgt. Steve Krause at Police Week 2005 in front of the U.S. Capitol

They were all in the Homicide Unit at the time. All are now retired, except for Bob Cherry.

Sgt Warren Moore
 
Sgt. Warren Moore captures suspect Earl Coleman, who was wanted in Washington, DC, for three murders.
11-2-1974
 
cidpersonsunit aug.1983
Front: Trawinski, McAllister, Hess, Goldstein, Barrack, D'Addario, Oliver, Cordwell, Cooke, Tinsley-James, Buckhite, Corbin, Fahlteich, Landsman, Lansey, Sweeney, Hollingsworth, Francis, and Segreti. Back: Kurth, Edgerton, Davis, Brander, Kincaid, Dunnigan, Boone, Brown, In the front row, it should be Lansey, (Doc) Davis, and Sweeny; in the back row, it should be Edgerton, Jansen, and Brander. The guy between Doc Davis and Owen Sweeny is Russ Carney.

det william lansey homicide divCourtesy of Sharon Halligan

Detective William A. Lansey, Jr., Died on August 11, 1987 
after having served an honorable career.

det.richard fahleich aug 1987
 Homicide Detective Richard C. Fahlteich, at the scene of an early morning 
homicide/shooting in Northwest Baltimore, August 1987
major richard fahiteich
Above: Detective Major Richard C. Fahlteich, Homicide Unit, 
preparing a Search and Seizure Warrant during an investigation 
of a double homicide or shooting July 1993
sgt richard fahleich
Det Sgt Richard C. Fahlteich
landsman homicide detectives
Jay Landsman Sr. (RIGHT) a retired Baltimore City homicide detective 
who joined the Baltimore County Police Department, where his son, 
Jay Landsman Jr.(left), is a homicide detective. March 18, 2004
A picture of Baltimore Police history. Homicide Unit legends Rod Brandner and Furrie Cousins. Courtesy of Chuck Brandner
 A picture of Baltimore Police history Homicide Unit legends Rod Brandner and Furrie Cousins (Courtesy of Chuck Brandner)

Red Ball

In the nineteenth century, a common signaling arrangement was a ball hoisted on a mast or pole. These were for daylight communication with ships and later for railroads. Two common ball colors used were red and white. There were no industry-wide meanings for such signals; they depended on the rules of the port or road for definition. Typical uses were to show drawbridge status and to require waiting for a train from the opposite direction.

Rail shipment delays were a problem for the railroads, particularly for perishable produce shipments from the west to eastern markets. In 1892, parts of the Santa Fe Railroad implemented priority treatment for certain designated trains. Whether this used, or just made reference to, a red ball track signal for the fast freight is unclear, but in any case, the special trains were called red ball trains and came to have each car carry a placard with routing data and a large red ball printed on them. By 1902, the Santa Fe had this system running on all its main lines, and by a decade later many railroads were using similar priority programs, often called "red ball" systems.

This railroad usage of a red ball for fast transportation became widely known (since the railroads were important in that period). As trucking became established, some companies took on the term in their names: both a Red Ball Transit Company and a Red Ball Motor Freight were formed in the 1920s. Probably the most famous use of the term is the Red Ball Express, which was the truck routing system used in the Normandy campaign of World War II. This symbolic use of the red ball for "priority handling" later came to be applied to important criminal cases. 

The Red Ball Express was used to supply the American forces as they swept across Europe bringing much need fuel an ammunition. It got its name from the red balls placed along the route to note that the road was closed to civilian traffic. The RBX was maned primarily African American troops. The 1229 Transportation Company of the MD National Guard was part of the RBX. They were headquartered at the Winchester St. Armory.


Baltimore City Police Department HOMICIDE totals

HOMICIDES BY MONTH: 1970 TO 2005 FROM OFFICIAL UCR DATA

   YEAR    JAN.  FEB.  MAR. APR. MAY   JUN.  JUL. AUG. SEP.  OCT. NOV. DEC. TOTAL

1970 13 15 19 24 24 25 13 19 23 20 22 14 231

1971 28 15 18 26 32 23 30 25 21 29 32 44 323

1972 32 22 25 23 19 25 35 45 30 22 26 26 330

1973 35 10 28 12 20 22 31 29 19 17 21 36 280

1974 18 24 18 32 16 28 31 30 20 28 21 27 293

1975 25 14 23 32 12 30 30 15 19 25 16 18 259

1976 21 20 18 14 12 18 25 15 10 13 19 15 200

1977 10 15 14 10 16 12 16 16 09 16 17 20 171

1978 13 14 17 14 21 12 14 17 22 21 13 19 197

1979 17 26 28 19 14 22 21 10 23 23 23 19 245

1980 15 19 16 15 20 18 22 24 22 13 17 15 216

1981 19 20 21 19 16 22 19 20 20 15 18 19 228

1982 24 21 11 13 19 22 24 14 19 18 26 16 227

1983 17 16 12 27 15 07 16 18 18 18 15 22 201

1984 21 22 17 19 19 17 12 14 21 23 21 09 215

1985 16 18 16 20 17 13 13 18 23 16 23 20 213

1986 15 17 21 15 15 20 30 17 26 21 24 19 240

1987 19 18 16 19 12 26 26 26 11 20 12 21 226

1988 21 14 25 24 12 11 20 21 18 19 23 26 234

1989 20 17 18 23 17 23 26 29 24 27 18 20 262

1990 28 25 16 22 22 20 25 42 25 23 23 34 305

1991 31 19 24 29 23 20 18 28 24 31 21 36 304

1992 29 26 20 22 25 28 37 29 34 27 26 32 335

1993 27 25 28 30 29 33 29 35 26 32 30 29 353

1994 22 14 25 29 23 28 28 27 28 35 30 32 321

1995 28 16 29 22 26 25 29 34 29 24 34 29 325

1996 27 16 27 36 32 30 31 39 20 30 19 24 331

1997 29 20 20 21 37 29 20 24 31 23 31 27 312

1998 25 31 27 23 17 32 25 28 34 16 24 31 313

1999 27 14 22 14 22 26 26 25 29 29 36 35 305

2000 24 16 26 33 22 20 28 25 16 19 15 17 261

2001 21 23 16 25 26 26 09 18 16 28 21 27 256

2002 19 17 26 22 21 22 29 14 24 24 18 17 253

2003 23 20 23 26 27 22 25 21 12 18 23 30 270

2004 23 22 21 18 28 25 31 23 27 23 21 14 276

2005 32 13 17 16 27 32 27 21 20 22 22 20 269

 2006                                                          275


HOMICIDES BY DISTRICT: 1970 TO 2005

YEAR CD SED ED NED ND NWD WD SWD SD TOTAL

1970   36    28   46   13     9    23     39    18    19    231

1971  45     31   62  14    12    29     71    33    26    323

1972  46     44   40    9    19    29     87    22    34    330

1973  40     32   43  13    15    20     61    28    28    280

1974  42     28   44  16    19    34     60    26    24    293

1975  48     21   31  11    15    33     56    24    20    259

1976  32    18    31    9    11    24     44    17    14    200

1977  25    19    24    9    12    20     35    18      9    171

1978  29    20   26   18    14   17      37    21    15    197

1979  33    25   27   17    15   21      53    33     21    245

1980  32    19   36   18    13   20      34    25     19    216

1981  37    24   44   15    13   23      38    18     16    228

1982  26    25   36   18    14   15      48    22     23    227

1983  28    11   36   14    10   30      39    16     17    201

1984  33    13   43   14    19   25      34    20     14    215

1985  35    13  37   22    11   25      32    20     18    213

1986  24    16   35   22    11   35      48    30     19    240

1987  31    19   38   17    19   36      30    16     20    226

1988  20    24   40   13    20   32      45    25     15    234

1989  32    15   36   25   19    31      45    22     37    262

1990  39    20   43   26   16    39      78    35       9    305

1991  26    33   38   25   16    36      73    43     14    304

1992  34    15   74   17   23    31      86    39     16    335

1993  39    25   83   29   22    42      52    43     18    353

1994  26    17   82   23   27    31      41    41     33    321

1995  26    25   81   34   20    35      42    38     24    325

1996  29    17   68   33   20    44      47    47     26    331

1997  31    27   79   19   20    22      59    37     18    312

1998  26    25   64   24   24    25      47    50     28    313

1999  31    20   54   36   20    54      37    28     25    305

2000  27   18    52   16   22    35      41    27     23    261

2001  23   23    38   30   18    25      50    31     18    256

2002  14   19    60   26     9    27      43    31     24    253

2003  13   20    42   25    25   32      54    32     27    270

2004  12   30    55   28    17   40      38    24     32    276

2005  14   24    35   29    31   30      38    40     28    269


City Detectives

Photo courtesy Detective Robert Ross
BPD Homicide Unit
(L-R) Lt. Lenny Willis, Sgt. Ken Norris, Det. Eric Sharp, Major McLarney (Homicide Unit Commander), Det. Marvin Sydnor, Det. Steve Matchett, Det. Sean Jones, Det. Joe Landsman, Det. Jonathan Jones, Det. Robert Ross
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