04-01-2012, 03:00 PM
April 1, 2012 at 1:00 am
Warm weather a factor in deadly winter in Detroit, officials say
By George Hunter and Steve Pardo
The Detroit News
![[Image: bilde?Site=C3&Date=20120401&Category=MET...icials-say]](http://cmsimg.detnews.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C3&Date=20120401&Category=METRO&ArtNo=204010309&Ref=AR&Profile=1409&MaxW=2000&Border=0&Warm-weather-factor-deadly-winter-Detroit-officials-say)
Detroit— Higher-than-normal temperatures and a series of high-profile crimes made for a warm, bloody winter in the city.
Spring officially started March 20, bringing to a close what several local law enforcement officials described as the most calamitous winter in memory. Some said the warm weather was a factor.
"Crime usually spikes in the summer," Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said. "I've never seen a winter quite like this one."
From Jan. 1 to March 21, there were 70 murders in the city — a 37 percent jump over the same period last year, according to figures released by the Detroit Police Department.
Among those were several crimes that made headlines:
—The fatal shooting of a 9-month-old boy as he slept on his couch.
—A 12-year-old girl was reportedly killed over a disagreement about a cellphone.
—A man dies after being shot by a gas station attendant after allegedly arguing over the price of a condom.
—A 14-year-old boy whom police say fatally shot his mother 10 times.
—The discovery of a 56-year-old Grosse Pointe Park marketing executive's body in an alley on the east side of Detroit touched off a national media frenzy.
The winter of 2011-12 was 30 percent warmer than last year. The average temperature from January to mid-March 2011-12 was 35.7 degrees, up from an average of 26.4 degrees from the previous year's period...
.....
Among the murders in the Metro area that have made headlines this past winter that either happened in Detroit or were investigated by Detroit Police:
—At about 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 25, a driver from HB Land Towing spotted a 2004 Mercedes-Benz ML350 sport utility vehicle in an alley near Seven Mile. In the backseat was the body of Grosse Pointe Park resident Jane Bashara. The case made national headlines after Grosse Pointe Park Police Chief David Hiller named the victim's husband, Robert Bashara, as a person of interest. Handyman Joseph Gentz, who told police he was paid by Robert Bashara to carry out the hit, was charged with first-degree murder...
The article in it's entirety is at the Source: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120...1409/rss36
Warm weather a factor in deadly winter in Detroit, officials say
By George Hunter and Steve Pardo
The Detroit News
Detroit— Higher-than-normal temperatures and a series of high-profile crimes made for a warm, bloody winter in the city.
Spring officially started March 20, bringing to a close what several local law enforcement officials described as the most calamitous winter in memory. Some said the warm weather was a factor.
"Crime usually spikes in the summer," Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said. "I've never seen a winter quite like this one."
From Jan. 1 to March 21, there were 70 murders in the city — a 37 percent jump over the same period last year, according to figures released by the Detroit Police Department.
Among those were several crimes that made headlines:
—The fatal shooting of a 9-month-old boy as he slept on his couch.
—A 12-year-old girl was reportedly killed over a disagreement about a cellphone.
—A man dies after being shot by a gas station attendant after allegedly arguing over the price of a condom.
—A 14-year-old boy whom police say fatally shot his mother 10 times.
—The discovery of a 56-year-old Grosse Pointe Park marketing executive's body in an alley on the east side of Detroit touched off a national media frenzy.
The winter of 2011-12 was 30 percent warmer than last year. The average temperature from January to mid-March 2011-12 was 35.7 degrees, up from an average of 26.4 degrees from the previous year's period...
.....
Among the murders in the Metro area that have made headlines this past winter that either happened in Detroit or were investigated by Detroit Police:
—At about 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 25, a driver from HB Land Towing spotted a 2004 Mercedes-Benz ML350 sport utility vehicle in an alley near Seven Mile. In the backseat was the body of Grosse Pointe Park resident Jane Bashara. The case made national headlines after Grosse Pointe Park Police Chief David Hiller named the victim's husband, Robert Bashara, as a person of interest. Handyman Joseph Gentz, who told police he was paid by Robert Bashara to carry out the hit, was charged with first-degree murder...
The article in it's entirety is at the Source: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120...1409/rss36