Greene on crime Web site
Crime Stoppers adds the murder of the Detroit stripper to its site with a $1,000 reward for tips.
DETROIT — For weeks, police have called on the public to help solve the 2003 murder of Tamara Greene, a onetime stripper whose death has become a politically charged mystery.
But until Friday, the Web site for Crime Stoppers made no mention of Greene.
Dozens of other victims from Detroit to New Baltimore are profiled on the site, which allows visitors to submit tips that make them eligible for rewards of from $1,000 to $200,000.
“I think it’s a good idea,” said John Broad, the president of Crime Stoppers of Southeast Michigan, an independent nonprofit that accepts the anonymous tips and passes them along to area police departments.
Hours after The Detroit News contacted Broad, he called back to say Greene had been added to the site, www.1800speakup.org.
Indeed, details of her death — gunned down about 3:40 a.m. April 30, 2003, on Roselawn near Outer Drive — now are posted, along with a picture of Greene. The reward: $1,000, the minimum amount.
Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings made an impassioned plea in February for any information on Greene’s death, which Norman Yatooma, an attorney for her family, has claimed was not properly investigated for political reasons. It’s been rumored that Greene danced at a party at the Manoogian Mansion and got into an altercation with Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s wife.
No evidence has been produced to prove that claim, however.
Yatooma said he was “disappointed but not surprised” that Greene wasn’t listed on Crime Stoppers until The News inquired.
On a site listing more than a hundred crimes, Greene is listed in the middle, between Detroit murder victims Kenneth Cole (Nov. 12, 2007; $5,000 reward) and Desmond Rondale Brumfield (Nov. 2, 2006; $1,000 reward).
Some crimes get larger rewards than others and Broad said the larger ones are provided by family and friends of the victims. The current largest is for tips to solve the 2006 murder of Ronald and Christine Jabalee of New Baltimore. Once $80,000, the reward jumped to $200,000 this year.
Meanwhile, a judge on Friday denied the city’s motion to dismiss Yatooma’s lawsuit, which seeks $150 million for Greene’s family. However, the judge left the door open to rehear the city’s argument.
