Authors: Tim Junkin
F
OR HOMICIDE
D
ETECTIVE
Sam Bowerman, a twelve-year veteran of Baltimore County's police force, the Dawn Hamilton murder provided the opportunity to assist his hometown department with a new and specialized law enforcement tool. Bowerman had been selected as the first local police officer in the country to attend the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, to study the art of creating psychological profiles of violent criminals. Thirty-three at the time, Bowerman was in the middle of this fourteen-month fellowship when Dawn Hamilton was murdered.
For years criminal investigators had informally profiled suspects, trying to narrow the range of a search by keying in on the modus operandi or particular methods a given criminal might use. The characteristics of a crime, the unusual clues left behind, often pointed to certain traits of the culprit, even at times to a form of signature. Profiling first became a recognized, formal, investigative technique in the early 1970s when the FBI created its Behavioral Sciences Unit at Quantico. Studies of unsolved murders, coupled with the evaluation of serial killers such as Richard Speck, who killed eight nurses in Chicago; John Wayne Gacy, who killed thirty-three men and
boys; and David Berkowitz of New York City, the notorious Son of Sam, led to the development of a more formal system for analyzing violent cases, particularly those with strange or bizarre aspects to them. In 1978 a research project combined FBI agents with behavioral scientists to conduct detailed examinations of some of the nation's most notorious crimes. Several dozen of these notorious criminals themselves were interviewed. The findings and conclusions of this study led the FBI to develop a database and a systematic approach to profiling. FBI agents were trained to be experts in the field, and Detective Bowerman, through his fellowship, had become skilled in these same techniques.
While not all homicides lend themselves to the development of a psychological profile, the FBI felt that the Dawn Hamilton slaying presented the opportunity because the killer was clearly psychopathic. “The public perception is of a monster,” Bowerman told a reporter at the time. “But it's not the guy in the dirty trench coat hiding behind a tree. It's the guy who looks to be in the mainstream. Very few insane people commit violent crimes; it's the people with personality disorders.”
Bowerman, along with other FBI profilers, and assisted by other Baltimore County detectives, took on the job of developing a psychological profile of the man who murdered Dawn Hamilton. They scoured the photos of the crime scene; studied the autopsy report; scrutinized the physical evidence and the eyewitness reports and descriptions; and closely examined the victim, her family, and social history, attempting to produce a written portrait of the man who took Dawn's life.
The final psychological profile prepared by Detective Bowerman and the FBI was seven and a half pages long and presented a disturbing picture of the crime and perpetrator. It concluded that the crime was one of opportunity, as opposed to one that was planned ahead of time. The killer had probably been dominated by women
most of his life and had repressed rage against females bottled up inside him. When the rage boiled over, he struck. The report re-created the sequence of the attack on Dawn as follows:
The victim was initially approached because of her vulnerability, age, and what she represented to the assailant. . . . The victim, when offering resistance, was struck in the face by the assailant's fist. After being rendered semi-conscious from this blow, the victim was probably rammed head first into a nearby tree or into a stationary object on the ground. He then placed his foot on her throat in an attempt to totally silence her. He then rolled her over and stood on the back of her neck, thereby pushing her face to the ground in attempt (again) to silence her, as she was still alive and probably making unintelligible noises. In a moment of frustration and rage, he then kneeled over her and viciously struck her on the back of her head with a large rock at least twice. He then lowered his pants and anally assaulted her. Upon completion, he took a nearby branch and inserted it into her vaginal vault.
The report concluded that there was nothing to suggest the killer and victim knew each other. It suggested that the assailant had more than passing familiarity with the area, though, and resided, attended school, or worked in the immediate vicinity.
Regarding the offender's physical characteristics, the report concluded he was a white male, age eighteen to twenty-six. As to his personality and social situation, it posited a number of interesting theories. The following paragraphs, excerpted from the profile, painted a vivid picture.
We would expect him to be single, or possibly previously married. If he is presently married or living with a female partner, it is likely that there would be some obvious characteristic of the
woman which others would notice, she would be much older or younger than he, she may border on retardation . . . or have problems causing others to consider her behavior to be weird or irrational. We would more likely expect him to be residing alone or with another person on whom he is economically or emotionally dependent. . . .
Although he fantasizes a great deal about indulging in sexual relationships with mature, physically developed women within his age group, and has a pornographic-type collection of literature, etc., reflecting same, he is inadequate and lacks confidence in himself and therefore his overt behavior would involve much younger, impressionable females or, perhaps, older women who would be more vulnerable. Developmentally, it is quite probable that he was brought up under the auspices of an overbearing mother or some other significant female figure who caused him great anxiety and dictated proper behavior/conduct to him.
Vocationally, if working, we would expect him to be involved in an employment setting in which he does not have a high degree of contact with the public; interpersonal relationships would be minimal.
In considering numerous other similar cases, we would initially expect the perpetrator to show little regard for his personal appearance. . . .
His need to at least partially fulfill his fantasies would cause him to be involved in nuisance offenses such as window peeping, fetish burglaries, exhibitionism, and obscene telephone calling. . . .
. . . it is likely the killer experienced an especially stressful time (possibly involving or caused by a significant female) . . . which set him off. . . .
Following the murder he would become more withdrawn and preoccupied. Others will definitely notice a change in his behavior
as his lifestyle becomes temporarily very structured and rigid. . . . If employed he will likely call in sick or feign illness to isolate himself from others. . . .
If the opportunity presents itself he will attempt to temporarily leave the area through legitimate means. . . .
We believe that, when he feels safe from detection and his anxiety levels, sex drive, etc., reach such a point that his usual fantasizing/masturbation venting and the reliving of this crime no longer constitute sufficient relief, he will strike again.
Bowerman and the FBI cautioned that a psychological profile was not to be considered a substitute for a thorough and well-planned investigation. It was merely one tool and was based solely on probabilities. It was best used in narrowing the field of suspectsâin eliminating some and in raising additional suspicion as to others. In fact, typically the FBI wouldn't honor a request for a profile until the investigation was complete. In the Dawn Hamilton investigation, these warnings were not well heeded. The psychological profile played a very significant role. The report became the Rosetta stone for Detectives Capel and Ramsey. It caused them to single out a suspect who had previously received scant attention and later helped convince both of them and the state prosecutors involved that this suspect was truly the murderer. The psychological profile became an important part of the foundation for their unwavering belief that the man they arrested was guilty of the Dawn Hamilton slaying.
O
N
J
ULY
28 a police telephone operator had received an anonymous call, logged in as tip number 286 out of an eventual 500 plus, suggesting that a man by the name of Kirk, who worked at Harbor to Harbor, looked similar to the person in the composite sketch. This was just one more lead, one more caller who felt the
composite looked like someone they knew. Police were still doggedly tracking down every possibility. The tip was duly noted, to be followed up in time.
About a week later, a police officer contacted the Harbor to Harbor establishment. An employee reported that a man named Kirk Bloodsworth had recently worked there as a laborer. Bloodsworth had no car, walked to work, and mostly kept to himself, the employee volunteered. After just a month at work, Bloodsworth had apparently become ill, the employee added, and had abruptly left his job on August 3. When asked about Bloodsworth's work schedule, the Harbor to Harbor employee had told the officer that no, Kirk Bloodsworth had not been at work on July 25. Wednesdays were always his day off. The officer ran a records check on Kirk Bloodsworth. Bloodsworth had no criminal history, but the check matched Bloodsworth with the missing persons report Wanda had filed. This information was relayed to Capel and Ramsey.
Nearly two weeks had passed since the murder. With each passing day, the trail of the killer got colder. This new lead, though, sparked the interest of the homicide detectives. What particularly intrigued them about this new suspect was that everything they learned about him suggested that he matched the person described in the psychological profile prepared by Bowerman and the FBI. Bloodsworth was familiar with the area. He lived and worked within a couple of miles of Fontana Village. Clearly he had a problem with his wife, a much older and probably domineering woman. The information suggested that he'd been under considerable stress. He had feigned an illness and suddenly left both his job and Baltimore County. His wife didn't even know where he was. Detectives Capel and Ramsey sensed a breakthrough in the investigation. They decided to track down this Kirk Bloodsworth and pay him a visit.
On August 7 Ramsey located Wanda Bloodsworth, who confirmed that Kirk had left town on August 3 and had complained of being sick for a few days before he disappeared. She suggested Ramsey try looking in Cambridge. Capel and Ramsey sent a colleague to the Cambridge Police Department soliciting its cooperation in locating their suspect. Both detectives were confident he'd soon be found.
C
AMBRIDGE
, M
ARYLAND, HAS
always been a small, mostly blue-collar town, filled with farmers, watermen, truck drivers, and local merchants. It sits on the flat piedmont of the state's Eastern Shore, alongside the mile-wide Choptank River that runs down through Delmarva's poultry country, past the town, and into the broad Chesapeake. West and south of town stretch the Dorchester marshes, miles of low-lying mud bank, silt, and salt lick, covered with an array of grasses dominated by the spiky spartina. The economy of Cambridge has languished since the middle part of the twentieth century when the oyster, fishing, and crabbing industries reached a peak and began to decline. Some people grow corn or soybeans. Others raise chickens or dairy cows. Opportunities for the young and ambitious are not plentiful. The soggy land is flat. The schools are average. Some leave after high school, but most, for one reason or another, end up staying or returning later. It's hard to remain a stranger for long in Cambridge. People tend to know one another or at least know of one another. Kirk knew nearly everyone. It was no different when he came back from Baltimore than it had been before.
When he'd gotten back to town, he'd gone by his parents' house first, but it was locked as they were away for a short holiday. He had a sack full of dirty laundry and not much money, and it was hot, the hottest August he'd ever remembered. He walked over to the house of an old friend, Tommy Tyler, a small-time pot dealer who lived on Henry Street, and told Tommy he needed someone to talk to. The two got high, and Kirk spent the weekend on Tommy's couch. On Monday, August 6, Kirk went down to the pool hall and drank some beer and shot some eight ball to stay cool. When he walked back to Tommy's, Tommy wasn't home. The temperature was in the upper nineties. Tommy's neighbor, Rose Carson, who had known Kirk for years, saw him with his bag of clothes and told him to come into her house to get out of the heat. Rose was thirty years old and lived with her younger sister, Thelma Stultz. Rose was known as a “banger,” someone who liked to snort or shoot crank, a street version of methamphetamineâ”cranked-up speed.” She'd dropped out of high school after eleventh grade, worked on and off as an aide at the nearby nursing home, and occasionally took in boarders to help defray costs.
Rose later told police that she thought Kirk had seemed strung out. He looked like he was wasted, a total mess. He was constantly smoking weed.
That afternoon Kirk told Rose that he and Wanda were having trouble and that he had done something bad and was afraid it would keep him and Wanda from ever getting back together. Rose figured he was talking about some kind of marital fight and never pressed for details. Kirk asked Rose if he could crash at her place for a few days, and she said sure. He said he planned to get a job at Kool Ice and Seafood and needed to save about $2,000 before he could go back to Baltimore. He told her he'd pay her board.
The next morning, August 7, Kirk told Rose he was going to the state hospital to get some help. Kirk said he hoped they'd admit him
for detox, to help him just dry out. When he returned, he told Rose that the doctor told him he only needed consultation, not to be admitted. This was a lie. He'd never made it to the hospital. He was just looking for some sympathy from Rose.