Doctor who secretly filmed patients in exam room apologized to wife in suicide note

2-22-2013 Maryland:

New details have come to light about the death of an ex-John Hopkins gynecologist who was caught making covert videos of his patients.

Dr. Nikita Levy was found dead in his home on Monday, just two weeks after hospital security was alerted on Feb. 4 by another staff member that Levy was using personal video equipment to tape his patients.

Levy left a suicide note with a message for his wife, saying he did not want to ''see her suffer with the truth'', according to CBS Baltimore WJZ's news partner, the Baltimore Sun.

Levy put the apology note in their car and went to his basement, where he committed suicide.

CBS Baltimore reporter Mike Hellgren spoke to one of Dr Levy's former patients about what it was like in the exam room. The woman, who did not want her identity known, reveals a red flag during exams.

Senate staffer arrested on child pornography charges found dead

1-24-2014 Maryland:

The former chief of staff to Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) who was arrested on child pornography charges last month has been found dead in a suicide.

Jesse Ryan Loskarn, 35, hanged himself in his parents' house in Sykesville, Md., according to a spokesperson for Maryland's office of the chief medical examiner.

Authorities found Loskarn's body on Thursday after responding to a call at approximately 12 p.m., according to a statement from the Carroll County Sheriff's Department.

A preliminary investigation indicated that Loskarn had committed suicide, and the body was then transported to the State Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy.

Loskarn had been released into his parents’ custody in mid-December after being charged with possession and distribution of child pornography. Prosecutors had until Feb. 10 to formally indict Loskarn in the case.

At a hearing in December, Loskarn was confined to his parents’ home, where he was banned from using any electronic device that could allow him to access the Internet. Loskarn was ordered to be under high-intensity supervision during his release and was required to wear an electronic monitoring device.

Prosecutors had argued against Loskarn’s release, warning there was no way to ensure he did not have access to the Internet and that he was at risk of fleeing or harming himself.

Police Investigate Apparent Inmate Suicide

8-7-2010 Maryland:

JESSUP, Md. (AP) ― Howard County police are investigating the apparent suicide of an inmate at a county detention facility who was recently charged with sex abuse of a minor.

Forty-three-year-old Thomas Edward Brookhyser died Friday night at a local hospital. Bowie resident Brookhyser was found on the floor of his Howard County Central Booking cell around 7:30 p.m. Friday. Police say Brookhyser appeared to have hung himself by linking his shirt to a handicap bar near the cell's toilet.

According to police, the preliminary investigation shows correctional staff performed a suicide screening and did not see any indicators for suicide. They also say there does not appear to be any evidence of foul play at this time. ..Source.. by Maryland AP News


Officials say Bowie-area man killed self in Jessup prison

8-10-2010 Maryland:

Highbridge Estates resident charged with sex abuse of a minor

A Bowie-area man who was charged this week with sex abuse of a minor died Friday night at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore after apparently trying to commit suicide by hanging himself the day before at a Jessup jail.

Police are investigating the death of Thomas Edward Brookhyser, 43, who was processed Thursday night at the Howard County Central Booking facility in Jessup on charges of sex abuse of a minor, according to a release from the Howard County Police Department.

A correctional officer found Brookhyser hanged in his cell less than 40 minutes after he last checked on him, the release stated. Sherry Llewellyn, spokeswoman for the Howard County Police Department, said Monday there is no evidence of foul play, and suicide is suspected.

Cindy Rivers, public information officer for Shock Trauma, confirmed Monday that Brookhyser was no longer a patient at the hospital but could not provide more information because of medical privacy regulations.

Brookhyser, who lived in the 6700 block of Alexis Drive in Highbridge Estates, bordering the city of Bowie, had also been charged with second-degree assault and second- and third-degree sex offenses, according to online court records. The charges are no longer in effect, having been "abated by death," according to the records.

Court records also indicate that Brookhyser did not have an attorney.

When reached by phone Monday, Brookhyser's father, George Brookhyser, of Summersville, W.Va., described the charges against his son as "spurious" and "bogus."

"People are innocent until proven guilty," George Brookhyser said. "It's one person's word against another. The man is not available to defend himself, and the only one to defend him is me."

George Brookhyser said his son served four years in the Army, operating one of three cranes at Fort Eustis, Va., that loaded supplies onto ships during Operation Desert Storm.

Thomas Brookhyser was a Sergeant E-5 when he was discharged and received an Army Service ribbon, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Expert Badge-M16 rifle, Sharpshooter Badge-Hand Grenade, NCO Professional Development Ribbon and Good Conduct Medal, according to his obituary.

"I feel they are besmirching his good name with these spurious and wrong charges," his father said.

Charging documents allege that Thomas Brookhyser coerced the victim, a family member, into masturbating him when she was 13 or 14 years old by threatening to stop buying things for the household if she told anyone. Documents indicate he allegedly fondled her but did not have intercourse with her.

According to the release, Thomas Brookhyser appeared before a Howard County District Court Commissioner in Jessup about 6:40 p.m. Thursday, and his bond was set at $100,000. After the hearing with the commissioner, Thomas Brookhyser was placed in a cell by a correctional officer, according to the release.

When a correctional officer checked him around 7 p.m., he was in "satisfactory condition," according to the release. When the officer checked him again at 7:37 p.m., Thomas Brookhyser was seen on the floor hanging by his shirt from a grab bar near the toilet in the cell, according to the release.

The officer called for help, and a correctional lieutenant and a Howard County police officer performed CPR until county emergency medical personnel arrived and took Thomas Brookhyser to Shock Trauma in an ambulance.

Thomas Brookhyser did not regain consciousness during the transport to Shock Trauma, Llewellyn said. He remained at Shock Trauma and was pronounced dead Friday night, according to the release.

The preliminary police investigation shows that as part of the intake process, correctional staff did a suicide screening and there were no indicators for suicide, nor did his behavior alert staff to the possibility of suicide, the release states.

A native of Craigsville, W.Va., Thomas Brookhyser graduated from Parkdale High School in Riverdale in 1985. He joined the U.S. Army and was stationed at Fort Eustis in Newport News, Va. He lived in the Bowie area for about six years, his father said.

Services are scheduled for Wednesday. The funeral arrangements are being handled by the Rose & Quesenberry Funeral Home in Beckley, W.Va. ..Source.. by Virginia Terhune

Convicted rapist found dead in jail

1-26-2010 Maryland:

A man convicted of rape a week ago was found dead Monday in an Anne Arundel County Detention Center shower, and officials said his death was a probable suicide.

William Joseph Trice, 48, was found in the jail shower around 6:15 a.m., said Terry Kokolis, superintendent of the county jails. Asked if Trice had hanged himself, Kokolis said Trice "was found in that position."

Trice was working as a tow truck operator and living in Eagle Bridge, N.Y., in 2008 when a fingerprint and DNA evidence made him a suspect in two newly reopened rape cases stemming from incidents occurring in 1988. At a recent trial - the first of two scheduled - police said that when they told him of the evidence they had collected, he replied, "Oh my God; no way; I'm worse than I thought I was," and also said, "My life is over."

His attorney, Andrew Szekely, said he knew little about his client's death and declined to respond to questions.

Jail employees started CPR and first aid but were "unable to revive him," Kokolis said. Fire department paramedics also could not revive Trice, he said.

Anne Arundel County police spokesman Justin Mulcahy said police are investigating the death, saying only that "there were no signs of trauma or foul play."

Trice had been held at the county jail since December 2008, Kokolis said, and evaluations showed he was not considered a suicide risk or in need of medication.

Suspected in two "cold" cases, Trice was found guilty Jan. 19 of the August 1988 rape of a woman in her bedroom. The woman's mother was asleep two floors above in their home in a gated community in Annapolis.

DNA evidence from that scene and a December 1988 rape of a woman outside her Arnold home appeared to link both crimes, investigators said.

Investigators said that a fingerprint on a candle in the Annapolis woman's bedroom matched one of Trice's in a national database, leading them to question him in November 2008.

The maximum prison sentence for rape is life. Prosecutors intended to seek a lengthy prison term for the Annapolis rape at the sentencing scheduled for March 8.

A trial on charges in the Arnold attack was scheduled for April. ..Source.. by Andrea F. Siegel

MD- Former Associated Press bureau chief for city kills self

10-23-2009 Maryland:

The former chief of the Associated Press' Baltimore bureau committed suicide at his Forest Hill home Saturday evening, a day after he was charged with multiple counts of sexual child abuse, the Harford County sheriff's office told the Aegis newspaper.

John Edward Woodfield Sr., 80, had been free on $100,000 bond since Friday, according to the sheriff's office, when his wife asked deputies to check on him Saturday. When deputies entered Woodfield's home, they found his body in a second-floor bathtub, holding a handgun, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy by the state medical examiner's office ruled his death a suicide.

Woodfield was charged Friday with sexually molesting two boys, ages 7 and 10, for about five years, according to charging documents reported by the newspaper. The boys reported the incidents to members of the county's child advocacy center.

The newspaper said in an article published Wednesday that when Woodfield's wife confronted him about the accusations, he threatened to kill himself if police became involved.

The paper reported that Woodfield was charged with two counts of sexual abuse of a minor, a second-degree sex offense and a third-degree sex offense.

It also reported that in a call to the sheriff's office Saturday, the wife reported that her husband had found the weapon and bullets she had hidden earlier.

According to the AP, Woodfield worked for the news service for 30 years and was the Baltimore bureau chief for 19 years before retiring in 1991. ..Source.. by Richard Irwin

MD- Body found in Worcester ID'd

1-9-2009 Maryland:

BERLIN -- Police identified the remains of a body found in West Ocean City earlier this year as a man wanted on charges of child abuse.

The body of Richard T. Wright Jr., 39, was found Jan. 9 in a wooded area off Sinepuxent Road, according to the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation. His identity was confirmed using DNA analysis, the results of which were made public Tuesday.

Wright had been charged in July 2008 with second-degree custodial child abuse, sexual abuse of a minor, perverted practice, second-degree assault, and four additional sex offenses. His arrest warrant has been recalled by the court.

The State Medical Examiner's office ruled his death a suicide by hanging. ..Source.. by DelmarvaNow.com

MD- Suspected online rapist kills himself after police stand-off

7-24-2008 Maryland:

A 33-year-old Suitland man suspected of raping women he met on craigslist.org, a community and networking Web site, died July 23 after he shot himself during a police barricade in Hyattsville.

Mark Humphries, 33, of the 4100 block of Suitland Road barricaded himself for several hours yesterday in a Hyattsville apartment, located in the 4200 block of Oglethorpe Street, according to a police news release.

Humphries is suspected of nine rapes in Prince George’s County over the past several months, including a July 14 rape that occurred on Malcolm Road. Police say they suspect he met at least eight of his victims through craigslist.org.

Police arrived at the Hyattsville apartment at about 12:30 p.m. July 23 with a warrant for his arrest, and after several hours of a stand-off, they heard a gun shot. Humphries shot himself one time in his upper body, and was transported to a hospital for his injuries. He died at 10:30 p.m, according to police.

Police ruled his death a suicide, but will continue investigating the rapes.

“There might be other victims involved, and they’ll wrap up the investigation,“ Prince George’s County Police spokesman Stephen Pacheco said. ..Source.. by Elahe Izadi | Staff Writer

MD- Sexual Abuse Suspect Found Dead in New Carrollton

4-28-2009 Maryland:

A Howard County man wanted since last week on charges of sexually abusing a young family friend was found dead today of an apparent suicide in New Carrollton, authorities said.

George N. Kiriacon, 50, of the 10600 block of Whiterock Court in Laurel was found just after 10:30 a.m. in his truck in the garage of a home in the 5700 block of 85th Avenue. Police did not say how he died.

Police said they had been told Kiriacon was at the residence, but they did not immediately explain his connection to the home.

Last week, Howard police began searching for Kiriacon after a boy reported Kiriacon, a family friend, had abused him over a period of four years, beginning when the boy was 8 years old. The boy said Kiriacon had engaged in various sexual acts with him at Kiriacon's Laurel residence.

Kiriacon was charged with child sexual abuse, three counts of second-degree sex offenses and other offenses.

Yesterday, Howard police announced a $1,000 reward for information leading to Kiriacon's arrest and issued a press release containing his photo.

Howard County police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said detectives are still investigating whether Kiriacon might have victimized other children and are asking any other possible victims to come forward. Kiriacon also owned a home in Capon Bridge, W.Va., and was known to frequent that area.

An autopsy on Kiriacon's body is scheduled for tomorrow. ..Source.. by Aaron C. Davis, Washington Post Staff Writer

MD- Officials: Inmate accused of rape commits suicide

2-16-2009 Maryland:

Police say there were no warning signs

Investigators believe a county jail inmate hanged himself inside a shower stall on Friday morning, two days after police served him court documents charging him with incest and related counts, according to the Cecil County Sheriff’s Office.

Police identified the apparent suicide victim as Frank Franklin Fowler, 28, of the 100 block of Castlestone Road in Elkton. ..Source.. by Carl Hamilton

MD- Harford teacher found dead blamed sex charges on failing grade

12-23-2008 Maryland:

The Harford County teacher found dead about a month after being charged with sexually abusing a student told a friend that the girl was trying to get revenge for a failing grade, said Sgt. 1st Class LeRoy Strickland, the friend.

Brian Norman, a social studies teacher at North Harford High School in Pylesville, was found dead in his home in the 1600 block of Denise Drive in Forest Hill this past weekend from a gunshot wound to the head, and authorities have ruled the death a suicide, said Monica Worrell, spokeswoman for the Harford County Sheriff's Office.

The 34-year-old teacher was arrested on Nov. 16 after being accused of allegedly slapping a 16-year-old female student on the buttocks after class and making death threats the same day to school employees.

Bruce Smith, the prosecutor handling the case, said he had never heard about the failing grade that Norman blamed for the allegations.

Norman also had attempted suicide Oct. 27, when the case was beginning, because, he said in court, "of his involvement with two students at North Harford High School and what he had done with him," Smith said.

"He already admitted at that point in time some culpability for these acts," the prosecutor said.

But Strickland, who served with Norman in Afghanistan from February 2006 to May 2007, did not believe the charges.

"These allegations against him, I don't believe it," he said. "All he could talk about [in Afghanistan] was wanting to get back home because he wanted to teach."

Strickland, who lives in the Washington, D.C., area, said he spoke on the phone with Norman two weeks ago. The teacher was upbeat and said the student had made up the sexual abuse allegations to get back at him for failing her, Strickland said.

Police have said Norman sent text messages to the student, and was admitted to a psychiatric facility and released.

Norman was charged with sex abuse of a minor, fourth-degree sex offense, second-degree assault, possession of child pornography and threatening school employees.

After his arrest, he was released on $25,000 bond.

Teri Kranefeld, school system spokeswoman, said Monday that Norman had been on administrative leave since October, but she declined further comment.

On the Web site badbadteacher.com, there were 59 comments Monday afternoon about Norman's death.

One post under the name "Pauline K" read: "I worked in the same school as Brian Norman about 8-9 years ago when he first began teaching and before he served in Iraq. He was very enthusiastic although I have to admit he also had a lot of anger in him."

Strickland said Army mates had nicknamed Norman "Jimmy Neutron" because he could quickly learn and teach new things.

Norman was awarded the Bronze Star and Combat Infantry Badge after coming under fire multiple times in Afghanistan, Strickland said.

..News Source.. by Mike Silvestri, Staff Writer

MD- Suspected online rapist kills himself after police stand-off

7-30-2008 Maryland:

A 33-year-old Suitland man suspected of raping women he met on craigslist.org, a community and networking Web site, died July 23 after he shot himself during a police barricade in Hyattsville.

Mark Humphries, 33, of the 4100 block of Suitland Road barricaded himself for several hours yesterday in a Hyattsville apartment, located in the 4200 block of Oglethorpe Street, according to a police news release.

Humphries is suspected of nine rapes in Prince George’s County over the past several months, including a July 14 rape that occurred on Malcolm Road. Police say they suspect he met at least eight of his victims through craigslist.org.

Police arrived at the Hyattsville apartment at about 12:30 p.m. July 23 with a warrant for his arrest, and after several hours of a stand-off, they heard a gun shot. Humphries shot himself one time in his upper body, and was transported to a hospital for his injuries. He died at 10:30 p.m, according to police.

Police ruled his death a suicide, but will continue investigating the rapes.

“There might be other victims involved, and they’ll wrap up the investigation,“ Prince George’s County Police spokesman Stephen Pacheco said. ..News Source.. by Elahe Izadi | Staff Writer

See also, Washington Post "Serial Rape Suspect's Trail Of Clues Leads to Violent End"

MD- Hunter Finds Convicted Child Rapist Dead of Suicide

12-7-2007 Maryland:

On Thursday morning, St. Mary’s Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI) detectives responded to a wooded area in Charlotte Hall after a hunter found a dead man hanging from a tree.

Police identified the man as George R. Hayes, 50 of Marshal Road, Mechanicsville.

St. Mary’s Sheriff Sgt. Steve Hall said it appeared Haynes took his own life within the last few days.

Sgt. Hall, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office, said there was no immediate indication of foul play, and the man’s hands were not bound together.

BCI detectives are continuing to investigate.

Hayes is listed as a “Child Sexual Offender” on the Maryland Sex Offender Registry after being convicted on charges of gross sexual imposition/rape. ..more.. by Sean Rice

Sex abuse claimed at firehouse

Odenton volunteer committed suicide while police investigated

1-24-2008 Maryland:

Two former volunteer firefighters at the Odenton Volunteer Fire Company are suing Anne Arundel County, claiming they were molested by a now-dead company president while they were teenagers and that their superiors ignored pleas for help.

The men, who were unnamed in the lawsuit filed Friday in the county Circuit Court, claim Louis A. D'Camera, 41, a 26-year volunteer, sexually assaulted them, forced them to strip naked, and even sit on his lap.

Mr. D'Camera committed suicide in July 2005 - shortly after Baltimore City police caught him with an 18-year-old male prostitute and charged him with perverted practice. Anne Arundel County police also were investigating the volunteers' claims at the time of the suicide.

According to the lawsuit, the victims, who were 16 and 19 when the alleged abuse began, told their bosses at both the volunteer company and the county Fire Department, but were rebuffed and told to keep quiet. One of the two claimed company members spoke against him during a background check with a potential employer as retaliation for going to police, costing him the job.

Wanted man dies days after suicide attempt

1-8-2008 Maryland:

A man recently featured on "America's Most Wanted" in connection to a brutal 1999 sex assault in Glen Burnie died in a Louisiana hospital Saturday, three days after officials said he attempted to hang himself in a jail cell.

Deputies found Ronald Lee Moore, 40, hanging from a vent about 4 p.m. Wednesday as they passed out dinner trays to inmates at Nelson Coleman Correctional Center in Hahnville, La.

Prison officials said Moore, of 3712 Lamberton Square in Silver Spring, used a nylon string from a laundry bag to hang himself from an air-conditioning duct above a toilet. He was not on suicide watch, and staff had no indication he was suicidal, officials said.

Moore, who was breathing when he was found, was taken to Ochsner Medical Center in Jefferson and was put on a respirator, said Capt. Patrick Yoes, a spokesman for the St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Department. He was pronounced dead at 1:01 a.m. Saturday, he said.

An officer in Louisiana arrested Moore on an Anne Arundel County warrant Christmas Eve in St. Charles Parish, about a month after he was accidentally released from a Maryland prison - even though a county Circuit Court judge two months ago ordered him held without bond.

Sgt. Sara Schriver, a county police spokesman, said she had expected Moore to be returned to Maryland "shortly." He was scheduled to go before a jury Feb. 5 for the Glen Burnie sexual-assault case, according to Circuit Court records.

Moore was charged with first- and second-degree sex offense, unnatural or perverted practice, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, possession of a deadly weapon, and first-degree burglary. The charges stem from an October 1999 sexual assault during a home invasion.

Police linked Moore to the incident in July 2006, after matching his DNA to semen left behind at the scene of the attack. State prison officials collected his DNA while he was serving time for a 2000 burglary conviction and put it into the FBI's Combined DNA Index.

According to charging documents, police said Moore broke into an apartment on Green Bud Lane at about 1:45 a.m. Oct. 23, 1999, and sexually assaulted a woman inside.

Police said he was wearing a mask and gloves when he entered the apartment. Police said he punched the woman in the head several times during the assault and shocked her with a cattle prod. ..more.. by HEATHER RAWLYK, Staff Writer

Former teacher, sex offender ends own life, police say

6-14-2007 Maryland:
A former Howard County teacher and convicted sex offender who evaded jail for 10 months in 2001 after he failed to show up to begin his incarceration was found dead in the Patapsco River, near Ellicott City, last week, in what Baltimore County police said was a suicide.

Klaude Joseph Krannebitter, 44, of the 700 block of Charing Cross Road, in Baltimore County, jumped to his death June 7 from a bridge on Interstate 70, near the Howard-Baltimore county line, according to Baltimore County police.

Krannebitter's body was discovered on the same day that he was scheduled to appear in Harford County Circuit Court for a trial on charges of drunken driving.

A fisherman discovered Krannebitter's body in shallow water shortly after 8 a.m., police said, adding that officers found Krannebitter's car parked on the bridge and a suicide note in the car.

Prior to his conviction in 1999 on charges that he had sex with a 15-year-old Baltimore County boy, Krannebitter taught health and physical education at Glenwood Middle School from 1986 to 1999, and for several years coached junior varsity and varsity boys basketball at Glenelg High School.

Money for sex acts, boy said

Facing child porn trial, Frostburg prof apparently killed self

6-12-2007 Maryland:

FROSTBURG, Md. — A longtime Frostburg State University foreign-languages professor charged with possessing child pornography apparently committed suicide days before he was scheduled to stand trial.

Officers were called to the home of MacGregor O’Brien, 57, after a family member found him unconscious about 3:20 p.m. Monday in an idling car in the home’s garage, police said.

Plastic tubing had been taped to the exhaust and run through one of the car’s windows and the doors on the vehicle and garage were closed. O’Brien also left several notes, police said.

Investigators said foul play was not suspected. O’Brien’s body was being sent to the Maryland State Medical Examiner’s Office in Baltimore for autopsy.

O’Brien, 57, of Frostburg, faced 13 counts of possessing child porn, according to court documents. His trial was scheduled to begin later this week. ..more.. by The Daily Times

Detainee is found hanged in cell, an apparent suicide

6-7-2007 Maryland:
A detainee at Central Booking and Intake Center was found hanging from a sheet in his cell Tuesday night in an apparent suicide, officials said yesterday.

It was the third suicide this year at the detention facility, according to Barbara Cooper, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Division of Pretrial Detention and Services. At 8:10 p.m., a correctional officer found Franklin L. Halterman, 33, of Northeast Baltimore hanging from the ceiling of his cell with a sheet tied around his neck, Cooper said.

The officer cut Halterman down, called 911 and administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation, aided by an emergency medical unit, she said.

Halterman was then taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about 8:45 p.m., officials said.

He had been held at central booking since April 30, awaiting a hearing this month on several sex crimes charges, including sexual abuse of a minor, according to court records.

Because the incident is under investigation, officials would not say whether Halterman had been on suicide watch. ..more.. by Baltimore Sun