Guess! That! Party!: Scandal-Plagued Mayor of Unknown Party Affiliation Now Probed in Stripper's Murder

Which party? It's a mystery. We could say "Ah, well this is a Detroit paper, they just assume everyone knows the mayor is a Democrat," except, um, this is the Los Angeles Times.

So, while Axel Foley, solving a crime in Beverly Hills, might pick up the paper and immediately know the mayor's party, for the rest of us, it remains a stone-cold mystery.

Then again, I suppose it's no big deal. What's another murdered stripper in Detroit, anyway?

Scandal-ridden mayor is now facing new allegations in stripper's killing

Police allegedly pressured to drop case

Los Angeles Times

DETROIT -- In a city that routinely sees more than 400 murders a year, the 2003 slaying of Tamara "Strawberry" Greene was an easily overlooked crime.

Few people initially took notice when the 27-year-old stripper was found slumped over the steering wheel of her green Buick Skylark. But soon the city was buzzing with rumors that she had danced at a party at the mayor's mansion--a story that never has been proved.

...

They recently filed a statement from a former Detroit police officer alleging that his homicide unit was pressured to drop the case, even though it appeared to him that Greene's death was a hit -- one possibly carried out by another police officer. They also have subpoenaed a slew of text-messages among city employees, including those sent between 1:30 and 5:30 a.m. on the day Greene was killed.

The city is petitioning for the case to be dismissed. A federal judge ordered SkyTel and the city to save certain messages from 42 city pagers, including Kilpatrick's, as well as all messages sent on the day Greene died.

The sordid tale of Greene's slaying revolves around the rumored party at Manoogian Mansion, the official residence of the mayor. Court documents lay out the following sequence of events:

An officer with the Executive Protection Unit reported that a party for the mayor and his friends had taken place and " ... the party featured nude female dancers," according to a 2003 internal affairs memo commissioned by Police Deputy Chief Gary A. Brown. The unit handles security for the mayor.

When the mayor's wife, Carlita Kilpatrick, unexpectedly arrived at the mansion, she saw her husband and the strippers, according to the officer who reported about the party, Harold Nelthrope.

Nelthrope, who was not at the alleged event but learned about it the following day, "further stated that a fight ensued between Ms. Kilpatrick and a dancer and that the dancer received injuries requiring medical attention." Nelthrope does not say who told him about the alleged events.

The dancer -- believed to be Greene -- was taken to a hospital, " ... and the Executive Protection Unit confiscated all activity log sheets (from the police precinct that responded)," Nelthrope said.

Apparently party affiliation is only relevant when it's Republican.

In related news, Elliot Spitzer's public relations advisers are focus-testing the "At least he didn't fucking kill her" spin.

Thanks to rcl.

Weird Joke Congruence:

Speaking of Axel Foley, his boss, Inspector Todd, was played by Gilbert Hill, actual former Detroit PD detective. Gilbert Hill was elected to the Detroit City Council in 1989 and at one point was its president.

Kilpatrick's opponent in the 2001 mayoral race? That would be one Gilbert Hill.

But Detroit is too far gone to elect people who investigate crimes: it elects the people who commit them.

Strange.

Thanks to David J.

posted by Ace at 07:49 PM

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