Witness list for Suiter panel
Independent Review Board interviewed 40 people about his death
The Independent Review Board that looked into the death of Baltimore police homicide Detective Sean Suiter and determined he likely took his own life has released a list of law enforcement officials and other people that they interviewed as part of their review of the case.
The list released Thursday shows more than 40 names, including a mix of senior department commanders, detectives who investigated their colleague’s death, other law enforcement officials and city residents who lived near the crime scene. Suiter’s widow and attorney have criticized the board for not interviewing those closest to the detective. Suiter’s death remains classified as a homicide, though the medical examiner’s office has said it is reviewing the review board’s report. Gary Childs, a retired Baltimore city and county homicide investigator who was on the board, gave a presentation to “selected members of the BPD,” a police spokesman con- Suiter firmed.
Among the city police investigators interviewed were the commander of the homicide section, Maj. Chris Jones; senior leaders in the criminal investigations division, Lt. Col. Donald Bauer and Col. Stanley Brandford; the sergeant in charge of the investigation, James Lloyd; and Sgt. Rob Ross, a blood spatter expert within the homicide unit.
Other than Detective David Bomenka, who ventured out with Suiter to Harlem Park and was nearby when Suiter was shot, other members of his squad were not interviewed.
Suiter’s wife and his former partner, Jonathan Jones, have maintained that Suiter showed no signs of distress, though he also had not mentioned the impending grand jury testimony to them.
Suiter was killed one day before he was scheduled to testify before a grand jury investigating a 2010 incident in which drugs were planted on a man. The board also interviewed former acting U.S. Attorney Stephen Schenning, who was leading the Maryland federal prosecutors’ office during the Gun Trace Task Force case, and the special agent in charge of the FBI, Gordon Johnson.
Another officer who was part of the 2010 arrest, Sgt. Ryan Guinn, spoke to the review board. Guinn has not been accused of a crime. Former Gun Trace Task Force Sgt. Wayne Jenkins has pleaded guilty to lying about the drugs being planted.
Former Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis, whohas criticized the board’s finding, sat for an interview, which he said was with only selected members of the board because he distrusted retired Baltimore police officers on the panel. Former Deputy Commissioner Dean Palmere, who stepped down from the department amid the GunTrace Task Force corruption trial and after the firing of Davis, also was interviewed.